Naturally Chicago brings together entrepreneurs, investors, retailers and industry experts for one purpose: to make Chicago an epicenter for fast-growing natural products companies. Join us! Its industry leading board includes co-founders Brandon Barnholt, Executive Chairman of KeHE, Tony Olson, CEO of SPINS, and Bill Weiland, CEO of Presence Marketing.• Member benefits include: Access to educational and peer learning programs; Access to capital sources and leading-edge mentors; Curated networking opportunities with industry leaders; Connection to retailers, distributors and other buyers; Career Growth and professional development; and Access to service providers.

Good Food Catalyst is a non-profit organization that promotes Good Food on Every Table. It's three primary programs include: Good Food Accelerator, which supports entrepreneurs to scale up their food businesses, Good Food is Good Medicine, which educates people throughout Chicago about the connection between diet, nutrition, and health, and Good Food Farmer Training, which teaches people to be successful farmers.

Driven by the success of the amazing film, Fantastic Fungi is the premier brand in mushroom products. FantasticFungi.com sells an array of food, supplements, clothing and more in the online store. We also have developed and are selling a line of mushroom supplements to support human health.

Naturally Network is a non-profit that supports a national ecosystem to galvanize and grow the natural and organic products industry. We have chapters in Austin, Boulder, Chicago, Los Angeles, Minnesota, New York, North Bay, San Diego, and San Francisco. We serve those who wish to create a more conscious and regenerative economy and culture through the power of commerce. Our collective goal is to manifest meaningful change for our industry, our society, and our fragile planet

Greener Grazing is scaling up ocean based production of the seaweed, Aspargopsis Taxiformis. It is an additive that when fed to cows and other ruminants at a very low level, reduces methane emissions by 95% or more. It also dramatically increases productivity of cows and doesn't change the flavor of meat or dairy products from animals that are fed it. Livestock are responsible for 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

• Good Food Financing and Innovation Conference: In 2009 created the first large scale food financing conferences in America in partnership with the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business. Participating businesses have raised over $200 million in capital. Speakers have included Beyond Meat Chairman, Seth Goldman, Whole Foods Founder and CEO, John Mackey, KeHE CEO, Brandon Barnholt, Once Upon a Farm CEO, John Foraker, Farmers Fridge CEO, Luke Saunders, Simple Mills, CEO, Katlin Smith, New Hope Leader, Carlotta Mast, Vital Proteins Founder Kurt Seidensticker, Restauranter, Kimbal Musk and many other industry leaders.• Good Food Accelerator: Created America’s first food focused accelerator to support early stage entrepreneurs in partnership with Whole Foods Market. It was launchedt publicly with Whole Foods co-CEO, Walter Robb and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on stage and was the first non-tech accelerator at 1871, Chicago's innovation hub. The Accelerator has over 60 graduates, most of which are thriving. The Accelerators helps businesses launch, scale up, and get funded. Many of the graduates are women and minority owned businesses and program expansion will include more work with underserved entrepreneurs.

FamilyFarmed was a 501 c-3 non-profit whose mission is to expand the production, marketing and distribution of locally grown and responsibly produced food, in order to enhance the social, economic and environmental health of our communities. Its programs include: • FamilyFarmed provides technical assistance and training to farmers. We published Wholesale Success: A Farmer’s Guide to Selling, Postharvest Handling and Packing Produce. With USDA support we have trained more than 15,000 farmers in 43 states. • We worked with Whole Foods regional leadership to launch and scale their local program. We introduced their buyers to farmers and brands who became vendors, developed signage featuring local producers for all their stores, and mentored these businesses to help them scale up and fulfill the increased sales of their products.• The Good Food EXPO was held fifteen times in Chicago. It was the first major sustainable local food trade show in America. Buyers such as Whole Foods, KeHE, UNFI, McCormick Place, O'Hare Airport, Chicago Public Schools, US Foods, Compass Group, SYSCO, Kroger, Fortune Fish and Gourmet, Fresh Thyme, and more attend the show to develop new relationships. Producers have generated hundreds of millions of dollars in sales as a result of the show.• FamilyFarmed is transitioning the EXPO to provide large-scale buyers a curated opportunity to meet emerging brands, farmers, and other local food producers. • Good Food is Good Medicine has been a major educational component of the Good Food EXPO in recent years, providing attendees with workshops featuring medical professionals, nutritionists, and leaders in providing access to healthy food. We are exploring the development of a Good Food is Good Medicine Network to engage stakeholders in the region. It will create community-based programming as well as regionwide events to address the connection between nutrition and diet related disease and advocate for solutions.

Sustain was launched in 1996 and quickly became one of Americas’ leading environment advocacy groups and was lauded by Communication Arts as one of the top environmental ad agencies in America in its fourth year. Some of its most innovative campaigns include:• The Shut it Down Campaign was a multimedia effort using ads, rally’s and public relations to educate Chicagoans about a city-owned incinerator that released 150,000 pounds of lead into the air annually in a poor, African American neighborhood that had high levels of lead poisoning. The incinerator was quickly shuttered, and this success led to the creation of Sustain.• The Keep “Organic” Organic Campaign was developed with the Organic Trade Association and grassroots partners. It played a key role in protecting the integrity of organic food by generating 282,000 comments stating the irradiated, genetically engineered food grown is sewage sludge was not organic. As a result of the response, the USDA created much stronger organic standards.• The “Oil and Water Don’t Mix” campaign encouraged the Michigan legislatures to pass a law banning oil drilling on the shores of Lake Michigan.• In the “Recycle Congress” Campaign Sustain did a video investigation proving the US Congress only pretended to recycle. In reality they were throwing everything out in the trash. Sustain then developed an integrated campaign featuring a full-page New York Times ad and a press conference on Capitol Hill with five members of Congress. It generated tremendous media coverage and Congress developed an authentic recycling program.

Conscious Choice was one of the country's leading natural living publications. It was nationally recognized 9 times as a member of the "Best of the Alternative Press," during Jim's tenure. • The publication was acquired by Dragonfly Media in 2002 and it developed a chain of publications in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver, based on Conscious Choice. Jim was on the board of Dragonfly, which at its peak had 300,000 circulation.