TEAM

Andy, his wife Catie, and their 4 children farm approximately 1,400 acres of certified organic land in northern Indiana. Crops grown include corn, soybeans, wheat, and barley along with numerous species of cover crops. He has been a tenant of the Company since 2012 and an equity shareholder from 2012 to 2019. He has served on the Board of Directors since Iroquois Valley’s establishment as a REIT and public benefit corporation at the end of 2016. He has also served on the Investment Committee since that committee’s establishment in 2018. Beginning in 2021, Mr. Ambriole began providing occasional due diligence support and similar services to the Company as a consultant and served as its Interim CEO from November 2021 through July 2022. His other activities include serving on his county’s Soil & Water Conservation District board and as an assistant region director for the Indiana Association of Soil & Water Conservation Districts. 

Anna and her husband Doug own and manage Vilicus Farms, a first generation, organic, 13,000-acre dryland crop farm in Northern Hill County, Montana growing a diverse array of organic heirloom and specialty grain, pulse, oilseed and broadleaf crops under five and seven-year rotations. In thirteen seasons, Vilicus Farms grew from 1,280 acres to be a nationally recognized farm by using USDA’s beginning farmer programs, employing extensive conservation practices, and fostering unique risk sharing relationships with food companies and land investment firms. With over 26% of their land in non-crop conservation and 400 acres seeded to native pollinator habitat Vilicus Farms became Bee Better certified in 2019, Real Organic Project Certified in 2019 and has been transitioning towards Demeter Biodynamic certification.

Anna is a Donella Meadows Leadership Fellow and a recipient of the White House Greening Government Sustainability Hero Award. She holds a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering with a minor in Sustainable Systems from Georgia Institute of Technology. Anna served on the USDA Secretary’s Advisory Council on Beginning Farmers & Ranchers. She currently serves on the Xerces Society Bee Better Advisory Board. Given the realities of farming Anna still has an off-farm job with the USDA Forest Service. After several decades fostering more sustainable operations she is now currently serving as the Director for Data Governance for the Northern Region.

Anna, Doug, and their three Jack Russell Terriers are avid members of the Lentil Underground (http://lentilunderground.com/).

Mr. Lau is an independent securities and commodities trader. He was previously a market maker on the Chicago Board Options Exchange for 16 years and has been a member of the Chicago Board of Trade for 20 years. He holds degrees from Lawrence University and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, Mr. Lau is a life member of the Nature Conservancy and the Sierra Club, and since 2010 has co-managed Two Roads Farm LLC, a 320 acre organic farm in central Illinois.

Chris serves as Chief Executive Officer at Iroquois Valley, where he combines his investment management experience and personal background in support of the strategic vision of the organization. Prior to joining Iroquois Valley, Chris was
Senior Managing Director and Co-Head of Global Investments at EnTrust Global, an alternative investment firm based in New York. He was a member of the Management Committee and the Global Investment Committee. As a senior investment professional, Chris covered most asset classes and investment strategies across both public and private markets.

Chris grew up on a family dairy farm in Minnesota and maintained an interest in food and agriculture throughout his career. Since 2016, Chris has been a board member at The Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming, a non-profit organization supporting regional food and farming in New York’s Hudson Valley.

Chris graduated with an MBA in Finance and Accounting from Carnegie Mellon University in 2003 and a BA in Economics and Mathematics from Saint Olaf College in 1998. He is a CFA® Charterholder. Chris and his family reside in Boulder, CO. Outside of work, Chris enjoys traveling, gardening and hiking with his wife, three sons, and dog, Bruce.

Ms. Burlin is private investor and former attorney. She is an advocate for local, sustainable, organic, and regeneratively grown foods, with particular interest in creative uses of capital to fund the large-scale expansion of this sector. She is a Co-founder (2011) and continuing member of the Sustainable Local Food Investment Group (SLoFIG), a 30-member, mission-based, angel investor network based in Chicago, Illinois. From 2010 through 2014, she was an investor in Two Roads Farm LLC, a singlefarm investment partnership founded by David Miller and Dr. Stephen P. Rivard which merged with Iroquois Valley Farms LLC in 2014.

As an attorney from 1992 to 2007, Ms. Burlin was licensed with the Illinois and Missouri bars, and licensed to practice before federal courts in several districts and circuits. Her work included extensive criminal law practice. Her academic credentials include a BA from Dartmouth College and a JD from Georgetown University.

Ms. Burlin and her husband, Johannes, have two sons, and reside in Chicago, Illinois. They also have a small farm near Reeseville, Wisconsin. Ms. Burlin is active in non-profit and political fundraising and is a long-time member of the Board of Directors of the American Youth Foundation.

Ingrid spent her entire career in the field of Sustainable Investing, building a strong franchise at Neuberger Berman over a 25-year period. She was a Senior Portfolio Manager and co-head of Neuberger Berman Sustainable Equity team. Ingrid now sits on Neuberger Berman’s external ESG advisory council. She is an adjunct professor at both City University of New York Baruch College Zicklin School of Business in the Master of Finance program and at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. She currently serves as Board Chair for Arbor Rising, a non-profit funding and supporting promising social entrepreneurs. She is a board member of the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, an organization focused on supporting NYC nonprofits improving the lives of all New Yorkers.

Ingrid has an MBA from Columbia University and a BA from Bowdoin College. She lives with her family in New York and enjoys spending time in the outdoors.

Ms. Watkins is a social entrepreneur and impact investor. For the past seven years, she has financed, developed, and operated environmental and social projects across the US. She currently serves as a co-founder and President of Black Farmer Fund, a non-profit impact investing organization creating sustainable and equitable food systems by investing in black farmers and food businesses of NY. She also serves as a board member for Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems Funders and previously for Soul Fire Farm Institute. Prior to founding Black Farmer Fund in 2017, Olivia worked in several production roles at Soul Fire Farm Institute and Kahumana Organic Farms, leveraging her environmental biology background to manage and grow environmentally regenerative and socially impactful business operations.

Ms. Watkins has an MBA from North Carolina State University in Financial Management, and a BA from Barnard College, Columbia University in Environmental Biology. She was also recognized on the 2021 Forbes 30 under 30 Social Impact list and The Grist 50.

Dr. Rivard has a long history of entrepreneurship in the medical and health field. After earning his undergraduate and medical degrees from Loyola University of Chicago, he began a practice in the newest medical specialty of the time, emergency medicine. After 26 years and having raised two children, he changed careers and founded Illinois Vein Specialists in 2008, another growing medical specialty business. He also began diversifying his investments to focus on health and organic farmland. His interest in organic farming goes beyond profit. It also includes the mission of creating a more socially conscious and sustainable future for his children. Dr. Rivard is now reaching out to other physicians and health care professionals to bring attention to the varied health illnesses associated with our current food production system. Specifically, he is concerned about the growth of Type 2 diabetes, food allergies, and various cancer incidences that may be associated with our food choices. He views investing in Iroquois Valley as a chance to both reclaim our health and sustainably grow capital.

After a 30-year career in corporate finance and real estate, Mr. Miller returned to his native Illinois landscape in 2005 by purchasing a 10 acre farm from a family estate of his relatives. Keeping the farm in the family, he re-connected with local relatives and friends farming organically. In 2007, he co-founded Iroquois Valley Farms LLC to enable a new generation of farmers and investors to support healthy food production. 

Prior to developing sustainable farmland ventures, Mr. Miller held executive positions at Bank of America, Santa Fe Southern Pacific and First Chicago Corporation, including the management and oversight of large leasing portfolios. In 2008 he formed Working Farms Capital, an entity seeding new ventures in sustainable agriculture while providing transitional farm management services.

Mr. Miller is a 1975 graduate of Loyola University of Chicago, and a 1978 graduate of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. Mr. Miller views education as the primary key to changing the health and economics of our current food production systems. In that capacity, Mr. Miller is a founding member of the advisory board for Loyola University’s Institute of Environmental Sustainability and is a recipient of the Institute’s first Damen Award, recognizing his services related to positive environmental change. He continues to restore his small organic farm in Iroquois County, a family heritage since 1875, now being transitioned to native prairie and permaculture production.

Mr. Miller is a co-founder of Iroquois Valley and served as its Chief Executive Officer from its founding in 2007 through September 2021.