Mark Huisenga is an agricultural specialist with over 20 years of professional experience in grain, fertilizer and seed value chains in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas.  At USAID Mr. Huisenga is responsible for commercialization and scaling of new technologies as well as managing the Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa, a Global Development Alliance between the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). He manages the Partnerships for Africa Seed Technology Transfer Activity with Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Development. Previously, he was an Ag Director at the Millennium Challenge Corporation, a private consultant, and a business unit manager for Cargill Technical Services. In these roles he focused on due diligence for agricultural investments. He serves on several boards and advisory committees that share the objective of international agricultural development.

Lauren has been a leader in both private and non-profit arenas, as a business owner, board member, and consultant. As an innovative problem solver with the ability to communicate across diverse audiences, Lauren intuitively translates previous experiences, academic frameworks, and operational models for adaptability in new situations. As an entrepreneur and generalist, enjoys he the balance of “big picture” strategic thinking with the satisfaction of advising multiple projects, attention to efficiency and discovering new ways for incremental improvement.

A lifelong learner, dedicated to continuous personal and professional development. MBA with emphasis on Strategy, Organizational Development and Team Marketing. Passionate about using entrepreneurship, innovation, and good business practices, to create social and economic opportunity for others.

As Project Manager, experienced in program design, performance monitoring and evaluation, data analysis, IT integration, budgeting, team development, strategic alignment, and stakeholder engagement.

Jason is a Sr. Program Manager with the Context Global Development (Context), an NGO that provides management consulting for industry-leading agriculture & biotechnology companies, governmental & non-governmental agencies, and public research institutions. At Context, Jason is responsible for leading cross-functional teams in the design and implementation of corporate strategy projects and global development initiatives. His advisory work is centered on agricultural systems, with an emphasis on seed systems and technology deployment through public-private partnership models.

Prior to Context, Jason worked in risk management, fixed income, and served as Peace Corps volunteer in Kyrgyzstan.

Amsale has over 20 years of international development experience, and currently leads the prioritization and coordination of the agricultural development investments in Ethiopia and manages in-country relationships with key government, donors, and grantee partners.

Prior to  moving to the foundation’s Ethiopia office in 2015, Amsale was the focal person for the engagement with AGRA (the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa), the foundation’s agricultural development largest grantee in Africa.

Mark Tokula is an Assistant Director and Coordinator of the Seed Technology program at the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) located in Umudike, Nigeria. He leads Umudike Seeds, the early generation seed (EGS) company established by NRCRI for the production and sale of EGS and also renders advisory services to clients. He is leveraging on the success of the Building an Economically Sustainable and Integrated Cassava Seed System (BASICS) project to deliver on the commercialization of EGS for cassava, yam, and sweetpotato. He is passionate about delivering clean seed of demanded varieties to commercial seed producers and the millions of Nigerian farmers who depend on root & tuber crops for food and income security.

Dr. Mohammad Khalequzzaman is an accomplished plant breeder, researcher, and seed production expert. He serves as the Head of Genetic Resources and Seed Division of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) and leads all breeder seed production, processing, and packaging activities at the institution. He actively involved in the development of “Rice Seed Network” for efficient and quick delivery of quality rice seed to the end users where more than 1000 seed entrepreneurs are involved and making liaison with them and linking them to seed systems. His contributions have acclaimed recognition from honourable subject experts. He is actively associated with different academics and societies. He has over 120 scientific publications to his name and serves as the principal investigator for numerous, high-profile research and seed production & distribution initiatives in Bangladesh.