Joanne Bal
General Counsel, Corporate Secretary & Head of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
Joanne is inspired by Vital Farms’ mission, which aligns with her belief that the long-term sustainability of a business is inextricably linked to the long-term sustainability of its stakeholders – including people, hens and planet. She brings a breadth of legal experience and a passion for ethically produced food to her important work: leading Vital Farms’ legal and ESG strategy.
Stephanie Coon
Senior Vice President, People and Strategy
As the descendent of a dairy farmer, Stephanie has a connection to farming in her roots. Driven by a desire to make the world a better place, she brings that passion to Vital Farms, where she leads our people and strategy functions, which includes building and fostering a passionate, mission-driven crew, and leading the long-term growth initiatives to help fulfill our aspiration to build the most trusted food brand. Before Vital Farms, Stephanie held leadership roles with KIND Snacks, The Hershey Company and McKinsey & Company and volunteered with Technoserve in Africa where she helped rural coffee farmers.
Jason Dale
Chief Operating Officer
Jason is skilled in negotiation, budgeting, business planning, and operations management, and he brings all these to bear in his work at Vital Farms. From 2014 to 2020, Jason served as our CFO. He helped lead and direct our financial operations, making our operating and strategic plans possible. As COO, he’s the farmer to our flock, providing daily leadership and guidance as we work together to provide sustainable food to more people.
Russell
Diez-Canseco
President & CEO
A self-proclaimed “recovering MBA student”, Russell was attracted to Vital Farms because the company’s multi-stakeholder business model challenged all his previous notions on capitalism. Under Russell’s leadership, Vital Farms has grown significantly in revenue, with a 35% compound annual growth rate from 2016-2020, as well as in retail distribution, and its relationships with small family farms. In July 2020, he led Vital Farms’ successful transition to the public market. Russell believes his most significant contribution to Vital Farms is scaling a high-performing organization and world-class Board of Directors, while cultivating a strong, values-driven culture. Prior to joining Vital Farms, Russell worked with McKinsey & Company, H-E-B Grocery, and the Central Intelligence Agency.
Kathryn McKeon
Chief Marketing Officer
Kathryn has a personal and professional passion for the food system. As the marketing leader for Vital Farms, Kathryn loves that she has an opportunity to advance the importance of humane and ethical food production every day. She joined us in 2016 and has played an instrumental role in evolving the Vital Farms brand from an emerging name to a national leader in ethical products as well as initiatives including our Effie-award winning Bullsh*t Free campaign and industry-first Transparency product feature. Before Vital Farms, Kathryn held brand marketing roles at Mondelēz International, one of the world’s largest snack companies, and supported brand marketing for consumer household products including Starbucks Coffee, Stride Gum, Ritz Crackers, and Halls.
Matt O’Hayer
Founder, Executive Chairman and Director
What came first? We say the vision. Matt O’Hayer began Vital Farms in 2007 with just that. He founded our company to prove that it is possible to produce the highest quality food in an environmentally responsible manner from humanely treated animals on a commercial scale. And he didn’t do it alone – Catherine Stewart and 20 Rhode Island Reds were right there with him. Beyond more than 40 years of experience building businesses, Matt is an accomplished chef, an organic gardener and the founder and former president of the Organic Egg Farmers of America.
Peter Pappas
Chief Sales Officer
As the Sales leader at Vital Farms, Peter drives our mission forward by bringing ethical food to even more tables. His infectious energy, inclination to servant leadership and 30+ years experience working with consumer brands, grocery retailers and food manufacturers naturally equips him to lead sales for Vital Farms. But it’s his genuine enthusiasm for our mission and commitment to our stakeholders that sold us!
Thilo Wrede
Chief Financial Officer
As CFO, Thilo leads our accounting, treasury, financial planning and analysis, information technology, and investor relations functions. Thilo was drawn to Vital Farms by our commitment to ethically sourced food and the purpose-driven company culture. Along with his genuine passion for food and bread baking (the products of which he enjoys sharing with friends and family), he brings with him almost 20 years of financial experience in CPG at PepsiCo and on Wall Street, as well as a strategy background from his years as a management consultant in Europe and New York.
