DREAMERS & DOERS

After years of study and gathering support from inside and outside the region, Jonathan is turning his dream of a high-tech farming hub in Appalachia into reality. Before founding AppHarvest, Jonathan worked with the U.S. Department of Defense on a massive solar project to help achieve a White House goal of ensuring the military’s hundreds of installations receive 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025. In February 2017, encouraged by investors, advisers, and politicians of both parties, Jonathan left Washington and came home to Eastern Kentucky to start a new kind of farm and turn Appalachia into the AgTech capital of America. He has a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Kentucky.

David joined AppHarvest in 2020 to develop strategy and engage in operations management, leading the sales, marketing and finance functions. Prior to joining AppHarvest, he served as chief financial officer of Impossible Foods. He is credited with significant growth accomplishments, including securing more than $1.3 billion in funding to accelerate manufacturing, product development and distribution into key national grocery, restaurant, and hospitality venues; and to expand in international markets. Lee also served as Impossible Foods' chief operating officer from 2015 to 2019, during a period of significant transformation. Prior to his work there, he served in leadership roles at Del Monte Foods, Zynga and Best Buy.

Loren joined AppHarvest in 2019, bringing more than 13 years of experience in finance and accounting. He most recently served as Vice President of Finance at Famous Brands International, the parent company of Mrs. Fields and TCBY, and held prior roles at Ernst & Young, Summit Rock Advisors, and FTI Consulting. Loren holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Kentucky and a master’s in accounting from the University of Notre Dame.

Josh joined AppHarvest in 2021 upon the company’s acquisition of robotics and artificial intelligence farming startup Root AI, the leading agricultural robotics firm he co-founded in 2018. Josh launched Root AI, which developed a universal harvesting robot, to help farms gather more data about their crops, precisely predict yields and optimize overall operations to allow people to focus on more complex tasks. Josh started the company after nearly five years as director of research and development at Soft Robotics. He holds a Ph.D. in biophysics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Brown University. He also served as a postdoctoral fellow in materials science and robotics at Harvard University.

Travis joined AppHarvest in 2020 after serving in a number of global communications roles in Paris, Tokyo, and Nashville with the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance — most recently as Vice President for Nissan Americas and President of the Nissan Foundation. Prior to his work with Nissan, Travis held public relations leadership roles with companies including General Motors, Ally Financial, Pulte Homes and Lockheed Martin. An Appalachian native, he holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Tennessee and a master’s degree in communications management from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

Prior to joining AppHarvest, Jackie served as Chief Sustainability Officer at The Carlyle Group and as Senior Director for the Environmental Defense Fund, where she created a partnerships program that helped reduce environmental impact at global icons including McDonald’s, Starbucks and FedEx. In recognition of her efforts, she received the White House Presidential Environment and Conservation Challenge Award. She holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Yale University and master’s degrees from both the Yale School of Management and Yale School of the Environment. Jackie has served on the boards of numerous nonprofits, including the Appalachian Mountain Club, Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability, and Conservation International’s Center for Environmental Leadership in Business.

Dave has more than 15 years of experience at every stage of entrepreneurship, having co-founded several technology, agriculture, and energy startups. He began his career in socially responsible investing in 2005, working on carbon credit projects in developing countries under the Kyoto Protocol. Dave then transitioned from carbon trading to clean-tech finance, leading the development of clean-tech projects ranging from energy to agriculture. Dave holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from the University of Delaware and an MBA with distinction from Columbia University.

Prior to joining AppHarvest, Headley was an Executive Vice President of Bentall Kennedy, a North American real estate advisor with over $33 billion of assets under management in the US and Canada. While at Bentall Kennedy, Headley led marketing and product development for the MEPT fund platform, a US core real estate fund strategy with over $7.5 billion in net assets and 300+ institutional investors. In addition to being one of the largest private equity core funds in the US, MEPT set itself apart by maintaining a strong commitment to sustainable investment practices. It was consistently ranked as one of the most sustainable real estate funds by GRESB, both in the US and globally. Headley was also responsible for the development, structuring and marketing of MEPT Edgemoor, a private REIT launched in 2010, and he drove the international expansion of the Bentall Kennedy/MEPT investor base, raising over $1 billion of investor capital from Europe, Canada and Australia.

Headley joined Bentall Kennedy through its 2015 acquisition of Landon Butler & Company (LBC), an investor relations and marketing firm that co-founded the MEPT core fund strategy in 1982. At the time, Headley was President and CEO of LBC. Bentall Kennedy was subsequently acquired by Sun Life of Canada, after which Headley served on the Bentall Kennedy US Senior Management Committee as well as the MEPT Policy Board.

Headley received an M.A. in International Relations and Economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a B.A. from Duke University. In 2020, he joined the AppHarvest team as Head of Corporate Development. With this move, Headley follows up on his previously instrumental work in developing AppHarvest’s first controlled environment agriculture facility in Morehead, KY.

Christopher joined AppHarvest in 2020 to oversee construction and commissioning of new facilities. An Appalachian native, he has worked around the world overseeing the development and construction of buildings, including state-of-the-art fulfillment centers incorporating complex automation and technology solutions.

His decades of experience include leading facility programs and business development for companies such as CBRE, as well as information technology distribution companies Ingram Micro and BrightPoint. Christopher served in a variety of leadership roles over two decades for Ingram Micro and BrightPoint, which was acquired by Ingram Micro for $650 million in 2012.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Ball State University’s Miller College of Business.

Kaveh joined AppHarvest in 2021, bringing extensive experience in the finance departments of publicly traded companies, particularly in the areas of Investor Relations and Financial Planning & Analysis. Kaveh started his career as financial trader and since then he’s served in finance leadership roles for United Airlines, Essendant, Inc. and Fortune Brands Home & Security. Kaveh holds a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

A Kentucky native, Amy’s focus includes community partnerships and educational programs. Prior to joining AppHarvest, Amy provided operations management for a regional land trust in Kentucky and she spent several years with The Nature Conservancy. In support of university extension, Amy has also provided community planning outreach and research coordination. Amy holds a bachelor's degree from Clemson University and a master's degree from the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment.