Bio

Krystine McInnes is a pioneering entrepreneur, executive, CEO & Thought Leader in Sustainable Business, Sustainable Development and Local Food Systems. A University drop-out turned entrepreneur, she was the youngest ever member of The Executive Committee (T.E.C.), has been in leadership roles at an executive & CEO level for over a decade, chaired numerous boards for Regional Growth Strategies, Economic Development, Chamber of Commerce and more and is a lead mentor for Living in Balance, a private CEO and leadership program focused on board level mentorship for women entrepreneurs in Western Canada.

She made her first million dollars at 23 and lost her first million dollars by 27. In her own words, “nothing teaches you humility, leadership, let’s you find out what you’re really made of or grows your business acumen faster than losing millions” and refers to it as one of the best lessons of her career.

Her passion for social venture, social entrepreneurship and leading change through sustainable business led her into organic food production and local food systems. She is CEO of Athena Organic Farms, the largest organic vegetable farm in it’s region, located in British Columbia, and Grown Here Farms, her greenhouse division in the Vancouver area, with expansion facilities slated for numerous locations across North America.

With a vision to be the first Net-Zero Carbon Footprint farms, creating small-lot micro-farms that service regional food economies, scaled on a global level in a franchise-like structure. She echoes the words of UN Official Halal Elver (Special Report on the Right to Food), in stating that the answer to feeding the world is Agricultural Democracy - away from agro-industrial monoculture and towards small scale farmers using agro-ecological methods.

Her focus and insight on leadership in business comes with a refreshing and sharp in tuition, passion and dedication that have made her one of the most sought after board members, visionaries and leaders on AgTech, Agriculture, Local Food and Sustainable Business. She has been a keynote speaker for the Forbes AgTech Summit in California, Agri-Tech Investment Forum in Toronto, Agri-Tech TradeShow in Vancouver and a featured speaker for Success Connections, America’s Leading Business Optimizer.

Articles, Publications, Appearances