Bev Postma

Bev Postma is HarvestPlus’ Chief Executive Officer, leading the organization in strategy development and implementation, partner outreach and engagement, resource mobilization, and thought leadership.  She succeeds Dr. Howarth Bouis, the founder of HarvestPlus and a 2016 World Food Prize laureate. Postma has 25 years of experience as a policy expert in international food systems, nutrition and food security.  She comes to HarvestPlus after six years as founder and Executive Director of Singapore-based Food Industry Asia (FIA), a successful non-profit regional platform tackling food security, nutrition and regulatory harmonization.  FIA is known for fostering non-competitive dialogue and forging multi-sectoral partnerships between the major food companies and public sector affiliations, including the World Bank, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Health Organization, and the regional trade bodies, APEC and ASEAN. Postma was a founding partner of the Global Food Safety Partnership (GFSP) convened by the World Bank and a founding member of the Asia Roundtable on Food Innovation for Improved Nutrition (ARoFIIN).  She was also the recipient of 2015 prestigious Gold Standard Award for Professional Excellence. Postma’s experience with food and agriculture stems from her childhood growing up in a farming community in the UK.  After completing a Bachelor’s degree in marine biology, she spent 3 years as a PhD Research Assistant with the University of Liverpool before accepting a Technical Development role with the Isle of Man Milk Marketing Board.  This led to eight years with the UK National Farmers’ Union, including regional advocacy roles in the UK and Brussels.  During that time, she was a prominent spokesperson for complex trade policies and agriculture negotiations in the European Union.  Thereafter, Postma spent four years with Kellogg’s in Europe, and Syngenta in Asia.  At Syngenta, she worked with regional and country leadership teams in Southeast Asia to support social, environmental and economic benefits of crop protection and seed technology. This included the promotion of integrated food security initiatives with multiple stakeholders across Asia and beyond.