Seanicaa Edwards Herron is a respected agricultural economist with 20 years of experience spanning across the academic, private, and government sectors. Pioneer and trailblazer, Seanicaa was the first Black woman to serve in the capacity of agricultural economist for the USDA World Agricultural Outlook Board, University of Missouri-Columbia Commercial Agriculture Program, and Informa Economics. Seanicaa is also a former USDA radio contributor on livestock markets and weekly briefings to USDA’s Secretary of Agriculture, Chief Economist, and top officials. Recognizing the unique challenges faced by Black farmers, Seanicaa now serves as Founder and Executive Director of Freedmen Heirs Foundation Inc, a nonprofit organization with a laser focus on transforming U.S. agriculture by bridging the gap between two worlds: Black farmers and the marketplace. Dedicated to a vision of eliminating inequities in agriculture, Freedmen Heirs Foundation’s mission is to provide Black farmers access to technical assistance, capital, and new market opportunities.

Scott Marlow is the CEO of Long Rows Consulting, providing education and policy analysis on farm financial crisis, credit, risk management, and disaster assistance, and their role in building global and community resilience. Scott previously worked with RAFI-USA, providing financial counseling to farmers in crisis, education on disaster assistance and credit programs, and policy initiatives addressing farm financial and environmental resilience. He has 10 years of experience as an operator on farm survival hotlines and has provided producer education and advising of nonprofit organizations on 18 hurricanes and multiple other natural disasters. He was a co-organizer of Farm Advocate Link, a network of farm crisis advisors based at Farm Aid. Winona Dorris is a business consultant with over 20 years of experience advising business owners on accounting, tax, and insurance with a focus on empowering communities who are more at risk for injustice. She is the great niece of Ed Scott, a Mississippi sharecropper and successful claimant of the Pigford lawsuit. Through her family history she understands the effect injustices have on generations of people stripped of their livelihood. Her cousins are now re-building the family farm legacy, and Winona is working to help farmers understand the importance of business knowledge and infrastructure in accessing opportunities. Her current work includes providing farm business trainings for California FarmLink and the Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture Veteran Farmer Training Program. She has a BA in Economics and Accounting from Claremont McKenna College, a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix, and a Graduate Masters Certificate in Taxation from Golden Gate University.