Our People

At MII, our mission is at the forefront of all we do, and we embrace integrity and bold creativity to reach our goals. We are approachable, collaborative, innovative, and climate-conscious. We are a small but mighty team, and are able to operate effectively with a lean staff through identifying collaboration opportunities and working with partners to achieve our goals. 

Our Team

Department

Nicole Rawling

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Cortney - MII People
Cortney Busch

Chief Operations Officer

Stephanie Jaczniakowska-McGirr

Director of Communications

Thomasine Dolan Dow

Director of Materials Innovation and Design

Alexis - MII Team
Alexis Vanderhye

Director of Foundation Relations

Claudia Erixon

Communications, Development and Admin Assistant

Interested in Working at MII?

If you are interested in exploring a career with MII, Please visit our Careers page to learn about available job opportunities.

Our INTERNS

Olivia Weathers

Research Intern

Momoko Ishii

Research Intern

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors, consisting of exceptional individuals, determines MII’s mission and purpose. They are responsible for fulfilling fiduciary obligations as MII’s highest leadership body and upholding our reputation. Our directors certify and oversee the organization’s services and programs.

Mii Board of Directors - Amy Rosenfeld
AMY ROSENFELD

Director

Senior Vice President, NBC Sports

MII Board of Directors - Elizabeth Novogratz
ELIZABETH NOVOGRATZ

Director

Founder and President at Species Unite

Jacqueline Kravette - Board of directors
JACQUELINE KRAVETTE

President and Director

Senior Account Executive, OpenTable

MII Board of Directors - John
JOHN BARTLETT

Director

Director of Fashion for Executive Education at Parsons/New School

MII Board of Directors - Kristy Stevenson
Kirsty Stevenson

Director

Global Human Rights & Sustainable Operations, HP

Linn Caudell - MII Board of Directors
LINNE CAUDELL

SECRETARY/TREASURER AND DIRECTOR

Senior Director of Finance, Integer Holdings Corporation

MII Board of Directors - Naomi Sachs
NAOMI SACHS

Director

Interim Chief Operating Officer, Joywell Foods

Advisory council

MII’s Advisory Councils include a variety of experts from around the world who advise and assist MII’s Board and staff. They are made up of distinguished founders, CEOs, consultants partners at major investment and venture capital firms, and experts in everything from finance and animal law to photography and synthetic biology.

Our three advisory councils are Brand, Investment, and Science and Technology.

Brand PartnershipS Council

Advisory - Alexandra Plante
Alexandra Plante

Principal at Playbook For Innovation

Advisory - Alison Rabschnuk
Alison Rabschnuk

Business Development Director at Plant Protein at Kerry

Barry McGeough

Global Vice President, Product + Digital Innovation

Advisory Council - Chase
Chase Kahmann

Innovation in Apparel and Footwear Specialist

Advisory - Christine Goulay
Christine Goulay

Founder of Sustainabelle Advisory Services

Donnie Brooks

CHIEF EXECUTIVE AT METRIC DESIGN LAB, LLC

Harrie Schoots

Textile Consulting dba Revive USA, LLC

Advisory - Jessica Kruger
Jessica Kruger

Founder of LUXTRA

Advisory - John Pletzke
John Pletzke

Former Global Sourcing at Kate Spade

Joshua Katcher Headshot
Joshua Katcher

Founder of Brave GentleMan | Cofounder of RIND by Dina & Joshua

Advisory - Karine Kiicak
Karine Kicak

Sustainability Manager

Kat Hoelck

Creative Director and Brand Strategist; Fashion Sustainability Faculty at Parsons School of Design

Advisory - Lauren Bright
Lauren Bright

Fashion Sustainability

Liz Alessi, Brand Partnership Council, MII, Headshot
Liz Alessi

Senior Consultant to the Executive Creative Director at Coach

Natalie, Material Innovation Initiative, Advisory Board.
Natalie Rawling

VP, Strategy - Worldwide Entertainment Relations at Gucci

Advisory - Pasha Whitmire
Pasha Whitmire

Material Development Leader at Gore

Advisory - Tara Luckman
Tara Luckman

Co-Founder and Director at Flourish CSR

Advisory - Tara St James
Tara St. James

Fashion Design & Sustainability

Advisory Council - Tina Bhojwani
Tina Bhojwani

Co-Founder & CEO at AERA

Investment COuncil

Advisory - Amy Trakinski
Amy Trakinski

Managing Director at VegInvest

Advisory - Corinna Chen
Corinna Chen

Partner at Material Impact

Advisory - Elise Bernal
Elise Bernal

Impact Finance Advisor & Investor

Advisory - Heather Courtney
Heather Courtney

CEO at Alwyn Capital

Advisory - Karla Mora
Karla Mora

Founder & Managing Partner at Alante Capital

Advisory - Macy Marriott
Macy Marriott

Director at GlassWall Syndicate

Advisory - Mark Langley
Mark Langley

Managing Partner at Unovis Asset Mgmt. & New Crop Capital

Advisory - MIchiel Van Deursen
Michiel van Deursen

Vegan Investor at Capital V

Advisory - Taylor Davis
Taylor Davis

Specialized Investment Research at Slate Path Capital

Science and Technology Council

Advisory - Amy Landis
Amy E. Landis

Professor. Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

Advisory - Claudia Richardson
Claudia Richardson

Material Innovation at Allbirds

Advisory - David Kaplan
David Kaplan

Ph.D. & Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Advisory - David Kolesky
David Kolesky

Biotechnology & Entrepreneurship

Advisory - Erin Rees
Erin Rees Clayton

Associate Director of Science & Technology

Advisory - Helen Zha
Helen Zha

Recombinant Silk Protein

Advisory - Jayaranjan Anthonypillai
Jayaranjan Anthonypillai

Co-founder & Managing Partner at Focus Academy

Advisory - Lauren Demody
Lauren Dermody

Synthetic Biology

Laurent Vandepaer
Laurent Vandepaer

ESG Explorer

Advisory - Lewis Shuler
Lewis Shuler

Head of Innovation at Alpine Group

Advisory - Noeemi Kaufmann
Noëmi Kaufmann

Circular Economy & Agricultural Side Stream Valorization

Ranjani - People
Ranjani Theregowda

Environmental Data Scientist

Advisory - Sandra Bohne
Sandra Bohne

Natural Fibers & Waste Valorization

Sydney Gladman

Advisor

General Advisors

Our general advisors counsel us on our programs and initiatives. MII recognizes their vital contribution to raising our profile publicly and is grateful for their continuous support.

Camilla - MII People
Camilla Souza

Operations Advisor

Patrons - David Meyer
DAVID MEYER

CEO at Food Systems

Jennifer Wynn

People Strategist

Patrons - Josh Hanosh
JOSHUA HANOSH

Founder of Dedicated Designs

Patron - Liz Friedland
LIZ FRIEDLAND

Brand, Marketing & Communications Strategist

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