PRESIDENT

Tom Miller worked in various management and leadership roles at the Weyerhaeuser Company for 30 years. He was posted abroad in Indonesia, Uruguay and China. Tom, who got his start in forestry as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras, has been a member of Tropics Foundation board since 1995.Tom is a graduate of the University of Idaho with a BS in forest management and an MS in Silviculture. He is also a graduate of the Stanford Executive Program.

TREASURER AND SECRETARY

Michael Stimpert is a former agribusiness executive with extensive experience in export trade as well as oilseed and poultry processing. He is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University and earned an MBA from Harvard University. He has held leadership positions in various industry associations as well as civic, educational, and non-governmental organizations. He is also the president of Fundatrópicos, a Costa Rican foundation providing financial support to CATIE.

DIRECTOR

A former diplomat credited with catalyzing public-private partnerships, building networks and coalitions, and driving strategic initiatives at state, national and global levels. Global experience spans Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe. Personal mission is to build awareness and drive collective action toward a sustainable economy that protects people, wildlife and nature.

DIRECTOR

Allen Terhaar is president and CEO of Terhaar Global Advisors based in Hedgesville, West Virginia, USA. Terhaar spent his career in international agriculture and trade, particularly grains and cotton. His has extensive exposure to temperate and tropical agriculture, including working with small-scale coffee and livestock production in South America. A native of Minnesota, Terhaar holds a B.A. in International Development/Economics from the University of Minnesota and an M.A. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Wisconsin. Terhaar was a University of Minnesota scholar to Hungary and a Fulbright scholar to Poland.

DIRECTOR

Ted Grover is the President of Educational Services Group, Inc. (ESG) in Princeton, New Jersey. ESG has been providing financial services to overseas schools and universities since 1999. Prior to joining ESG, Grover was the Executive Vice President of Finance at International Schools Services, Inc. He has an MBA from Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science.

DIRECTOR

Rick Peyser is Senior Advisor at Food4Farmers. Prior to his current role, he managed Lutheran World Relief’s coffee and cocoa relationships between 2014-2022. Before his work at LWR, Rick led Keurig Green Mountain’s Supply Chain Community Outreach efforts, where he worked for close to 27 years. He served as President of the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), the world’s largest coffee trade association, as a member of the Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International (FLO) Board of Directors for 6 years, the Root Capital Board of Directors for 6 years, and currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Food4Farmers (a NGO he co-founded), The Coffee Trust, Project Alianza, and New Hampton School. Rick co-authored “Brewing Change: Behind the Bean at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters” (2012), and is a Gund Global Affiliate at the University of Vermont’s Gund Institute for Environment.

DIRECTOR

Dr. Muhammad Ibrahim has been the Director General of CATIE since March 2016. Born in Guyana, he gained his PhD in the field of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at Wageningen Agricultural University. He is a globally recognized leader for innovation and development in sustainable and climate smart livestock.

DIRECTOR

DIRECTOR

A successful entrepreneur, corporate team member and organizational leader, Greg has a passion for “making a difference” and building organizational and corporate value. He is a team builder, known for assembling world class talent and like minded individuals committed to excellence, professionalism, and delivering results.

In addition to running Corridgeree Belize, an integrated vanilla, cacao and hydroponic greenhouse operation in southern Belize that is transitioning to regenerative agriculture principles, Ruth has worked all along the cocoa supply chain including being a strategic cocoa buyer for Nestle USA, monitoring trading and sustainability for Armajaro, and working on the production side after running two large coconut/citrus operations in Belize. While at Armajaro she set up St Vincent Cocoa Company and was one of the key architects of the USAID funded Peru Cacao Alliance. Ruth started her career in soft commodities at CSR Ltd, Australia’s largest sugar company managing a futures and fx book. Australian by birth, she has a Degree in Agricultural Science from the University of Queensland and a Masters of Commerce from the University of New South Wales. In addition to serving on th Tropics Foundation board, Ruth sits on the board of Swisscontact North AmericaSenior.