Team Category: Leadership

Ashleigh is the former Director of Congressional Relations at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Based in Washington, Black is a member of the United Nations HIV and Nutrition Inter-Agency Task Team, a co-chair of the Kansas Governor’s Humanitarian Commission, and a member of the President’s Advisory Board at EARTH University in Costa Rica.

Before joining the Council, Black served as Associate Director at the George Washington University Center for Global Health and taught courses in George Washington University’s Master’s in Public Health program. She previously worked in the policy division of the Rome-based United Nations World Food Program, as a senior policy analyst at the Global Health Council, and as a legislative aide on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Black earned a BA in Journalism and Spanish Literature at the University of Kansas and a Master’s degree in State Management and Humanitarian Affairs at the Universita degli Studi di Roma, La Sapienza in Rome.

Rafael is the Vice-President – Food for Development for Tetra Pak, based in Stockholm, Sweden. In his global role, he is responsible for leading the Food for Development team, providing value-added support to Tetra Pak customers and developing partnerships with Governments, NGOs, UN, and International Development Agencies with the objective of implementing sustainable school feeding and nutrition programmes linked to local agricultural development.

Rafael has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the Wayne Huizenga Business School at Nova Southeastern University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Loyola University New Orleans with specialization in International Business. He has more than 20 years of experience in international business development with a specialization in creating public-private partnerships to address food security and nutrition challenges.

Prior to his global role, he held various positions as a Commercial Director and Food for Development Director responsible for Latin America. Under his responsibility, he has led the collaboration with NGOs, UN, and International Development Agencies such as: GCNF (Global Child Nutrition Foundation), UN World Food Programme, FAO, SUN (Scaling Up Nutrition Business Network), GAIN (Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition), LA-RAE (Latin American School Feeding Network), INCAP (Nutrition Institute of Central America & Panama), Sida (Swedish International Development Agency), GIZ (German Agency for International Cooperation), Venture Dairy, Bureau of Nutrition & Development, Feed the Children, Heifer International, among others.

He has been involved in the collaboration and development of new school feeding programmes linked to local agricultural development in 18 countries and led the team that successfully implemented dairy development projects linked to smallholder farmers in Bangladesh, Nicaragua, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Albania, and Uganda. In 2021, 66 million children in 44 countries received milk and other nutritious beverages in Tetra Pak packages in school.

Kate is a distinguished global policy expert, revered thought leader, and passionate advocate for pioneering, collaborative solutions aimed at fortifying systems and advancing the health and well-being of individuals worldwide. Her extensive career trajectory most recently culminated in her role as the Vice President of Global Public Policy & Issues Management at Cargill.

With a profound understanding of intricate global policies, Kate has consistently driven initiatives that transcend boundaries, emphasizing innovative strategies that uplift communities and prioritize the holistic welfare of diverse populations. Her tenures at Cargill and the United States Department of Agriculture underscore her exceptional leadership, where she navigated the intersection of public policy and global issues, orchestrating transformative approaches to address complex challenges.

Ronald is Physician in Chief Emeritus of the Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Charles Wilder Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Kleinman’s major areas of research interest include gastrointestinal immunology, nutrition support of infants and children, and nutrition and public health policy.

Dr. Kleinman’s professional affiliations include the American Gastroenterological Association, American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD), North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN), and American Pediatric Society/Society for Pediatric Research. He is the author of more than 150 peer-reviewed publications, chapters, monographs and 4 textbooks.

Dr. Kleinman was a founder and past president of the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. He has been a member of the Medical Advisory Group on Diet and Nutrition Guidelines in Cancer for the American Cancer Society, the National Cholesterol Advisory Committee of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, a member of the Institute of Medicine committees on Standards for School Meals and Obesity Prevention for young Children, member of the Board of Directors for the David Ortiz Childrens’ Fund, the Global Child Nutrition Foundation, the ILSI Research Foundation, the U.S. Fund for UNICEF New England Regional Board, the Massachusetts General Hospital Physician Organization and Chair of the Board for Project Bread. He was the Chair of the NIH/NICHD Workshop Planning Committee for the Dietary Guidelines: Birth to 24 Months. Dr. Kleinman is a member of the External Advisory Board (EAB) for the Obesity Research Center at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Kleinman served as Chair of the Committee on Nutrition for the American Academy of Pediatrics and is the author of the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh editions of the Academy’s textbook, Pediatric Nutrition, and served as the Editor-in-Chief for Current Pediatrics Reports.