MANNA TREE PARTNERS - Key Persons
As Manna Tree's marketing manager, Allison is committed to breathing new life into the firm's events and marketing initiatives. She joined the firm in 2021, drawn to the team's energy and mission to improve human health.
Before joining Manna Tree, Allison founded and managed her own marketing and events consultancy firm, supporting small business owners in the Vail Valley. Prior to trading skyscrapers for mountains in 2018, she worked at a marketing agency in Chicago.
Allison graduated from Columbia College Chicago with degrees in photojournalism and advertising. She studied abroad in Barcelona, Spain, where she explored the world of international business and brand identity.
Originally hailing from the hearty Midwest, Allison dreamed of expanding her world beyond the cornfields, seeking adventure and skipping the butter. At a young age, she discovered her passion for photography and set her sights on art school in the bustling streets of Chicago. Allison has always been drawn to an active lifestyle, playing soccer and coaching swim. Outside of the office, she loves to hit the slopes, hike 14ers, mountain bike and river surf.
Job Titles:
- Managing Partner
- Member of the Leadership Team
Allyson believes that how people choose to nourish their minds, bodies, and souls is reflected in their ability to discover their best selves. She supports her life by eating nutritious and straightforward food, building strength and stamina through exercise, doing challenging and meaningful work, creating good vibes by spending time outdoors with the sun on her face, and playing in the snow. Most importantly, she wants to spend time with family and close friends. These are the factors that lead to a fully healthy life.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Strategic Relationships
Atwood, known as ‘Attie,' Hoffman is Vice President of Strategic Relationships at Manna Tree. Prior to joining Manna Tree, Attie served as an investment advisor in the Asset & Wealth Management division at Goldman Sachs, where she worked with ultra-high net-worth families and individuals. Before Goldman Sachs, Attie worked for J.P. Morgan where she was a trader on the EMEA Institutional Equity desk in London, following her role on the Americas Institutional Equity desk in New York. As a trader, Attie focused on U.S. and Pan-European institutional equities with a concentration in the healthcare and consumer sectors.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Investments
Carley spent her formative years in Kansas, where she learned to appreciate being outdoors while hunting, fishing, horseback riding, and exploring the Flint Hills region. She found that her experiences outdoors fostered a respect for the resources nature provides and recognized how it created deeper relationships-not just with the outdoors, but also with individuals, the community, and her spirituality.
After earning her BBA in Finance and Accounting from Texas Christian University, Carley earned her Master of Accounting at TCU, with a concentration in valuation and financial reporting. Before joining Manna Tree, Carley was a senior associate with KPMG in their Dallas, Texas Deal Advisory practice. She has also been a Certified Public Accountant for four years.
Energized by the mission of Manna Tree, Carley joined the team in 2019. She believes that the source and quality of food contribute significantly to a person's overall health and well being and that investing in a high-quality life creates an opportunity for the highest quality output. She finds her love of nature and her education and expertise in finance truly intersecting with her work at Manna Tree, where she collaborates with the team to identify, execute, and manage investment opportunities and work with current portfolio companies.
Carley currently lives in Colorado and is excited to bring her love of the natural world and outdoor activities to the mountains. So far, her favorite location to hike in Colorado is the Pitkin Lake Trail, but she is always exploring for more adventures.
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- Vice President, Investments
Drew Connor is a Vice President at Manna Tree and is responsible for all aspects of growth equity investments, including due diligence, transaction execution and investment monitoring.
Prior to joining Manna Tree, Drew worked at Proterra Investment Partners, an alternative investment manager focused on private equity investments in food and agriculture. Previously, Drew was a member of the Consumer group at Harris Williams. He also worked in corporate finance roles at several companies across the consumer space, including General Mills and L Brands. Drew graduated from the Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics.
In his free time, Drew enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter, getting outside for a bike ride or round of golf, and exploring new restaurants.
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor, the Carlyle Group
Emily believes a life well lived starts with the community and how well individuals can work together. She has a unique background in the dairy and beef industries and loves to show a cow as much as she likes a hike. Her love of agriculture started with her experiences growing up on a farm in southwest Wisconsin.
Emily has been very focused on a career in agriculture since her college years when she pursued a double major in Dairy Science and Agribusiness at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. She received her Masters of Science in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University and an MBA from the Kelly School of Business at Indiana University.
Before Manna Tree, she joined ABS Global Inc. as a Genetic Management Systems (GMS) Processing Manager for the Dairy Genetic Services department. During her time at ABS, Emily had the opportunity to travel the world to work with ABS sales representatives, distributors, and customers, training them on the GMS program's technical aspects. She was also the Business Lead for the $700K Genetic Services software rewrite project to update, improve, and expand upon genetic improvement tools.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Managing Partner
As the co-founder and managing partner of Manna Tree, Ellie is a passionate investor focused on improving human health. Manna Tree invests in growth stage businesses transforming the food supply chain for healthier outcomes. Ellie is a member of the firm's Executive and Investment Committees. She shapes the firm's vision strategy and investment products and develops Manna Tree's global network. For the past 10 years, Ellie has studied the evolution of the food and beverage supply chain, as well as the increasing consumer demand for healthier alternatives.
Prior to founding Manna Tree, Ellie helped develop the impact investing thesis for a family investment office well known for ESG driven strategies. As part of new product development for the office, she helped launch the first ever arctic asset manager based in Alaska. This established her early belief in the power of impact investing to address social challenges without sacrificing returns, as well as the importance of energy and food as asset classes.
In 2022, Ellie was honored to be appointed to the Alaska Permanent Fund Board of Trustees. As part of her role of trustee, she sits on the Governance Committee which reviews the Board of Trustees Charters and Governance Policies and recommends proposed changes to the full Board for approval as necessary to ensure that the Charter remains relevant and appropriate.
In addition to her role at Manna Tree, Ellie is an active philanthropist. Through her family office, Mission: Ingredients, Ellie drives positive change in global population health. She supports ingredient research, outdoor wilderness, youth education, and military health and recovery programs.
Job Titles:
- Founder, R Squared Strategic Solutions Health - Ade Board Member
Job Titles:
- Vice President and Dean of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University
Job Titles:
- Director of Finance and Accounting
As Manna Tree's director of finance and accounting, Katie provides strategic direction to help maximize the firm's growth and enhance its financial position.
Katie is a firm believer that health and wellness begin at the most elemental level. By making more conscientious choices when selecting foods, choosing to walk or bike instead of drive, and serving as a healthy role model for the next generation, she strives to make meaningful improvements to her own health and the health of others.
Prior to joining Manna Tree, Katie helped grow the private equity team at MG Stover, a leading fund administrator. It was there that she discovered her passion for helping emerging fund managers launch products and solve problems. Katie's past experience also includes working at Equity Group Investments, a private investment firm. She began her career at Deloitte in Chicago.
Katie has an undergraduate degree in accounting as well as her Master of Business Administration from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.
Katie lives in Denver with her husband and two daughters. She enjoys backpacking, traveling, hiking, skiing, cooking and sharing a drink with friends. Because she believes the best days are those that leave her both mentally and physically challenged, she can often be found in pursuit of endorphins, whether from skydiving or hiking the Highlands Bowl.
As an Executive Assistant at Manna Tree, Kayla supports the firm's Managing Directors.
Prior to joining Manna Tree, Kayla worked in financial services and the HR business partner space at Transamerica and Janus Henderson.
Kayla is originally from Kenosha, Wisconsin. She holds her bachelor's degree in Business Administration, with an emphasis in Human Resources from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. She relocated to Denver, Colorado and loves everything the city and mountains have to offer.
Kayla was drawn to Manna Tree's mission, as she shares a similarly aligned passion for health and nutrition. She switched to a plant-based diet to support her active lifestyle and energy levels. In her free time, Kayla enjoys playing golf, spending time outdoors, hiking and skiing. Kayla also loves to travel and experiencing new cultures.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Investor Relations
An active lifestyle fueled by nutritious food and time outdoors is not a choice for Lindsay, it is in her DNA. She attributes her acute awareness of food source and quality to her early years spent gardening and raising cattle. Her love for winter and snow sports is rooted in her native state of Minnesota but ultimately led her to Colorado. With over ten years of operational, strategic, and investor relations experience, she has paired her pursuits of mountain life, clean nutrition, and investments on the Manna Tree team as Vice President, Investor Relations.
Ms. Nistler has a BS from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and an MBA from the University of Colorado. She has honed her finance, private equity, and relationship management orientation working at Fast Enterprises, MG Stover & Co and Baceline Group. Lindsay's go-to approach is building authentic relationships and anticipating investor's needs.
In her free time, Lindsay enjoys time spent outdoors with friends and family. Living her fullest life in Colorado also includes cooking with friends, training her bird dog (a black lab named Lou), and of course, skiing as much as possible.
Maggie Maloney is a dedicated and accomplished finance and operations professional with valuable experience in private equity.
Prior to Manna Tree, Maggie served as an Associate in Finance & Operations at Delta-v Capital, a Denver-based firm specializing in venture capital and private equity investments. In her role at Delta-v Capital, Maggie was responsible for a wide range of critical financial and operational tasks.
Prior to joining Delta-v Capital, she served as a Senior Associate and Associate in Private Equity & Venture Capital at MG Stover & Co., where she gained valuable experience in preparing and reviewing accounting data for numerous client engagements. She also played a pivotal role in preparing quarterly net asset value reporting, capital call, and distribution calculations. Her ability to draft annual financial statements and coordinate year-end audits with clients and independent auditors reflects her comprehensive financial expertise.
Maggie's academic background is equally impressive, having earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Colorado at Boulder's Leeds School of Business. Her double emphasis in Accounting and Finance laid a solid foundation for her career in the financial services industry. Additionally, she holds an Associate's Degree in Accounting from Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kansas.
Beyond her professional achievements, Maggie is an active and passionate individual. As an avid runner, she frequently hits the roads and trails, often accompanied by her beloved dog, Avery.
As an Executive Assistant at Manna Tree, Makayla supports the firm's co-founder and managing partner Ross Iverson and also assists with external vendor oversight and internal employee development initiatives.
Prior to joining Manna Tree, Makayla managed the custom sales department at SYNC Performance, a snow sports apparel provider. There, she provided personalized account management and customer service to over one hundred clients. Before SYNC, Makayla worked as an Executive Assistant at IDEXX Laboratories, where she helped support the Chairman and CEO.
Makayla holds her Bachelor's Degree in Economics from Colby College.
Growing up, Makayla spent the majority of her time competitively alpine ski racing in the mountains of Maine. As a trained ski racer, she gained a love for the outdoors, and learned the importance of nutrition and fitness at an early age. These priorities have carried over into her adult life, as she remains active and committed to fueling herself with whole-food, plant-based nutrition.
In her free time, Makayla continues to enjoy skiing, as well as running, mountain biking, cooking and spending as much time as possible with family and friends.
Job Titles:
- CEO, Johnsonville Verde Board Member
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- Managing Partner
As co-founder and managing partner, Ross co-chairs Manna Tree's investment committee and drives the firm's investment strategy through his leadership of Manna Tree's investor relations team.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Investments
Ryan has spent the majority of his career in private investments, investing hundreds of millions of dollars across the world, with the last few years solely dedicated to food and food-adjacent investments.
Prior to Manna Tree, Ryan led investments for 301 INC, General Mills Venture Capital Arm. In his tenure at 301 INC, Ryan led and exited a significant number of direct and fund investments across the food ecosystem, serving on boards and working with founders to drive value beyond investment. With these investments, Ryan helped advance food security through technology enabled companies, led a consortium of investors to fund a plastic recycler promoting the circular economy, and worked to further promote more equal access to capital across the venture ecosystem, to name a few. Through his work and success at 301 INC, Ryan was nominated as a Global Corporate Venturing Top 50 Rising Star. It was at 301 INC where he ignited his passion for food and the important role private capital plays in promoting access to healthy and accessible options.
During his time at General Mills, Ryan ran the global, multi-billion dollar portfolio of private investments inclusive of private equity, venture capital, real estate, energy, and infrastructure. Ryan also worked in investments at Ameriprise, a financial services company based out of Minneapolis.
Ryan lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with his wife, Amelia, and their goldendoodle, Maple. Ryan is an avid dirt biker, skier, and road biker - really anything that involves adrenaline. Ryan holds a Bachelor's Degree in Finance from Iowa State University and an MBA from the Opus College of Business at St.Thomas.
Job Titles:
- Leader
- Managing Partner
- Member of the Leadership Team
Steve Young is a leader in the global food and beverage industry, with over 25 years of experience in both large companies and small emerging brands focused on health and wellness and driving change in our broader food system.
Prior to Manna Tree, Steve served as the Chief Executive Officer of Bellisio Foods, the third largest manufacturer of frozen meals in North America. Bellisio has deep roots as an entrepreneurial, disruptive business, dating back to its origins in Duluth, Minnesota over 50 years ago. The company has a portfolio of businesses in the branded, co-manufacturing and foodservice spaces - with strong relationships across all retail channels. Bellisio was acquired in 2018 by CP Foods, a global food leader based in Bangkok, Thailand.
Steve served as the EVP, Managing Director for Sunrise Strategic Partners, a $200+ million venture fund based in Boulder, CO that provided growth capital and operating expertise to emerging brands in the consumer products space. Steve worked with founders and management teams across ten portfolio companies to scale their businesses, including the IPO of Vital Farms. In doing so, he helped to advance their missions across essential opportunities like organic acreage conversion, non-GMO, and grass-fed/pasture-raised.
Steve had a successful general management career at General Mills, leading businesses across all segments including cereal, snacks, yogurt and baking. He also served as leader of General Mills' broader $800+ million portfolio of natural/organic brands, including the Annie's acquisition, a pioneering organic food company that General Mills acquired in 2014. In addition, Steve spent five years working abroad with Cereal Partners Worldwide, General Mills' joint venture with Nestle, in Australia and Switzerland, where he led Global Marketing.
Steve lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with his wife, Denise, and their six kids ranging in ages from 12 to 22 (cue the "Brady Bunch" theme song). He is an avid cyclist, hiker and loves the outdoors - from the lakes of Northern Minnesota to the mountains and ski slopes in his original home state of Montana. Steve holds a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Montana and an MBA from the Anderson School of Business at UCLA.
Job Titles:
- Director, Business Development
Sylvio has more than 25 years of international experience in the food and agriculture sectors. Prior to joining Manna Tree, he held operations and business development roles with Cargill and Syngenta and was a Managing Director at Wheatsheaf Group (Grosvenor), where he oversaw the North America Food and AgTech portfolio. Sylvio founded his own consulting company, Green Prairie Consulting, to advise investors and start-ups in the food and agriculture sectors. He was also a member of the Kirchner Group, where he advised global, innovative food companies.
Sylvio serves as a mentor for innovative start-up companies such as TechStars "Farm to Fork" Accelerator and Plug and Play Agriculture Technology.
Sylvio has a Bachelor's Degree in Agronomic Engineering from the Universidade Estadual Paulista in Brazil and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
As part of a third generation of family farmers in Brazil, Sylvio was fortunate to have grown up with the freshest possible food. He believes that everyone should have convenient access to healthy food that is produced through sustainable and regenerative practices. As a member of Manna Tree's Investments Team, Sylvio works very close to the portfolio companies to support portfolio value creation.
Sylvio lives in Minneapolis with his wife and two teenage boys. He and his family enjoy exploring the outdoors together, either fishing and kayaking on the lakes, or out on the golf course.
Job Titles:
- Director of Portfolio Growth
As Director of Portfolio Growth, Tyler's role is focused on driving growth across our portfolio of investments.
Tyler Mayoras has over 25 years of private equity experience. Over the past 15 years, Tyler's investments have increasingly become focused on investing in both sustainable and nutritious food and beverage companies. In roles with Beyond Impact and Advantage Capital, Tyler invested in future of food companies such as Wicked Kitchen, Soli Organic, Navitas Organics, Renewal Mill, Geltor and Farmhouse Culture.
Tyler is based in Chicago, Illinois. Outside of work, you can usually find Tyler rollerblading on the Chicago lakefront, or hanging out with friends and family in Old Town.