Slow Food Board of Directors & International Council
PRESIDENT
Edie Mukiibi
President
Edward Mukiibi lives and works in Uganda and is president of Slow Food. He is an agronomist, an educator in food and agriculture, social entrepreneur and executive director of Slow Food Uganda. He also played 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 informally started his work 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 the DISC Project, as a vehicle through which he could continue this work on a larger scale. He has served on the executive committee of Slow Food since 2012 and became Slow Food vice president in 2014.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Carlo Petrini
Founder – Member by right of the Board as Founder
Carlo has been working since the 1980s to promote eco-gastronomy as a journalist, author and advocate for a sustainable food system. Among his many achievements is the creation of the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo (near Bra), the first academic institution to offer an interdisciplinary approach to food studies. He is also behind the creation of Terra Madre, a network of food communities that brings together small-scale farmers, fishers, artisans, chefs, young people, academics and experts from more than 160 countries.
Dali Nolasco Cruz
A Nahua indigenous woman from Tlaola Puebla, partner and founder of the Network of Indigenous Women’s Organizations of Tlaola, Mopampa, Timo’Patla and Yoltika, Dali has been deeply involved in community work since her youth, especially involving groups of indigenous women. She is a graduate of the Faculty of Psychology of the Autonomous University of Puebla and also graduated with a degree in Indigenous Peoples, Human Rights and International Cooperation from the Carlos III University of Madrid. Since 2008, Dali has been an active member of Slow Food International. In 2016 she joined the advisory board of the Terra Madre Indigenous Network to accompany the international movement on indigenous issues. In 2017, she was appointed coordinator of the Terra Madre Indigenous Network for Latin America and the Caribbean. Dali has extensive training on issues of Human Rights, Women’s Rights, Gender, interculturality, social economy and food. She has shared this knowledge through training processes in different indigenous women’s organizations.
Jorrit Kiewik
He grew up 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 in Agricultural Entrepreneurship at the Aeres University of Applied Sciences in Dronten and a Masters degree in Communication, Health & Life Sciences at 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 has been the director of the Slow Food Youth Network (SFYN) in The Netherlands since August 2016 and founded the SFYN Global office in late 2017 after the Chengdu congress. Since 2019, Kiewik has fully dedicated his time to the development of the global Slow Food Youth Network. Next to his work for Slow Food, Kiewik is still involved with the family farm, where he and his family are transforming it into a truly sustainable farm, 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 riders based in East-Africa.
Richard McCarthy
He is the co-founder of the Crescent City Farmers Market and its parent organization, Market Umbrella. For eighteen-years, he served as executive director, before taking the helm of Slow Food USA for six-years. He has been serving on the executive committee of Slow Food International since 2013 and a Slow Food member since 1998. 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. In 2020, McCarthy joined other leaders in the public market field, most notably the HealthBridge Foundation in Canada and New York City’s Project for Public Spaces, to promote an ecosystems approach to public markets: Market Cities.
Francesco Sottile
He is an agronomist and university professor, teaching Biodiversity and Quality in the Agri-food System, as well as Conservation of the traditional rural landscapes at the University of Palermo. Author of over a 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 is scientific advisor for the biodiversity projects of Slow Food across the world, supporting Slow Food’s work through field visits and capacity building workshops, working closely with farmers and producers. He served in the executive committee of Slow Food Italy between 2018 and 2021.
Megumi Watanabe
A graduate from 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 agritourisms 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), where she became President in April 2019. She is the wife of an organic farmer and mother of two children. She works in three languages (English, Korean and Italian)
Nina Wolff
She studied philosophy and law in Germany and France and holds a PhD in European and International Environmental Law (2002). She has worked as research associate at the Environmental Research Center 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 first became Deputy Chairwoman followed by acting Chairwoman in July 2020, and in June 2021 she became Chairwoman of Slow Food Germany. Nina is currently a member of the International Council of Slow Food.
GENERAL SECRETARY
Marta Messa
Director of the Slow Food office in Brussels, Marta Messa has worked with Slow Food since 2010, where she coordinated the development of the Thousand Gardens in Africa project. 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 active at the European level. Her studies and work experiences allowed her to gain a deep appreciation of intercultural communication (as well as a good grasp of five languages), starting with her time at the international United World College followed by experiences in the UK, the USA, Germany, Guatemala, Belgium, Italy and field work in 9 African countries through the Slow Food Gardens in Africa project.
DIRECTOR GENERAL
Paolo Di Croce
For the past 20 years, he has been responsible for the management and development of the Movement globally, in the role of Secretary General. As of July 2022, he has been appointed Director General of Slow Food. 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 in parts of the world, he will mainly focus his responsibilities on fundraising, economic-financial aspects, staff management and all operational aspects.
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.