Bowery Farming’s Katie Seawell joins TFFJ’s board

Today, Teens for Food Justice (TFFJ) welcomed Katie Seawell, Chief Commercial Officer at Bowery Farming, the largest vertical farming company in the United States, onto its Board of Directors, where she will help further the organization’s mission of making healthy, nutritious and sustainably grown produce available to public school students located in food desserts. 

"I've long admired and supported the work and mission of Teens for Food Justice and am thrilled to join their Board of Directors," said Seawell. "Together we will work toward building a just food system for all and expanding healthy food access in underserved communities. Bowery is committed to addressing health, hunger, and nutrition across the U.S. and I'm excited to work with TFFJ to tackle food insecurity."

TFFJ Founder and CEO Katherine Soll said,“We are delighted to have Katie join our Board of Directors and continue our ongoing partnership with Bowery to address long standing food inequities in high-need areas. Katie brings with her an impressive knowledge of the country’s current agricultural landscape, sustainability, and food deserts, which will no doubt make her an invaluable addition to our board.”

In her role at Bowery, Seawell spearheads efforts to build its commercial presence in new markets and grow the business with existing customers. As part of this work, Seawell drives market/channel strategy, product pipeline development, brand building and Bowery’s go-to-market playbook. Central to Bowery’s mission is creating an enduring brand that democratizes access to high quality, safe and delicious produce grown in a more sustainable way. In support of this objective Katie also leads Bowery’s public policy and community impact work. She co-founded aGirlculture, a women’s development network at Bowery and serves as the group’s executive sponsor.

Previously, Seawell spent 14 years at Starbucks, where she held a variety of senior leadership roles within brand, marketing and product. She has driven successful brand campaigns, developed complex go-to-market strategies and integrated marketing campaigns, and led product innovation. In these roles she was a member of Starbucks’ U.S. Leadership Team. Most recently, Seawell served as Senior Vice President of Siren Retail Operations where she helped lead the company’s efforts to re-imagine the coffee retail experience with the launch of Starbucks Reserve Roasteries, including market launches in Shanghai, Milan, New York City and Tokyo.

About Teens for Food Justice

Teens for Food Justice (TFFJ) operates high-capacity hydroponic farms on six school campuses across four New York City boroughs and Denver, Colorado. TFFJ students use real-world 21st-century science and technology to grow up to 10,000 pounds (per school) of hydroponic produce annually. Through the program, TFFJ’s farmers develop a meaningful solution to food insecurity, transform their relationship with the food they eat, and develop cutting-edge STEM skills needed in a new green sector economy.

About Bowery

Founded in 2015, Bowery is reimagining the entire food supply chain, by growing fresh, wildly flavorful, pesticide-free produce in its network of smart indoor environments that operate 365 days a year, independent of climate events.

Wherever food is needed, Bowery can grow it. By building farms in communities across the U.S., and eventually the world, Bowery aims to bring more food to more people in more places, securing food for our growing population and our future.

At the heart of Bowery is the proprietary BoweryOS, which integrates software, hardware, sensors, AI, computer vision systems, machine learning models, and robotics to orchestrate and automate the entirety of its operations. As a result, each smart indoor environment creates far less waste and uses a fraction of the water and land compared to traditional agriculture.

Based in New York City, Bowery is the largest vertical farming company in the United States, providing high-quality, local, safe and sustainable produce to major e-commerce platforms, such as Amazon Fresh and Fresh Direct, as well as more than 1,400 grocery and specialty stores in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, from Whole Foods Market to Walmart.

Bowery has raised more than $497 million in equity funding from leading investors, including Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, Temasek, GV (formerly Google Ventures), General Catalyst, GGV Capital, First Round Capital, and individuals including Jeff Wilke, as well as some of the foremost thought leaders in food, including Tom Colicchio, José Andrés, and David Barber of Blue Hill.

Photo: Katie Seawell

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