Nutrition Strategies, a consultancy that helps food industry leaders develop credible, science-based communications and advocacy strategies that drive meaningful impact.

Prior to launching her business, Laurie served as Vice President of Food & Nutrition Affairs at a leading nutrition communications agency, where she advised major food companies and commodity boards on their nutrition projects. Today, she leans on her unique food science and policy background to help clients navigate public health ambitions and business realities — identifying practical, evidence-informed solutions to today’s most complex food and nutrition challenges.

Jack de Jong is the Co-Founder, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of Forever Feed Technologies, a company pioneering automated indoor sprout-grain production for use as a sustainable and highly-nutritious dairy feed ingredient. Jack is also the owner of River Ranch Farms in Hanford, CA, an 1880-acre dairy operation. Jack also farms additional ranches which grow more dairy feed, almonds, and blueberries, totaling over 3,500-acres farmed in all.  Jack was honored as the 2023 Kings County Agriculturist of the year for his outstanding contributions to the agricultural community.

Anthony Agueda is a third-generation dairy farmer, where he has worked across all aspects of the farm throughout his life. He is a recent graduate of California State University, Fresno, earning a BS in Agricultural Business. While at Fresno State, Anthony received multiple citizenship awards and agricultural honors recognizing his leadership, service, and commitment to the dairy industry. Together with his family, Anthony has prioritized innovation and sustainability, including the implementation of California’s first vermifiltration system on a dairy. He actively collaborates with ag stakeholders, regulators, and local communities to demonstrate practical, scalable sustainability practices. Grounded in hands-on experience and industry engagement, Anthony is dedicated to advancing sustainable dairy farming while preserving his family’s legacy for future generations.

Andrew Schwarz is a water resource planning and climate resilience leader with over two decades of experience advancing California’s environmental sustainability, infrastructure reliability, and adaptation to climate change. His work bridges technical depth and strategic vision—bringing together science, engineering, and policy to solve some of the most complex water challenges facing the western U.S.

Currently serving as Climate Action Manager for the State Water Project, Andrew leads cross-disciplinary efforts to prepare one of the largest water systems in the country for a climate-altered future. His approach integrates cutting-edge modeling, stakeholder collaboration, and pragmatic policy design to support resilient water operations and infrastructure.

After finishing up a career in the US Air Force in 2007, Daryl Maas returned to his hometown in a dairy community in northwest Washington. He discovered many of his friends in dairy families were interested in deploying digester technology to capture energy from animal waste. He developed and commissioned his first biogas facility in 2009. In 2010, Daryl moved to Redding, CA with his family and founded Maas Energy Works (MEW).Starting in 2016, Daryl and MEW served as the lead project developer for the first successful RNG pipeline cluster in the United States. Since then, MEW has duplicated that cluster model many times, overseeing the installation of over 185 miles of biogas gathering lines and nine separate utility interconnections across the nation.