Joanne Bal
General Counsel, Corporate Secretary & Head of Impact
Joanne is inspired by Vital Farms’ mission, which aligns with her belief that the long-term sustainability of a business is inextricably linked to the long-term sustainability of its stakeholders – including people, hens and planet. She brings a breadth of legal experience and a passion for ethically produced food to her important work: leading Vital Farms’ legal and ESG strategy. Before joining Vital Farms, Joanne spent several years with Levi Strauss & Co, Applied Materials and other technology companies, and in private practice.
Stephanie Coon
Senior Vice President, Strategy
As the descendent of a dairy farmer, Stephanie has a connection to farming in her roots. Driven by a desire to make the world a better place, she brings that passion to Vital Farms, where she leads our Strategy function. Stephanie and her team lead the development of our long-term strategy and strategic initiatives that help enable us to build the most trusted food brand. Before Vital Farms, Stephanie held leadership roles with KIND Snacks, The Hershey Company, and McKinsey & Company, and volunteered with Technoserve in Africa, where she helped rural coffee farmers.
Joe holland
Chief Supply Chain Officer
As CSCO, Joe leads our supply chain and logistics, production operations, food safety quality assurance, dairy operations, and integrated business planning functions. Joe is inspired to be part of a company that truly values the stakeholder model, where every decision is made with the well-being of our farmers, crew members, customers, consumers, shareholders, communities, and the environment in mind. Joe has over 25 years of experience in various supply chain and distribution roles at leading CPG companies, including Dean Foods and Cadbury Schweppes.
Russell
Diez-Canseco
President and CEO of Vital Farms
Russell Diez-Canseco currently serves as President and CEO of Vital Farms – a Certified B Corp whose purpose is to improve the lives of people, animals and the planet through food. Since he joined Vital Farms in 2014, the company has developed sustainable relationships with over 350 family farms, met or exceeded all of its ambitious growth targets and built an award-winning egg washing and packing plant, Egg Central Station, in Springfield, Missouri. Under Russell’s leadership as CEO, the company’s commitment to its stakeholder model led to a successful public offering in July 2020. Prior to joining Vital Farms, Russell spent several years with McKinsey & Company, H-E-B Grocery and the Central Intelligence Agency.
Kathryn McKeon
Chief Marketing Officer
Kathryn has a personal and professional passion for the food system. As the marketing leader for Vital Farms, Kathryn loves that she has an opportunity to advance the importance of humane and ethical food production every day. She joined us in 2016 and has played an instrumental role in evolving the Vital Farms brand from an emerging name to a national leader in ethical products as well as initiatives including our Effie-award winning Bullsh*t Free campaign and industry-first Transparency product feature. Before Vital Farms, Kathryn held brand marketing roles at Mondelēz International, one of the world’s largest snack companies, and supported brand marketing for consumer household products including Starbucks Coffee, Stride Gum, Ritz Crackers, and Halls.
Matt O’Hayer
Founder, Executive Chairman and Director
What came first? We say the vision. Matt O’Hayer began Vital Farms in 2007 with just that. He founded our company to prove that it is possible to produce the highest quality food in an environmentally responsible manner from humanely treated animals on a commercial scale. And he didn’t do it alone – Catherine Stewart and 20 Rhode Island Reds were right there with him. Beyond more than 40 years of experience building businesses, Matt is an accomplished chef, an organic gardener and the founder and former president of the Organic Egg Farmers of America.
Peter Pappas
Chief Sales Officer
As the Sales leader at Vital Farms, Peter drives our mission forward by bringing ethical food to even more tables. His infectious energy, inclination to servant leadership and 30+ years experience working with consumer brands, grocery retailers and food manufacturers naturally equips him to lead sales for Vital Farms. But it’s his genuine enthusiasm for our mission and commitment to our stakeholders that sold us! Prior to joining Vital Farms, Pete spent the majority of his career with with PepsiCo, SABMiller, Dean Foods and Advantage Solutions.
Thilo Wrede
Chief Financial Officer
As CFO, Thilo leads our accounting, treasury, financial planning and analysis, information technology, and investor relations functions. Thilo was drawn to Vital Farms by our commitment to ethically sourced food and the purpose-driven company culture. Along with his genuine passion for food and bread baking (the products of which he enjoys sharing with friends and family), he brings with him almost 20 years of financial experience in CPG at PepsiCo and on Wall Street, as well as a strategy background from his years as a management consultant in Europe and New York.
REENA VAN HOVEN
Chief People Officer
Reena serves as Vital Farms’ CPO, leading the people development, total rewards, and people operations teams. Reena and her team continue to raise the standards on Vital Farms’ unique culture, engaging and developing crew members, and driving sustainable growth. She brings nearly 20 years of human resources experience at Fortune 500 Companies and purpose-driven brands, including Danone North America, Earthbound Farm and Deloitte.
