Karín has been involved with Lumana since the beginning and was part of the founding team during pilot and phase I: 2009-2010. She currently serves on Lumana’s Advisory Board as a SME on field operations strategy and execution, donor and brand strategy and is involved in shaping Lumana’s organizational structure, strategic plan and stakeholder management approach. Before joining Accenture, a management consulting and technology firm, she spent five months in Atorkor, Ghana mapping the processes and systems to achieve Lumana's expansion goals and to facilitate management from overseas. She is known for her focus on process improvement and enjoys working directly with clients to create strategic and sustainable business solutions. Karin holds a BA in Business Administration from the University of Washington, Seattle and has international experience in market research, operational strategy and small business management.

Eric Appesland has been involved with Lumana since 2009 and was a co-founder during pilot phase II. He spent 5 months on the ground in Ghana to grow the business and today remains a member of the Board of Directors to facilitate continual strategic growth. Before joining Hitachi Consulting, a management and technology consulting firm, he spent 8 years in the financial services industry including management of offshore customer service centers in the Philippines, investment vehicle research, and deployment of financial products for underserved populations in developing countries. Eric has a B.A. in Finance and Information Systems from the UW Business School in Seattle.

George Economy is Director of Amani Holdings LLC, Bainbridge Island, WA, a private investment fund, where he manages the investment portfolio. He is also spearheading an initiative to develop and finance scalable, replicable models for community based social ventures in developing countries related to health, nutrition, agriculture/agribusiness, education, and safe water systems. George brings thirty years experience in the private sector as an investment banker for The Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, Frankfurt and London. He brings his experience as an entrepreneur in the technology and food sectors to his current work with NGOʼs and social ventures at an early stage of commercial development to achieve financial sustainability, scale and/or integration into regional, national and global supply chains. He founded and was CEO of Helios Nutrition Ltd., a company that became the nationʼs largest producer of organic kefir, a high value-added, specialty dairy beverage. He currently works on several projects in collaboration with Paul Polak, founder of International Development Enterprises. George was Lumana's primary advisor during the UW Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition this March and continues to coach the team in strategic planning and development.

Jane Atkins holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and is currently completing her mastersʼ thesis in Forestry and International Development at the University of Washington. Her research is focused on interactions between the timber industry and cocoa farmers in Ghanaʼs Ashanti region. She believes that increasing productivity on existing farmlands is an essential component to reducing pressure on Ghanaʼs remaining forest resources. Microfinance is the perfect vehicle for empowering farmers in rural areas, increasing livelihood security and improving land stewardship. In addition to her current work, Jane has three and a half years experience in the non-profit sector, working in community development and environmental education in Central California.

Helena Bottemiller is a Washington, DC-based reporter who covers food policy, politics and regulation for Food Safety News as its Washington Correspondent. After years of being a self-described food policy wonk, Helena delved into the food safety world for the first time while writing her thesis on the politics of food regulation at Claremont McKenna College in Los Angeles, where she graduated with a degree in Government. Starting in June 2009, Helena has been working with Lumana to coordinate media relations for several of Lumana's big events.

As a Program Planner at Aerojet General Corporation, an aerospace company in Redmond, Washington, Tiffany Wong is spearheading Lumana’s strategic marketing plan. Tiffany received her MBA from the University of San Francisco in May 2009 and subsequently joined the Global Partnerships team, a Seattle-based microfinance organization working in Latin America, where she conducted institutional investor research. That work led her to three months in Europe, where she gained an insider’s look at European development financial institutions. Upon her return to Seattle, she coached several global teams at the University of Washington Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition (GSEC) where she met Sammie Rayner. She is passionate about social justice issues in developing settings and has worked for Amnesty International.