About our Team at COSA - Committee on Sustainability Assessment

theCOSA.org COSA™ Committee On Sustainability Assessment A consortium of institutions that promotes sustainability in agriculture with credible and globally comparable information based on quantifiable evidence from actual practice.

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About our Team
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	Daniele Giovannucci is the President of the Committee on Sustainability Assessment, a network of global partnerships that are both its strength and a hallmark of its participatory processes. Since co-founding the Committee in 2006, he has led its broad base of scientific supporters and institutional partners to create a learning environment for improving the understanding and management of sustainability. Among the first proponents to recognize and advocate the use of market mechanisms as drivers of sustainability, Daniele has served in a number of senior advisory roles with global firms, governments, and United Nations agencies. Since he began working actively on sustainability issues in 1992, he has designed and-or managed projects in more than 30 countries. Most recently, in 2011-12, he led the global teams formulating the input on “Food and Agriculture: The future of sustainability” for the United Nations Division for Sustainable Development. Daniele’s enthusiasm for the pragmatic use of research stems in part from his early 15 year career as a business executive where he led innovative and profitable firms involved in diverse endeavors from large-scale processing and fresh fruit exports in Latin America to small-scale retail chain management in the U.S. In the1990s he left the private sector to test and scale-up different approaches to sustainable enterprise in developing countries and went on to serve as the global project leader for The World Bank’s landmark “Guide to Developing Agricultural Markets and Agro-enterprises” and as Senior Consultant for the Bank’s Markets and Agribusiness Thematic Team. The world’s number one ranked Social Science Research Network lists the downloads of his published work in the top 1% of the more than 210,000 professional authors it tracks (Ranking Web of World Repositories). His research on markets and agro-enterprise has been translated into a number of languages and his newest work is the SD-21 Report for UN DESA (Sustainable Development in the 21st Century with co-authors Le Blanc, Dodds, Costanza, Howells, Nkonya, Roehrl and Taipale: http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sd21.html)
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	Nicola Francesconi is the Director of Research for the Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA). He has advanced methods of action-oriented research in developing countries to evaluate and guide agricultural development practices. His noted research skills blend experimental and non-experimental impact assessment as well as organizational and value chains diagnostics. His approach to understanding both learning and impact pathways - particularly among producer groups - enables more effective use of research to accelerate agricultural innovation. Dr. Francesconi previously led field research efforts in several African countries for the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and is the founder and coordinator of the IFPRI-Dakar Stakeholder Group. His experience includes professional residencies in Ethiopia (3 years) and in Senegal (5 years). “We are advancing two key parts of the COSA mandate”, states Dr. Francesconi, “First, is designing ever simpler tools that are always grounded in credible science and second is identifying the optimal “learning pathways” within producer groups, firms, and value chains so that we can help transform COSA’s world-class diagnostics into effective decision-making tools for better management.” A respected scholar for his award-winning research, he regularly addresses international conferences and is fluent in English, Italian and French. His most recent publication is: "Ethiopian Agricultural Cooperatives in an Era of Global Commodity Exchange: Does Organizational Form Matter?" (Journal of African Economies). He holds an MSc in Food Quality and Agribusiness Management from Saint Anna University, Pisa-Italy and a PhD in Development and Institutional Economics from Wageningen University, The Netherlands. He is based in Senegal where he lives with his family.
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	Mica Bennett is the Project & Institutional Development Coordinator for the Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA), and brings 25 years of senior level management experience to her work. Ms. Bennett coordinates COSA’s relationship with The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and was an affiliate researcher for the Consultative Group on International Research (CGIAR). Ms. Bennett has an Masters of Business Administration from Cornell University and an Masters in International Development from University of California at Davis. She previously served in the State Auditor General’s Office, as advisor for the California State Legislature, and was Manager of the Decision Support section at the California Franchise Tax Board. She has conducted field work and resided in Africa, Asia and Latin America. She currently lives in the United States.
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	Cherie Kyer-Fosnaugh is the Learning Officer for the Committee on Sustainability Assessment. Her unique background in teaching and using cutting-edge technology in a private firm makes her especially well-suited to facilitating effective learning around the sometimes complex issues of sustainability. She coordinates COSA’s global projects and outcomes to ensure that a virtuous learning circle happens between COSA partners, clients, and stakeholders. Cherie has coordinated engineering teams for a leading global security and aerospace company as a Master Planner and as a certified advanced Six Sigma business management strategist. As a Science teacher and department head, she served to horizontally and vertically align the science curriculums throughout the department and facilitated cross-departmental learning practices.
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	Kraig Kraft is a Project Leader for the Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA) currently seconded as Principal Investigator for the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Kraig coordinates the development of COSA tools for business in close partnership with the IFC and a global trading company. He coordinates COSA’s development of innovative field Monitoring and Evaluation practices and manages their testing. His objective is the standardization of a streamlined system that firms can use for easily evaluating and managing their best practices in sustainability. The benefits of such a turn-key system are credible stakeholder reporting and low-cost of time and investment. Mr. Kraft is the co-author of a book on climate change and food, Chasing Chiles: Hot Spots Along the Pepper Trail. He holds a PhD in Agroecology from the University of California- Davis, is fluent in English and Spanish, and is currently based with his family in Nicaragua.
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	Gabriela Soto is Central America Project Coordinator and the liason for the Committee on Sustainability Assessment with CATIE (Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza). Gabriela has considerable experience as a researcher in soil science and the impact assessment of certification. For more than 10 years she has taught Soil Ecology and Agroecology as a professor at CATIE and she is the Coordinator of the Agriculture Ecology Master Program there. Ms. Soto has considerable experience in the practicalities of farming and certifications. She has been elected Vice President of the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM), has directed a farmer-owned National Certification Agency in Costa Rica. and was an inspector for a variety of certification programs. Ms. Soto is a noted leader in argroecology and serves on boards and advisory panels of many leading institutions in the fields of both ecology and agriculture. She resides in a rural community in Costa Rica.
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	David Cuming is the Communications Coordinator for the Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA) and brings a broad experience in communications and a dedication to sustainability and social justice from diverse contexts, including politics, advocacy and law. His passion for issues related to sustainability in agriculture was galvanized while working on consumer issues in Canada and he went on to be the Campaigns Manager for Consumers International, based in London. He began working with the Sustainable Commodity Initiative in 2007, contributing to COSA’s efforts in that group. Mr. Cuming also contributes to projects in the University of Bologna’s Department of Agricultural Sciences and co-coordinates the IFAD-funded project entitled “Strengthening Smallholders Access to Markets for Certified Sustainable Products (SAMCERT).” He holds Civil Law and Common Law degrees from the University of McGill and is fluent in English, French and Italian. David resides with his family in Bologna, Italy.
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	Ron Kopicki is a Senior Advisor for the Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA). He contributes to its strategic planning and advises its client engagements worldwide. Ron brings 40 years of experience to the organization in pro-poor economic development, agricultural investment, and supply chain and agro-industrial development. Ron worked more than two decades as the Supply Chain Advisor for both the World Bank in dozens of countries and was Director of the FAO Investment Centre. He developed both the policies and the practical structures for investment in new supply chains, agri-industrial clusters and agribusiness incubators. He also assisted more than a dozen countries in privatizing their state-owned companies. COSA also benefits from Ron's senior management experience as an executive in the private sector. Ron holds AB and MA degrees from Cornell University and an MBA from Stanford, and he lives in the US with his wife, Anne.
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	Udo Höggel is the Training Advisor to Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA). Decades of experience are evident in the array of thoughtful tools and approaches that he makes available to COSA trainers. Even COSA's most experienced trainers find his input valuable so they can more effectively prepare institutional partners and surveyors to conduct COSA research. His extensive linguistic and field experience in Asia and Africa deepen his sensitivity to clients and help ensure the most appropriate approaches are taken regardless of the country or situation.
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	Amy Childs is the Systems Coordinator for the Committee on Sustainability Assessment, and in this role she ensures efficient coordination of resources and COSA’s fiscal structures. Since 1991 Ms. Childs has worked as a professional organizer, a teacher and a financial adviser. She has been a passionate volunteer in a variety of settings and roles, from board involvement to working with abused children and fundraising. While working with the Hunger Project - a global organization aiming to end of world hunger –she became acutely aware of the complex issues of poverty and hunger, and eager to participate in developing strategic solutions to these pressing problems.
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	Summer Allen is the Latin America Coordinator for the Committee on Sustainability Assessment (COSA). Her extensive international work experience with agencies such as the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the US Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service contribute to a global perspective on the complex issues of agricultural sustainability. Her work in various settings from Brazil to Tanzania has stimulated a broad understanding of the diverse sustainability challenges that inform her policy and research work. Her projects have featured many diverse partnerships with groups such as Brazil's EMBRAPA and the CGIAR Challenge Program on Water and Food. She most recently partnered with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) on the role of public services in increasing agricultural productivity and incomes. Summer has specialized in particular, on the linkages between water resources and rural poverty. She is the recipient of several awards and research grants including the Hemispheric Institute of the Americas Research Grant; International Agricultural Development Fellowship from UC Davis; Jastro Shields Research Scholarship; and the recipient of multiple environmental protection awards for outstanding work with the US EPA. She has presented her work at multiple international conferences including the World Water Week in Stockholm and the conference of the International Association of Agricultural Economists. Her most recent publication (for IFPRI and with Ulimwengu and Badiane) is "Government Expenditures, Social Outcomes, and Marginal Productivity of Agricultural Inputs". She holds a MS in Agriculture and Resource Economics, a MS in International Agricultural Development (both from University of California, Davis), and a PhD from the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development of Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany.
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	Nick Reddel is the Information Technology Lead for the Committee on Sustainability Assessment. An Australian, Mr. Reddel has also worked extensively in Europe and the US designing advanced systems for data capture and data management. These custom systems provide critical advantages for COSA to be efficient in its field work and in the structuring and security of its considerable data from countries, firms and farmers. With the COSA team, Mr. Reddel has developed COSATouch to greatly improve fieldwork and the structures to store and analyze large data sets. He contributes his technical expertise to the COSA team from his home in the US.
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