The people behind the work

You will find Kate in a food market or in her kitchen as often as you will her at her keyboard. Early in her career, she has already gained significant experience in journalism and digital marketing. She was a key part of the launch team for "The Breach," an award-winning digital media platform. With a penchant for projects promoting environmental sustainability, wellness, and collective action, Kate is passionate about storytelling that meets people where they’re at, especially if it involves something we all can relate to: food!

Lindsey is a market research expert with a passion for local food, well-being, circular economies, and regenerative agriculture. As a Vice President and Partner at The Sound, she spent years advising top tech, food, and lifestyle brands. Confronted by the climate crisis, Lindsey co-founded Sandown Centre for Regenerative Agriculture, an incubator farm on Vancouver Island that educates the community about soil health's many benefits—better food, improved human health, and enhanced climate resiliency.

As the inaugural Executive Director of CCFE, Sarah brings nearly 25 years of experience in balancing human and natural systems. Growing up with oil pumps in the foreground and melting glaciers on the horizon, she understood this tension from an early age. After earning a law degree, Sarah's journey led her through grassroots awareness campaigns, a global conservation organization, and executive roles at Evergreen, the national urban environmental charity behind the celebrated social enterprise, Evergreen Brick Works. The CCFE's belief in joyful engagement drew her in, as did its dedication to promoting the work of others working from soil to stomach.

As Director of Strategic Programming, Swapna Mylabathula brings a collaborative, systems-focused approach to designing initiatives that strengthen food systems and advance public health while translating evidence into meaningful impact. Her career has spanned academia, healthcare, government, and the not-for-profit sector, where she has built strategic partnerships and led programs that connect research, policy, and practice to address complex societal challenges. From contributing to Canada’s first concussion legislation to advancing knowledge mobilization and interdisciplinary initiatives, her work has consistently focused on creating lasting, community-centred change. At the CCFE, Swapna is passionate about developing strategic programming that supports equitable, sustainable, and regenerative food systems while bringing together diverse partners to drive innovation, strengthen communities, and deepen collaboration across Canada.

Thevindi is a sustainability professional and visual artist who is passionate about the collective fight to mitigate climate change, protect natural landscapes and support healthy lifestyles. She holds a B.A. (Hons) in Environment and Sustainability with a Minor in Philosophy from the Toronto Metropolitan University. She brings experience in sustainability research, environmental impact assessments and project management with a focus on food systems, zero waste initiatives and ecological resilience. Her work bridges holistic research and practical implementation to support initiatives that advance sustainable and regenerative food systems.

Zahra is a systems optimization specialist working at the intersection of food security and climate action. Her work is rooted in post-humanist thinking and is guided by the belief that we must move beyond anthropocentric ideologies — transitioning from extraction to regeneration, from ownership to kinship, and from egosystems to ecosystems. She loves exploring how cultural narratives, food systems, and our connection with the natural world can awaken deeper ways of being, and believes that food and the ceremony of eating are powerful catalysts for restoring right relationship — with ourselves, with each other, and with Earth.

Alan is extremely well suited to this mission. With a career marked by bold achievements, Alan co-founded ICOM, a pioneering consumer data and communications company that is credited with laying the foundation for new product trials, amassing the largest dataset of its time before selling to Air Miles and going on to make prescient investments in high-potential start-ups. As former Chair of the Canadian Marketing Association, and still a sought-after mentor for mission-driven founders, Alan brings both a founder’s energy and a coach’s wisdom, understanding how to guide the organization in ways that build it for the long-term advancement of an entire sector.

Anna Côté is a regenerative strategy consultant, environmental lawyer, and the founder of Solstice Environmental Consultancy & Law. In over two decades in the environmental sector, Anna has often brought food matters into her work, from volunteering with the Toronto Youth Food Policy Council, to weaving food law into her environmental law practice on Bay Street. To her, the health of our food system is a direct reflection of our relationship with the Earth, the health of one being intrinsically tied to the health of the other. As a gardener, enthusiastic cook, and weekly farmers market-goer, Anna believes in the power of food choices to impact the ecological world around us, and the importance of a healthy societal food system to creating a thriving future.

Sonu Chhina is building a Canadian impact fund that partners with farmers to increase regenerative acres across the country. Her work is on the supply side of Canada's food system — helping farming families access patient capital while restoring soil health, biodiversity, and farming communities. Previously, Sonu worked in impact investing and development finance in the Caribbean, Africa, and South-East Asia. Her first career was as an investigative journalist in India. She holds an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School and an MBA from the Wharton School. She joins the CCFE Board because she believes lasting change in Canada's food system requires connecting what happens in the soil to what shows up on the plate.