ROBYN O'BRIEN

Robyn O’Brien is a globally recognized leader in the food industry. She founded the AllergyKids Foundation, a 501 c3 focused on bringing transparency and safety to the food supply for the 1 in 3 children with allergies, autism, ADHD or asthma. Her work was immediately picked up by the press, and in 2009, Random House published her book, The Unhealthy Truth, putting her in the crosshairs of some of the world’s most powerful food and agrichemical companies.

With a background in finance as a founding team member of AIM/Invesco’s first hedge fund of $100 million and their $20 billion Constellation Fund, she called attention to the shortcomings of the U.S. food system, particularly the double standards employed by the publicly traded food companies, and her impact is now globally recognized. She is often quoted, saying “You can’t fix a broken food system with a broken financial system.”

Robyn served as founder and President of Do Good, a consulting company that worked deeply in the food industry with CEOs and executives at multinational CPG companies and startups to address the changing needs of 21st century families. She was invited to speak at Morgan Stanley, Bloomberg and other investor events to inform shareholders of the challenges and opportunities in the food system.

Her TEDx talk on our broken food system has been viewed by millions, translated into dozens of languages, and her work has inspired state legislation, Congressional investigations and national policy debates around food safety and security. She is regularly featured in the press, from Forbes to CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox News. Her global platform provides an ongoing stream of proprietary deal flow across food, ag+tech and agriculture.

Robyn is from Texas, attended Washington and Lee in Virginia, graduating Summa Cum Laude, received a Fulbright Fellowship to Paris, France, and earned her MBA from Rice University on a full scholarship, graduating as the top woman in her class. She is an adjunct professor at Rice University’s Jones’ School of Business, creating a course for second year MBAs, called “The New Food Economy.”