Reginald is Director of Partnerships at Grow Asia, a multi-stakeholder partnership platform that catalyzes action on inclusive agricultural development in South-East Asia. The platform convenes governments, farmers, NGOs, and other stakeholders to co-create value chain projects and transform their commodity sectors to improve smallholder farmers’ productivity, incomes and environmental sustainability.

Matthias joined the Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture Division of Southeast Asia in late 2018. As an Agriculture Economist, he focuses on project design and preparation for agri-business, value-chain and water resource projects. His particular interest lies in climate-smart agriculture, precision farming and ways to engage youth more meaningfully in the sector. Prior to joining ADB, he was working for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) based in Rome, Italy.

Matthew is IRRI’s director general with decades of leadership experience driven by a passion for scientific excellence, an understanding of private-public partnerships, a sound capacity for stakeholder engagement, protection of intellectual property, and people engagement skills. Matthew is the institute’s chief executive officer (CEO), directly managing and administering its affairs in accordance with the policies and decisions of the IRRI Board of Trustees. He sets the institute’s strategic direction in close consultation with the board.

Martien was appointed Global Director for the Agriculture and Food Global Practice in the World Bank’s Sustainable Development Practice Group on July 1, 2019.  As Global Director, Martien provides leadership to the formulation and implementation of the Bank’s strategy and knowledge in agriculture and food, oversees the operationalization of the Bank’s vision on agriculture and food in regional and country programs, acts as senior spokesperson for agriculture and food Bank-wide and globally and manages the Agriculture and Food Global Practice. 

Mark is a Research Fellow Emeritus at the International Food Policy Research Institute and a Nonresident Fellow of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. With a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the University of Michigan, he has extensive experience in research and policy analysis in agriculture and economic development and the future of world food security, with an emphasis on water resources and other critical natural resource and agricultural policy issues as they impact food security, rural livelihoods and environmental sustainability.

Mariano decided to go back farming from being a barista to educate coffee farmers. He worked  with them to increase the quality and improve the production of coffee. His motivation is to help farmers compete in a high-specialty market so they can get a sustainable price for their produce.

Marco joined the World Vegetable Center as Director General in April 2016 and is based in Taiwan. He is an agronomist with global expertise in agricultural science and management. He previously served as Deputy Director General and Director of Research for Development of the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) in Benin and as the Director of the Annual Crops Department of the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) in France.

Lee Pai-Po is an expert in international agriculture, human resource development, international development cooperation and the third sector - international NGO and NPO, who has devoted himself to international cooperation and development programs for over 20 years.

Jose worked as a researcher, community organizer, network builder, organizer for several non-government organizations and cooperative federation in Mindanao in various capacities such as Project Officer and Trainer. At 30 years old, he was elected in 2006 as the youngest Chairperson of Oro Integrated Cooperative-one of the oldest and biggest savings and credit cooperative organized in 1966 with 155,000 members and assets 100M US Dollars. He sat at the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) an agency attached to the Office of the President in 2008-2010 representing the informal sector.

As lead for IRRI’s Sustainable Impact Platform, Jonathan has almost 30 years’ real-world understanding and experience in agricultural research-for-development from Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America. His expertise includes farmers’ access to markets within globalized food systems, soil and water conservation, agroforestry, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and the fostering of agricultural innovation systems.