Erika is an international leader in sustainable agriculture and rural development with more than 20 years of experience spanning the private sector, government and international NGOs across Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. She holds an MBA from the University of Groningen and a MPA from Harvard University. Throughout her career, Erika has held leadership roles with organizations including Unilever, Syngenta, Dalberg and Olam Ventures. She specializes in designing commercially viable solutions that create shared economic, environmental and social value, strengthening the resilience and competitiveness of rural economies. In late 2023, she founded The Sustainable Smallholder, an innovation and strategy advisory that partners with companies, governments, investors and development organizations to design scalable solutions for sustainable agriculture and rural development. Through The Sustainable Smallholder, Erika has supported organizations including PepsiCo, Bloomberg Philanthropies and Danone. In addition, she serves on the boards of several agri- food and climate-tech start-ups, and is a Special Advisor to GrowAsia and to the EU CAP council, helping tailor policy and accelerate innovation and collaboration across the agricultural ecosystem.