July 27, 2021
![Meet the Natural Products Expo East 2021 NEXTY Awards judges Meet the Natural Products Expo East 2021 NEXTY Awards judges](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt09e5e63517a16184/bltbdce45465837861a/64ff198a00f78203799175cc/NEXTYAwardJudges_EE21_GalleryHDR.jpg?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
Kate Christian is the corporate sustainability manager for Eco-Cycle and a zero-waste authority on working with businesses and leading the charge on innovative projects around hard-to-recycle materials. She manages the organization’s Green Star Business program that pushes industries toward greater sustainability efforts by working with early adopters to share their knowledge and best practices to engage and encourage their peers. With a Master of Science in sustainable food systems, Kate is also Eco-Cycle’s in-house authority on food loss, food waste and packaging. Kate is a staunch believer that lost food and wasted resources are lost and wasted connections, and it is her passion to create lasting sustainable change in our food systems.
Elizabeth Earle has been with BFG since 2019. She currently serves as a board observer at Barnana, Curlsmith, 4th and Heart, Mid-Day Squares and Zitsticka and is an adviser to a number of other CPG businesses in the BFG ecosystem. She is particularly passionate about plant-based alternatives and sustainability broadly in the CPG world. Before joining BFG as a senior associate, Elizabeth worked in management consulting at The Parthenon Group and Parthenon-EY. Elizabeth is based in Seattle, Washington. Outside of the office, she is an avid cook, amateur runner and lifelong skier.
Sam Kressler is the owner of Stir Consulting, an innovation, commercialization and product development firm for the natural foods industry, specializing in organic and regenerative supply chains. Stir helps clients bring their products to market from ideation through scale-up to steady-state production, with a focus on flavor-first and ultra-clean label development. Prior to Stir, Sam spent several years at Boulder Brands where he oversaw commercialization for all Evol, Glutino and Udi’s innovation and renovation projects. Sam comes to this work as a classically trained development chef with extensive experience in both the culinary and CPG worlds and holds a master's degree in sustainable food systems from NYU.
Aryn Doll is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) with a Master’s Degree in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine from the University of Western States in Portland, Oregon. Originally an Indiana native, Aryn obtained her Bachelors of Science in Dietetics from Indiana University. Upon completing her undergraduate studies, Aryn went on to complete a clinically concentrated dietetic internship at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina. As the Senior Nutrition Education Specialist for Natural Grocers, Aryn enjoys living out her passion of teaching others about nutrition and inspiring families and individuals to live well and be well.
Ellie Mersereau is a sustainable sourcing manager for EarthHero, an online marketplace dedicated to sourcing the very best in sustainable and ethically made goods. Ellie focuses primarily on researching and vetting products and brands, ensuring that they meet EarthHero standards for supply chain transparency quality and impact. Originally from the East Coast, she graduated from Bowdoin College with a degree in environmental studies and visual arts.
Arron Mansika nurtured Naturally Boulder for more than 15 years, serving on the nonprofit's inaugural board of directors and eventually leading as inaugural executive director before stepping down at the start of 2021. Arron created the organization’s membership structure, financial model and operations while collaborating with highly effective boards of directors to establish strategy, programming and community culture. Leveraging that success, Arron co-created Naturally Network, a nationwide organization of interdependent Naturally affiliates with a mission to harness, accelerate and elevate the impact of conscious business practices in the natural and organic products ecosystem. Prior to his tenure with Naturally Boulder, Arron founded and operated Boulder’s Best Organics Inc., a pioneering internet-based gift-box company in 2006. Arron was selected as a finalist for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. He led the company through acquisition in 2009.
Stephanie Dobbie is executive director of Garden To Table, a nonprofit organization that provides gardens, curriculum and support to schools so that all students can participate in garden-based learning. With a passion for healthy, sustainable food, Stephanie brings 20 years of experience in education and nonprofit leadership to the table to create more sustainable and equitable local food systems. Stephanie has a strong background in environmental science including a recent deep dive into soil health and regenerative agricultural practices. Stephanie has served in board positions for the Rio Grande Community Farm, La Montanita Natural Foods Coop and the Flatirons Young Farmers Coalition. She is trained as a Colorado Master Gardener and a volunteer with Eco-Cycle’s Community Carbon Farming Campaign. Stephanie is committed to building community around learning, growing and eating healthy food to foster connections to nature, personal health and wellness and environmental stewardship.
Stephanie Dobbie is executive director of Garden To Table, a nonprofit organization that provides gardens, curriculum and support to schools so that all students can participate in garden-based learning. With a passion for healthy, sustainable food, Stephanie brings 20 years of experience in education and nonprofit leadership to the table to create more sustainable and equitable local food systems. Stephanie has a strong background in environmental science including a recent deep dive into soil health and regenerative agricultural practices. Stephanie has served in board positions for the Rio Grande Community Farm, La Montanita Natural Foods Coop and the Flatirons Young Farmers Coalition. She is trained as a Colorado Master Gardener and a volunteer with Eco-Cycle’s Community Carbon Farming Campaign. Stephanie is committed to building community around learning, growing and eating healthy food to foster connections to nature, personal health and wellness and environmental stewardship.
The NEXTY Awards is an awards program that recognizes the pinnacle of excellence in the natural products industry, elevating impactful brands and products that inspire a healthy, sustainable future for people and planet.
Winning a NEXTY can have a profound impact on a brand, offering newfound exposure to investors, retailers, distributors, media, influencers and more. The finalists and winners are chosen in a thorough a two-tier judging process held in the New Hope Network office in Boulder, Colorado.
Related: Everything you need to know about the NEXTY Awards
During the preliminary judging round, the internal New Hope Network content, marketing, standards and NEXT Data and Insights teams come together to whittle down hundreds of nominees to approximately 75 finalists. For the final judging round, New Hope Network invites a panel of industry experts to help the internal team select a single winner in each of the 23 categories. The finalists and winners are evaluated through deep discussion and debate on several criteria. These include written answers to what the company and product's innovation, inspiration and integrity is, the product's taste, ease of use, social and sustainability missions, diversity and inclusion practices, environmentally responsible packaging, labelling, brand storytelling, clean ingredients, nutritional quality and more.
Given the switch to hybrid in-person and virtual events this year, this edition of the NEXTY Awards was open to those natural products CPG brands exhibiting in-person at Natural Products Expo East and/or on the Natural Products Expo Virtual platform, as well as to nonexhibitors. The winners of this round of these highly coveted awards will be announced virtually just before Natural Products Expo East, held Sept. 22-25, 2021, in Philadelphia. Prior to this, the NEXTY finalists will be announced on Aug. 24, 2021, on newhope.com.
To help the New Hope Network team select the NEXTY Awards winners, an experienced group of seven industry experts will weigh in with unique perspectives on which brands deserve a NEXTY Award. With a wealth of experience in retail, investment, manufacturing, sustainability, branding and nutrition access, this year's judging panel uplifts the excellence of the NEXTY Awards.
Click through this gallery to meet the guest judges and learn more about the expertise they’ll bring to the Natural Products Expo East 2021 NEXTY Awards judging panel.
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