IFAMA 2026 Speakers

Sylvain Charlebois 

Senior Director of the Agri-Food
Analytics Lab, Dalhousie University 
CANADA 

Alexandra Boelrijk 

Global Vice President R&D, Proactive Health & Food Protection and Preservation, Kerry Group
THE NETHERLANDS 

Juan Aguiriano 

Group Head of Marketing and Sustainability, Kerry Group 
SPAIN 

Ronald Guendel 

ELFIN Consulting GmbH, and IFAMA President-Elect 
GERMANY 

Cynthia Jonströmer

Founder and CEO, Stockholm Climate Leadership Forum
SWEDEN

Jack Bobo

Futurist, Executive Director of the UCLA Rothman Family Institute for Food Studies and an honorary professor at the University of Nottingham
USA

Mary McEvoy 

Vice President of Supply Chain
Strategy & Transformation, PepsiCo  
USA 

Muhammad Ibrahim 

Director General of the Inter-American
Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) 
COSTA RICA 

Mary Shelman

Founder, Shelman Group
USA

Jerry O´Callaghan

Chairman, JBS
IRELAND / BRAZIL

Thia Hennessy

Professor Agri-Food Economics, University College Cork
IRELAND

Fu Wenge

Dean of the MBA Education Center, China Agricultural University
CHINA

Pat Murphy

CEO, Kinisla
IRELAND

Wolfram Schlenker

Ray A. Goldberg Professor of the Global Food System, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
USA

Paul Ross

Director, APC Microbiome Ireland,
University College Cork 
IRELAND

Jill Shaw

ESG and Sustainability Lead,
A&L Goodbody LLP 
IRELAND

Noel Keeley

CEO, Musgrave
IRELAND

Brid O'Connell

CEO and Executive Director,
Guaranteed Irish
IRELAND

Robert Erhard

Corporate Sustainable Agriculture Development, Nestlé
SWITZERLAND

Aidan Connolly

IFAMA President, and Founder of AgriTech Capital
USA

Ayobami Aremu

Lead Consultant, Greenlands Agribusiness Consult Limited
NIGERIA

Elmé Coetzer-Boersma

CEO, Agraya GmbH
GERMANY / SOUTH AFRICA

Ben Rivoire

Director Sustainability & Crop Value Chain Engagement, International Seed Federation (ISF)
SWITZERLAND

Marcos Fava Neves

Professor at the University of São Paulo, and Founder of Harven Agribusiness School
BRAZIL

Yvonne Colomer

Executive Director, Triptolemos Foundation
SPAIN

Danny O'Brien

Managing Director of EMEA & Global Programs, SVG Ventures
IRELAND

Joe Gill

Director of Corporate Advisory, Goodbody Capital Markets
IRELAND

Robert Erhard

Group Dairy Lead, Nestlé
SWITZERLAND

Julia Somerdin

CEO and Founder, Labby
USA

Kevin Chen

International Dean of China Academy for Rural Development (CARD) at Zhejiang University; and Head of East and Central Asia Office in International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
CHINA

Nicky Deasy

CFO / Director, Nicky Deasy
IRELAND

James Greevy

Director of Product and Market Strategy, Herdwatch
IRELAND

John Gilliland

Strategic Advisor and Professor of Practice, Queens University Belfast
NORTHERN IRELAND

Hilary Barry

Founder and Secretary General, LadyAgri Impact Investment Hub
BELGIUM

Megan Tarr

Department of Food Busineness, University College Cork
IRELAND

Seán Molloy

CEO, Tirlán
IRELAND

Justin McCarthy

CEO of GlasPort Bio, and former Editor and Chief Executive of the Irish Farmers Journal
IRELAND

Ian Lahiffe

Founder, Jing Management Consulting
IRELAND / CHINA

Tony Salas

Founder and President, ACM Consulting; and CEO, Shared-X
PERU

Tara McCarthy

Global Vice President ESG, Alltech
IRELAND

Ian Proudfoot 

Global Head of Agribusiness, KPMG International 
NEW ZEALAND 

Barry O’Sullivan 

Professor and Director of UCC Futures on AI & Data Analytics, University College Cork 
IRELAND 

Michelle Marais 

Business Unit Manager, Urban Farmer Pty Ltd; and IFAMA Young Board Chair  
SOUTH AFRICA 

Luis Umaña Timms

CEO & Founder, Global Agroindustrial Business School  
SPAIN 

Conor Galvin

CEO, Ornua  
IRELAND 

Blanca Rosa Mrdeza

Manager – Stakeholder Engagement, Food Systems and Communication, ELFIN Consulting  
GERMANY

Raj Vardhan

IICA Certified Independent Director, Consultant  
INDIA

Karol Kissane

Head of Public Sector Services & Economics, ifac  
IRELAND