Alan Willits
Chairman of the Board

Mr. Willits was elected to the Board in July 2018. From June 2014 to September 2018, he served in various senior management positions at Cargill Asia Pacific, including Chairman, where he lead Cargill’s Agriculture Supply Chain business in the Asia-Pacific region. He was responsible for several businesses within this group, including Cargill’s oil palm plantations, trading and merchandising in the Asia-Pacific region, and Cargill’s grains and oilseeds supply chain businesses in North Asia, South Asia and Australia. From February 2008 to May 2014, Mr. Willits served as President of Cargill Corn Milling America, where he oversaw all aspects of the corn processing business. Between January 2005 and February 2008, Mr. Willits served as President of Cargill Specialty Seed and Oil. Mr. Willits also held various other senior positions with Cargill between 1980 and 2005, during which he managed Cargill’s international wheat trading activities in Geneva, Switzerland, its grain business in Argentina and its specialty canola oils business. Mr. Willits received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois, College of Agriculture in Agricultural Economics. Based on his extensive industry experience and agricultural expertise, Mr. Willits brings to the Board significant industry expertise and knowledge of the agricultural industry in the Asia-Pacific and other geographic regions.

Mark Wong
Chief Executive Officer, S&W Seed Company

Mr. Wong was elected to the Board in December 2014. In June 2017, he was appointed to serve as our President and Chief Executive Officer. He has more than 35 years of experience in agribusiness, with particular expertise in technology integration and commercialization. Mr. Wong was a founder and, since 2009, has been a partner of Colorado Financial Holdings (“CFH”), a private venture investment and investment bank that specializes in the agricultural, energy and biotechnology sectors. From January 2012 to March 2018, Mr. Wong served as Chairman of American Dairyco, Ponte Vedra, Florida, the owner and operator of dairies in Florida and Georgia, which is a venture jointly owned by CFH. Between 2008 and December 2015, he served either as Chairman of the Board or chief executive officer of Agrivida, a private company that is developing and commercializing high-performance products that incorporate novel, regulated proteins precisely engineered for specific applications in a variety of markets, including animal nutrition, bio-based fuels and chemicals and industrial enzymes. From January 2016 to February 2016, Mr. Wong served as Acting President and Chief Executive Officer of Arcadia Biosciences, Inc., a publicly-traded agricultural biotechnology trait company for which he also served on the board from May 2006 until February 2016. Mr. Wong was the Chief Executive Officer of Renewable Agricultural Energy Corporation, a private ethanol production company, from 2006 to 2007. Prior to that time, was the founder and, from 1999 to 2005, chief executive officer of Emergent Genetics, an international seed biotech company that was sold to Monsanto Company in 2005. Mr. Wong founded and managed a series of other agricultural and biotechnology companies, including Big Stone Partners, Agracetus Corporation, a plant biotechnology company that was sold to Monsanto and Agrigenetics Corporation, a seed and biotechnology company that was sold to Dow Chemical. Mr. Wong also worked as an engineer for FMC Corporation and Chemical Construction Corporation. Mr. Wong served as a director of BioFuel Energy Corp., a publicly traded corn ethanol company, from January 2008 until October 2014, and Chair from March 2010 to October 2014, when it was renamed Green Brick Partners following an acquisition and recapitalization transaction. Mr. Wong received a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Wong provides the Board with a wealth of experience in the agricultural and energy industries, and is able to draw on his many years of executive leadership experience.

Mark Harvey
Founding partner of S&W Seed Company Australia, retired

Mr. Harvey has more than 35 years of experience in production processing and marketing of seed to many parts of the world, particularly branded alfalfa and clover. Mr. Harvey managed a 10,000-acre family farm producing seed, wheat and pulse crops, along with wool and beef, from 1976 until 1996 when the company he founded, Paramount Seeds, was sold to Elders Ltd. While with Elders, he was manager of their national and international seed business from 1996 until 2001. In 2002, he was a founding partner of S&W Seed Company Australia Pty Ltd (f/k/a Seed Genetics International Pty Ltd, “S&W Australia”), where he focused primarily on marketing and distribution. Mr. Harvey is currently an investor in and the vice chairman of Duxton Broad Acre Farms, a publicly traded 60,000 acre farming and ranching operation based in Australia listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Mr. Harvey has served as a member of the board of directors of Duxton Broad Acres Farms since September 2018. Mr. Harvey was educated at Cunderdin Agricultural College in West Australia. Mr. Harvey brings extensive experience in the seed industry to the Board, which contributes valuable business expertise.

Alexander C. Matina
Vice President, Investments at MFP Investors LLC

Mr. Matina has served on the Board since May 2015. Since November 2007, he has held the office of Vice President, Investments for MFP Investors, LLC, the family office of Michael F. Price, which has a value-investing focus across public and private markets. From October 2005 to August 2007, Mr. Matina served in various roles at Balance Asset Management, a multi-strategy hedge fund, and from June 2004 to September 2005, as a senior associate at Altus Capital Partners, a middle market private equity fund. Prior thereto, he was a principal at 747 Capital, a private equity fund-of-funds, and a financial analyst at Salomon Smith Barney in the financial sponsors group of the investment banking division. Since April 2013, he has served on the board of directors of Trinity Place Holdings, Inc., a publicly traded real estate company and as its Chairman of the Board since November 2013. Since August 2007, Mr. Matina has also served as an adjunct professor of finance at Fordham University. From December 2017 to May 2019, Mr. Matina served on the board of directors of Papa Murphy’s, a national restaurant chain which was listed on Nasdaq until the company was acquired and taken private in May 2019. Mr. Matina received a bachelor’s degree from Fordham University and an M.B.A. from Columbia University. Mr. Matina brings a strong finance background to the Board, including experience with private equity, as well as his experience in other public companies.

Mark Herrmann
President and Founder of ACUMEN LLC

Mr. Herrmann serves as President and Founder of ACUMEN LLC, a Seed Executive Consultant firm, since 2021. He is currently on the Advisory Board for EarthSence LLC, an Agricultural Robotics company based in Indianapolis IN. He served on the American Seed Trade Association Board from 2009 to 2020, its Executive Board from 2015 to 2020, and as Chairman in 2016/17. Mr. Herrmann also participated on the NCGA Advisory Council AIG from 2008 to 2010. Mr. Herrmann has over 35 years experience in all aspects fo the seed industry. Most recently servicing as the CEO for AgReliant Genetics LLC, from 2016 to 2020. Headquartered in Westfield, Ind. AgReliant Genetics LLC is an innovative seed company committed to delivering high quality seed, providing exceptional service and creating consistent customer value. Created in 2000 as a joint venture between the international seed groups KWS and Limagrain, AgReliant Genetics is ranked as one of the largest field seed companies in North America. AgReliant Genetics markets corn, soybean, sorghum and alfalfa seed through three brands: AgriGold®, LG Seeds®, PRIDE Seeds®. Prior to AgReliant Genetics Mr Herrmann spent 15 years with Monsanto in numerous roles including; Vice President North America Vegetable Seed based in Oxnard CA from 2011 to 2016, Vice President Technology Development and Licensing from 2009 to 2011, President of Corn States LLC from 2005 to 2009, Director Eastern US from 2003 to 2005 and Director Monsanto US Seed and Trait Business from 1999 to 2003, based in St Louis MO. Mark joined Monsanto through the acquisition of DEKALB Genetics Corporation in 1998, where he started in the seed business in 1984 as a Sales Manager and over his time with DEKALB Genetics had the opportunity to provide leadership in various roles and geographies across Sales, Marketing and Product Management. Mark was born and raised in Northern Illinois and holds a BS in Agronomy from Western Illinois University. Mark and his wife Rebecca live in the Indianapolis IN area and have 2 children daughter Tate and son Peyton.