Throughout her 30-year career as a journalist, analyst, business manager and community leader, Carlotta Mast’s purpose has been to catalyze business communities in service to people, planet and purposeful prosperity.

Carlotta currently serves as the SVP of Global Community and Content Strategy at Informa Markets, a global events, media and information services company. In this newly created role, she applies the extensive experience she gained using content, partnership and purpose to build and strengthen the New Hope Network to support and innovate within other Informa Markets businesses.
For 16 years, Carlotta worked in senior leadership roles within the New Hope Network business, which serves the natural, organic and conscious products industry. As SVP and Market Leader, she was responsible for the growth and impact of New Hope’s portfolio of events and content-focused products. The portfolio included Natural Products Expo West, Newtopia Now, newhope.com, Nutrition Business Journal, NBJ Summit, Natural Foods Merchandiser, Nutrition Capital Network and the new Beacon Discovery product intelligence platform.
Carlotta is board chair of Naturally Colorado, a 1,600-member trade group with the mission of nurturing community, leadership and innovation in the Colorado natural products industry. From 2016-2018, she served as Naturally Boulder’s board president and brought the Naturally model to other communities to establish Naturally Bay Area, Naturally Austin, Naturally Chicago, Naturally San Diego, Naturally Los Angeles and Naturally New York City. She now serves on the board of directors for the national Naturally Network, is co-chair of Naturally Conscious Business Working Group and is writing a book with Eric Schnell and Marci Zaroff about the transformative potential of conscious business.

In addition, Carlotta is a co-founder of the J.E.D.I Collaborative, which was created to foster justice, equity, diversity and inclusion within the natural & organic products industry. She has also served on the boards of the Climate Collaborative, whose mission is to leverage the power of the natural products industry to reverse climate change; Organic Voices, a non-profit created to tell the story of organic and fuel consumer and retail interest in and trust of organic products; and the Supplement Online Wellness Library (OWL), an industry-led platform to increase product transparency within the dietary supplement industry.

A Natural Products Industry Socialpreneur with 20+ years launching new brands. From startups to exit, Eric is a Visionary Disruptor with deep experience creating mission-based products. Eric is the recipient of the 2007 “Sustainable Business of the Year Award”, 4 time Annual Winner BevNET.com & 2 time Annual Beverage Digest “Best Product of the Year Awards” – an annual a Top 50 Beverage World Magazine “Disruptor” and serves as a Nutrition Capital Network Selection Committee Member.

In 2015 Eric co-founded cannabis venture mood33, marketing next gen beverages to consumers seeking the benefits of this healing plant in a new delivery format, and launched visionary agency BeyondBrands with wife, Eco-Fashion pioneer, Marci Zaroff. BeyondBrands is a “Conscious Products” consulting agency and accelerator which focuses its Super-Tribe of experts on advising entrepreneurs, CPG brands and VCs in need of developing better-for-you, products in Food, Beverage, Fashion, Beauty, Plant Medicine & Nutraceuticals. Launched 2019, the first company incubated from within was Good Catch, a plant-based seafood brand, and in 2020 plant-based frozen wrap brand Cool Beans which launched nationally in Sprouts Market.

Glenn Cunningham is the Center Store Director for Village Supermarkets, which operates under the Shop-Rite, Fairway, and Gourmet Garage banners. He oversees the merchandising and strategic planning for Grocery, Dairy, Frozen, and General merchandise. With over 25 years of experience in the retail grocery industry, Glenn is also a lead buyer specializing in identifying and sourcing the latest trends for his stores.

Loan has been with FreshDirect for 5 years. During her tenure, Loan has been a strong contributor to the Center Store Merchandising team, having previously managed Frozen, Baby Boutique, and Pet Shop categories. In her current role, she is managing assortment selection, pricing and promotional strategies, and Shopper Marketing programming for the Dairy & Perishables categories.

Holly Long, originally from Whitman, Massachusetts, is a Principal Forager for the Local & Emerging Brands Team at Whole Foods Market. Holly's culinary journey started in kitchens, where she worked as a Pastry Chef and Sous Chef in restaurants, hotels, and catering companies. From there she joined the Bakery team at Whole Foods Market, where she lead Research & Development initiatives, fostering connections with suppliers before eventually moving into a Foraging role. Over her more than two decades time at Whole Foods Market, Holly has been has been discovering local and emerging brands and supporting community connection through taste of place as a Forager. She holds an Associate’s Degree in Baking & Pastry Arts and a Bachelor's in Foodservice Management, graduating Magna Cum Laude from Johnson & Wales University.

Passionate about community engagement and promoting local brands, Holly mentors emerging suppliers and collaborates with Category Merchant Teams to highlight local products through marketing and events. She also serves as an industry expert and engages with the local and emerging supplier community through various platforms, including trade-shows, supplier summits and the Local and Emerging Brands Accelerator Program (LEAP).

Outside of work, Holly enjoys watching her sons play sports, hiking with her dog, and indulging her passion for cooking, baking, and sharing food with loved ones – including her homemade limoncello. Additionally, Holly is a Founding Board Member of Naturally New England and a Corporator for Walden Mutual Bank, furthering her commitment to supporting local businesses in the community.