Slow Food Board of Directors & International Council

PRESIDENT 

Edie Mukiibi

President

Edward Mukiibi was born in 1986 in Uganda, where he lives and works on his family run agro-ecological farm. He is an agronomist, food educator, social entrepreneur and the President of Slow Food. After graduating from the Makerere University in Kampala he worked in the field of organic agriculture. agriculture. He started his work on sustainability during his second year at university by vying for leadership positions in his faculty, which he used as a platform to advocate for, and promote, agriculture as a viable career path. Edward went on to establish a project for Developing Innovations in School Cultivation as a vehicle through which he could continue this work on a larger scale. In 2008, after participating at Terra Madre in Italy, he began to play a pivotal role in the development of the Slow Food Gardens in Africa project and in the overall growth of the Slow Food network in Uganda. He has served on the executive committee of Slow Food since 2012 and became Vice-President in 2014. In 2018 he spent a year in Italy to attend the Master of Gastronomy: World Food Culture and Mobility at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Italy. He was appointed President of Slow Food at the International Congress in July 2022.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dali Nolasco Cruz 

Dali is a Nahua indigenous woman born in 1988 in Tlaola, Mexico, where she lives. She has long been deeply involved in community work, accompanying indigenous and peasant communities in organized work, facilitating workshops on individual and collective rights and gender issues, and leadership processes for women and youth. She was among the founders of the organisation Timo’Patla and of the social economy enterprise Mopampa. She is a graduate of the Faculty of Psychology of the Autonomous University of Puebla and of the Carlos III University of Madrid, where she obtained a degree in Indigenous Peoples, Human Rights and International Cooperation. Since 2008, Dali has been an active member of Slow Food, becoming the referent of the Tlaola Serrano Chili Presidium and the coordinator of the Slow Food Network of Indigenous Peoples for Latin America and the Caribbean in 2017. She is passionate about education and advocacy, being convinced that bringing these two areas together allows indigenous peoples to empower themselves and defend their territories, their knowledge, their identity, their seeds, their food systems and their lives.

Jorrit Kiewik

Born in 1992 and raised on a small scale-dairy farm in Lonneker, in the east of the Netherlands, where he supported the production of a variety of products on-farm, including cheese, sausages and bread. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Agricultural Entrepreneurship from the Aeres University of Applied Sciences in Dronten and a Master’s degree in Communication, Health & Life Sciences from Wageningen University. He worked at the socio-communications office Het Portaal on “The Milk Story”, a platform that focuses on making Dutch dairy farming more sustainable and connecting producers and consumers. In 2016, after joining Slow Food Youth Network’s “We Feed the Planet” in Milan, Kiewik joined the Dutch SFYN Academy. He founded the SFYN global office in late 2017 after the Chengdu congress, and has been fully dedicated to the development of the global Slow Food Youth Network since 2019. Besides his work for Slow Food, Kiewik is still involved with the family farm, which his family is transforming into a truly sustainable operation, both socially and ecologically. Kiewik is also part of YPARD’s steering committee, and both secretary and cyclist at The AMANI Project, an international cycling team which brings together initiatives aimed at enhancing inclusivity in professional cycling and creating opportunities for cyclists in East Africa.

Richard McCarthy

Born in Germany in 1965 and raised in the USA, Richard obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Richmond American University in London and a Master’s Degree in Political Sociology in the Department of Government from the London School of Economics. He is a co-founder of the Crescent City Farmers Market and its parent organization, Market Umbrella. For 18 years he served as Executive Director of Slow Food USA before taking the helm for a further six. He has been serving on the executive committee of Slow Food International since 2013. A long-time advocate for urban-rural linkages, he co-founded Voice for Farmers Markets in the USA, the Farmers Market Coalition, as well as the World Farmers Market Coalition, a Rome-based NGO devoted to a global community of practice for farmers markets that serve farmers, consumers, and communities. He is also the co-author of the book Kuni: A Japanese Vision and Practice for Urban-Rural Reconnection, with Tsuyoshi Sekihara, founder of the Kamiechigo Yamazato Fan Club, a community development organization focused on the holistic revival of Japan’s rural areas. Richard’s special interests include urban-rural linkages, animal welfare, gardening, and any small-scale efforts that use behavior change as a point of entry.

Francesco Sottile

Francesco Sottile was born in 1965 in Italy. After graduating in Agronomy from the University of Palermo in Sicily and obtaining a PhD, he was visiting scientist at Cornell University in the USA. He is currently a professor Biodiversity and Quality in the Agri-food System, as well as conservation of traditional rural landscapes at the University of Palermo. Author of over 100 scientific publications, he coordinates the activities of the Biodiversity Conservation Centers of Agricultural Interest and is member of the Committee on Biodiversity of Agricultural Interest at the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and of the newly established EU Biodiversity Platform. Since 2000, he has been scientific advisor for Slow Food biodiversity across the world, supporting this work through field visits and capacity building workshops, working closely with farmers and producers. He served on the executive committee of Slow Food Italy between 2018 and 2021. He is deeply interested in ecosystem restoration, land and plant conservation, agroecology, circular economy and his field of commitment within the Board is agroecology and related matters.

Megumi Watanabe

Born in 1991 and currently lives in Japan. A graduate of Waseda University, Faculty of Education, she has been involved in Slow Food since her university years and founded the Slow Food Youth Network in Japan with fellow young people. In 2014, she moved to Italy and obtained a Master’s Degree from the University of Gastronomic Sciences. She has worked in restaurants and agri-tourisms in Japan and abroad, learning about cooking, agriculture and hospitality. After returning to Japan in 2016, she played a central role in setting up and activating Slow Food Nippon (Japan), which she became President of in April 2019. She is the wife of an organic rice and soybean farmer and mother of two children. She works in three languages (English, Korean and Italian) besides Japanese. Her interests include farmers’ rights and youth empowerment.

Nina Wolff

She was born in Germany in 1970 and currently lives in Berlin. After studying Law and Philosophy in Germany and France, she gained a PhD in European and International Environmental Law in 2002. She has worked as research associate at the Environmental Research Center in Leipzig, as project manager and consultant for various NGOs, among others at Environmental Action Germany and the U.S. Pew Charitable Trusts, with a focus on biodiversity, fisheries and marine conservation. In July 2019, Nina became Slow Food Germany Deputy Chairwoman followed by acting Chairwoman in July 2020, and in June 2021 she became Chairwoman of Slow Food Germany and a member of the International Council of Slow Food. She cultivates special interest in marine biodiversity, food policy and human rights.

GENERAL SECRETARY

Marta Messa

Born in 1984 in Italy, she currently lives in Brussels, Belgium. Her educational background includes a Diploma from the United World College, Italy, a Bachelor’s Degree in Politics and International Studies from the University of Warwick (UK), and a Master’s Degree in Economics and Politics from the University of Freiburg (Germany). After experiences in the UK, the USA, Germany, Guatemala, Belgium and Italy, she has worked with Slow Food since 2010, where she started coordinating the development of the Thousand Gardens in Africa project, with field work in nine African countries. Since 2014 she has been based in Brussels, liaising with EU institutions on policies relating to food, giving a platform to the international Slow Food network and developing strategic partnerships with other organizations at the European level. Her studies and work experience have allowed her to gain a deep appreciation of intercultural communication (as well as a good grasp of five languages). In July 2022, she was elected Secretary General of Slow Food and since then has dedicated herself intensively to the coordination of the movement worldwide. She nurtures a particular interest in coalition building, food politics and grassroots movements – and biking.

DIRECTOR GENERAL

Paolo Di Croce

Born in Italy in 1969 and lives in Bra, where the headquarters of Slow Food are based. After his Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy and work experience as a food company manager, he joined Slow Food. For the past 20 years, he has been responsible for the management and development of the Slow Food movement globally, in the role of Secretary General. As of July 2022, he has been appointed Director General. In his new role within Slow Food, in addition to providing ongoing support to the new governance and continuing to follow the development of the network across the world, he main focus areas are fundraising, economic-financial aspects, staff management and operational aspects. His special interests are sports and travel.

FOUNDER

Carlo Petrini
Founder – Member by right of the Board as Founder

Born in 1949 in Bra, Italy, is the founder of Slow Food and its President from 1989 to 2022. He is a journalist, author and advocate for a sustainable food system and has been working since the 1980s to promote eco-gastronomy. Thanks to his far-sighted vision, Petrini has played a decisive role in the development of Slow Food, inventing and promoting its projects, which have now acquired great international visibility. Among his many achievements is the creation of the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, the first academic institution to offer an interdisciplinary approach to food studies. He was also behind the creation of Terra Madre, a network that brings together small-scale farmers, fishers, artisans, chefs, young people, academics and experts from more than 160 countries. Carlo Petrini travels around the world taking part in conferences, meeting communities in the Slow Food network, holding lectures in renowned universities including Ivy League institutions, and has participated in discussions on food sustainability and agriculture with EU institutions and UN agencies. In the last three decades Carlo’s commitment to the promotion of a better food system has been recognized at the international level through prizes and awards from the FAO, Time Magazine, the Guardian and more.

INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL

Africa

John Kariuki Mwangi – Eastern Africa
Manvester Ackson Khoza – Southern Africa
Jean Marie Koalga – Western Africa

Asia and Oceania

Vince Velletri – Australia and Oceania
Ramon Uy Jr – South East Asia
Minsoo Kim – South Korea

Europe

Nikolce Nikolovski – Balkans
Lea Leimann – Germany
Klaus Flesch – Germany
Barbara Nappini – Italy
Maria Vittoria Borghetto – Italy
Tiziana Favi – Italy
Jannie Vestergaard – Nordic Countries
Ivan Yakushkin – Russia
Chuma Sahún – Spain
Toya Bezzola – Switzerland
Nelleke Don – The Netherlands
Yulia Pitienko – Ukraine

Latin America and Caribbean

Esteban Tapia – Andean Area
Glenn Makuta – Brasil and Southern Cone
Leidy Casimiro – Caribbean
Arturo Elías García González – Mexico and Central America

Northern America

Bobby Grégoire – Canada
Bilal Sarwari – USA

Thematic Networks

Stephany Escamilla Femat – Slow Food Coffee Coalition
Arianna Labasin – Slow Food Youth Network
Dai Kitabayashi – Slow Food Indigenous Peoples Network
Tunda Lepore – Slow Food Indigenous Peoples Network

Strategic Priorities (Slow Food Pillars)

Melissa De Billot – Biodiversity
Jerônimo Villas-Boas – Biodiversity
Shane Holland – Advocacy

Note: according to the Statute, the Board of Directors can appoint further members of the Council during its mandate, to ensure full representation of the network.