Speakers
OUR 2023 SPEAKERS....more to be announced shortly
DR ANDREW SMITH, Ph.D.
RODALE INSTITUTE
Philadelphia, USA
Dr Andrew Smith oversees the research and farm operations at Rodale Institute and is passionate about growing the organic movement by providing science-based
solutions to farmers and facilitating opportunities to expand the number of organic farmers and farmland across the globe. He has over 20 years of experience working in the organic industry as an agronomist, researcher and farmer. While trained as an entomologist, his motive for entering the organic industry was to reduce the use of chemicals for food production that end up in our environment, food and bodies. He now has the opportunity to support an amazing group of dedicated people working diligently on many projects to transform the food system and the way we farm to
improve the lives and health of all people and the planet. He also continues to live and work on his own organic family farm.
ELAINE CHUKAN BROWN
MEDIA, WINE WRITER, EDUCATOR
Sonoma, California
Elaine Chukan Brown serves as a writer, speaker, and educator specialising in wine, personal empowerment and social justice. In 2022, Brown was nominated for a James Beard Award in Journalism, and became an advisor to the Women in Wine
and Spirits Awards of China. In 2021, Brown gave the keynote address, “Risk and Self-Doubt as Opportunity”, for the Femmes du Vin event sponsored by the US State
Department through the Paris Embassy. The Hue Society also awarded them the Legend Award in Wine Education, and the Women in Wine and Spirits Awards (WINWSA) in China named them one of the world’s 50 Most Influential Women in
Wine and Spirits in the world. In 2020, Brown was awarded Wine Communicator of the Year in the world by IWSC and VinItaly, and was named a Wine Industry Leader in the North American wine industry by Wine Business Monthly. In 2019, the Wine Industry Network named Brown one of the Most Inspiring People in Wine, and they were shortlisted for the IWSC Wine Communicator of the Year award.
JOHAN REYNEKE
OWNER, REYNEKE WINES
Polkadraai, Stellanbosch
Johan Reyneke is the owner of Reyneke Wines in the Polkadraai area of Stellenbosch, South Africa. Reyneke Wines is a certified organic and biodynamic producer of fine wine and has been so for more than 20 years. Johan has a
postgraduate degree in environmental ethics and has been a champion of environmental and social sustainability in the South African wine industry.
