The Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems welcomes Rockefeller Foundation President Rajiv Shah for a discussion about the future of food. Shah will highlight the Foundation's new food initiative underway to reimagine global food systems that can provide sustainable, healthy food for our planet and he will share strategies to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular SDG 2, eliminating hunger in the world.

Following his opening remarks, Rajiv Shah will be interviewed by Swette Center Executive Director Kathleen Merrigan. Audience participation will include brief perspectives from select ASU experts and a general question and answer period. After the program, all participants are invited to a reception to continue the conversation and enjoy the rooftop views.

Rajiv J. Shah was named by the Rockefeller Foundation as its thirteenth president in January 2017. Shah has over twenty years of experience in business, government, and philanthropy. As USAID Administrator from 2009-2015, Shah elevated the importance of innovation and promoting public-private partnerships to deliver stronger results to end extreme poverty. Two significant priorities – Feed the Future and Power Africa – are a credit to Shah's ability in forging collaboration. Shah's work delivered results for countries facing democratic transitions, post-conflict situations, and humanitarian crises, and is widely credited with providing life-saving access to food, health, and water for millions of children across the planet. In addition, Shah helped create the National Institute for Food and Agriculture while serving as Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics and Chief Scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Kathleen Merrigan was appointed inaugural director of the new ASU Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems in August 2018. Previously she was executive director of sustainability and Food Institute director at George Washington University. From 2009-2013, she served as Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and she has held a variety of policy leadership positions at the federal and state level.

About the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems

Established in 2017, the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University develops innovative ideas and solutions to the many challenges of current food systems. The Swette Center takes a holistic approach in research and policy design, encompassing water and energy use, carbon footprint and nutrition, innovations in food policy, and the well-being and livelihood of farmers and others working in food systems. The Center will educate the next generation of changemakers through innovative degrees and executive programs in sustainable food systems.

About the Future of Food Series

During the 2018-19 academic year, the ASU Swette Center will host five invitation-only forums on the future of food. In these forums, leaders will explore a range of issues, from new industry dynamics, to agtech innovations, global food security challenges, ecosystem services, and more. These events are designed to provide insights for policymakers in Washington DC and allow them to explore, through high-level conversations, cutting edge topics that have the potential to transform the food and agriculture sector.