Mark Nelson Email & Phone Number

Mahomet, Illinois, United States

Led Resourced through an establishment phase in which it was awarded more than a dozen grants and asset contributions exceeding $30M, meeting and exceeding reporting expectations of its funding and development partners. Any potential relationship needs to be structured appropriately to effectively deliver the Resourced vision as well as to assure compliance and protect reputation. •Designing, resourcing, and implementing multi-stakeholder programs that significantly impact the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and value chain entrepreneurs through effective business practices, technology, environmental stewardship, and partnerships. • Managing complex, multi-location, and multi-cultural teams of contractors, consultants, and value chain experts to realize timely development outcomes that meet the growing global demand for food, feed, fiber, and renewable energy.• Ensuring strong results by integrating commercial expertise with development know-how in agricultural systems and by fostering strong and productive public-private partnerships that drive long-term opportunities.

Urbana-Champaign, Illinois Area

Building strong, ongoing relationships with domestic and international clients—ranging from biotech multinationals to influential foundations to leading food companies—to understand their needs and to design and implement consulting approaches that meaningfully illuminate and address their challenges and opportunities. • Providing project oversight by assembling, leading and inspiring teams ranging from 5 to 50 consultants, analysts, subject matter experts and/or contractors on large-scale agricultural consulting projects that address client-tailored geographic, functional and industry-segment needs.• Spearheading multiyear agricultural development engagements, including the execution of 30+ value chain studies across seven Sub-Saharan African countries and development of strategy recommendations on large-scale (>$10M) grants in 2014. • Designing innovative solutions to deepen clients’ understanding of their value chains, including the creation of a syndicated, quantitative market reports business to address an information void in the global field and vegetable crop seed industry, and the subsequent sale and successful transition of this business—Global Seed Market Database (GSMD) and the Global Seed Sector Outlooks (GSSO)—to GfK, Germany’s largest market research institution, in 2013.

Des Moines, Iowa Area

Provided strategic and management consulting and market research casework on >200 agricultural client engagements in seeds and traits, seed treatment, crop protection, equipment, precision ag, renewable fuels, and produce marketing sectors. • Delivered strategic perspectives on client pathways toward outperforming the competition and realizing tangible business gains, generally ranging from $10–$100 million, with a focus on market assessment, competitive landscaping, option evaluation, technical development and policy direction. • Conducted market valuation, attractiveness and opportunity screenings to identify and prioritize new opportunities for clients—such as technology development, acquisition, alliance, licensing and public-private partnership targets—and developed comprehensive business plans and pro forma financials. • Designed product/portfolio management plans to identify core customers/stakeholders and their needs, assess commercialization requirements and risks, and execute value-based pricing tactics, which included identifying a 10%-20% value-capture pricing opportunity for a major seed company’s $500 million business. • Implemented process-improvement initiatives for clients, including mapping and improving processes, benchmarking performance, and establishing appropriate metrics and systems.• Directed competitive and market intelligence efforts that consistently and credibly identified industry or segment drivers, competitive trends, and potential disruptors or pipelines within global agricultural production and distribution systems.

Ithaca, New York Area

Evaluated risk management tools, namely crop insurance products, and developed materials and decision aids to assist field crop producers in making informed crop insurance decisions. Researched feed industry utilization of dairy co-products from cheese manufacturing with conclusions to provide direction on future research efforts for expanded utilization of co-products.

Des Moines, Iowa Area

Six Sigma Black Belt, 01/2000—07/2001One of 50 employees leading implementation of Six Sigma initiative, which surpassed its goals for revenue growth and cost savings. Guided acquisition integration efforts on three to four project teams each year, bringing together separate $100 to $200 million business and helping streamline processes and operations. Developed implementation and communication plans to build management support for project team recommendations. Developed control plans to sustain gains of project team recommendations.Alfalfa and Sorghum Planning Analyst, 05/1998—01/2000Coordinated and maintained volume plans for alfalfa and sorghum businesses. Developed and production plans for 10 worldwide production locations. Analyzed and minimized risk in sales and production variability to reduce discard of surplus inventory, thereby reducing cost of goods sold.• Promoted to Senior Analyst in 2000.• Surpassed goals in improving planning processes.

Master Of Science (M.S.), Agriculture & Consumer Economicis

Bachelor'S Degree, Agricultural Economics