We are delighted to announce that Dr Simon Eassom has joined the Food Frontier team as our Executive Director.
As a seasoned educator, business executive, and futurist, Simon brings to Food Frontier extensive experience spanning academia, the corporate sector, and non-profit peak bodies.
With a PhD in applied ethics and a background in health and nutrition, Simon led a distinguished career as a university professor in the UK and taught courses on subjects including environmental ethics, sustainable agriculture, and deep ecology.
His lifelong interest in technology and future thinking led him to join IBM and work in several executive roles across IT, education, smarter cities, and other domains. Simon has been an in-demand thought leader on the use of Big Data, predictive analytics, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence and has consulted on the impacts of technology on the futures of work, learning, health management, and food.
With a long-standing interest in sustainable food, both Simon’s personal and professional alignment with Food Frontier was immediately clear to Chair and Founder Thomas King.
Thomas says, “As an experienced leader, strategist and systems thinker who cares about driving positive health and environmental outcomes, Simon’s experience and values are an exceptional fit for a pragmatic and purpose-driven think tank like Food Frontier. I’m excited by how he can enable our talented team while advancing our thought leadership.
Simon was likewise drawn to the organisation and impressed by what it has achieved to date. He has watched the emergence of the alternative protein market with interest, both as a consumer and a futurist.
He says, “We are at the start of a significant era of human social evolution brought about by exponentially accelerating technological innovation.
“Fortunately, the convergence of multiple new technologies has come at a time when the issues facing the future of humanity are requiring bold and innovative solutions not previously conceivable.
“Re-thinking our food systems and the increased provision of quality protein to supply a burgeoning demand and a growing global population is not a trend; it is an absolute imperative. I am thrilled to be joining Food Frontier at this inflexion point in history and excited by the journey ahead of us and the vital contribution Food Frontier and its partners can make.”
Simon will lead the Food Frontier team in delivering our research reports, forums, the AltProteins 23 conference and key engagements across industry, academia and government.
Thomas, the board and the Food Frontier team welcome Simon’s expertise as an academic and business leader, his passion for the field, and Vesta, his two-year-old Bernese mountain dog.