Garrett Ruhland
Dr Diana Oram
David Gauger
David Gauger is co-founded of Gauger + Associates, a marketing communications firm headquartered in San Francisco, California. The firm provides strategic planning, branding, package design, interactive marketing, content creation and advertising programs for a wide variety of visionary businesses. Much of the Agency’s work is for CPG and ingredient manufacturers in the health and wellness sector.
David has taught Green & Social Marketing, Advertising, Graphic Design and Advanced Visual Communications at the university level. His agency’s work has garnered hundreds of creative awards in the US, Europe and Asia.
Dale Pfost
Dale Pfost, PhD, has 35 years of experience as an entrepreneur, investor and business executive. His areas of expertise include biotechnology, high-tech, corporate strategy and corporate governance. Dale has been the founding CEO of five biotechnology companies, three of which became publicly traded with valuations of over $2 billion. Dale has successfully completed 22 financings with dollar totals in the hundreds of millions. He has overseen M&A deals for nine companies and served as a director at multiple public and private firms.
Dale was recently the US-based General Partner at Advent Life Sciences, a leading life sciences venture capital fund in London, and is the acting CEO of a microbiome company, Microbiome Therapeutics. Dale has extensive experience in successfully growing early-stage companies to exits via trade-sales or IPO, including Infinitek/Biomek (sold to SmithKline Beckman), Oxford GlycoSciences (eventual IPO), Orchid BioSciences (IPO), Acuity Pharmaceuticals (reverse merger to form OPKO Heath), Receptor BioLogix (sold to Symphogen).
He has served as a director at about 10 private and public firms, is the co-author of multiple scientific papers and an inventor on 10 patents. Dale has been active in supporting angel investors and local life science start-ups. He earned a BS degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a PhD in physics from Brown University. He has homes in New Orleans and Los Altos, California, and holds a private pilot license.
Caroline Beckman
Caroline Beckman is an American entrepreneur who began her career in the health industry during her teenage years. At 18 years old she joined Suja Juice, one of the fastest growing beverage brands in history, as a founding employee. After dropping out of university to pursue further health research, she was backed by tech entrepreneur, founder of PayPal, and first investor in Facebook, Peter Thiel. Currently 25 years old, Caroline has founded, advised and invested in over 10 food and beverage companies.
Caroline is excited to now introducing her new venture Nouri, a biotechnology company created to increase mental and physical health globally. Nouri is focused on innovating and delivering clinically-supported solutions to gut and brain health. Nouri's first consumer product line delivers proprietary probiotic blends encapsulated within plant-based omegas 3,6, and 9 (Ahiflower oil).
Ben Goodwin
Ben Goodwin is a Californian based product developer and entrepreneur who specializes in digestive/microbiome health and increasing the broad accessibility and scientific rigor of health oriented Consumer Packaged Goods. Now on his third digestive-health beverage venture OLIPOP, Ben has been a product formulator for over a decade with a specific focus on fiber/prebiotics, probiotics and scaled fermentation systems.
Ben’s passion for mass microbiome health stems from his own background making healthier dietary decisions as a teenager and the benefits he experienced in both his physical and mental health as a result. His life mission is oriented around increasing the accessibility and desirability of healthy packaged goods, and believes in a future where mass processed foods are as tasty as they are fundamentally healthy for the average person. In addition to health and wellness, Ben also has been DJing for over a decade and runs the electronic music site FWD.DJ.
For more information please see drinkolipop.com
Bala Ganesan
Aubrey Levitt
Aubrey is the co-founder of Postbiotics Plus, a microbiome start-up researching adjunct therapies that protect the gut from assault.
She previously founded a tonic and elixir company, Body + Eden, which was featured in Oprah Magazine, Elle, Well & Good and Japan Vogue and partnered with brands such as One & Only Resorts, Wallpaper Handmade, and The Tracy Anderson Method.
Aubrey speaks often about gut health and the microbiome, and has created courses for nutrition schools. She holds a BA from Boston University in Advertising and won an award for best women’s health resource while at Grey Healthcare. She also holds an MFA in creative writing and has been a guest lecturer on product adoption at the New School.
