As the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Manna Tree, Ellie is a passionate investor focused on improving human health. Manna Tree invests in growth stage businesses transforming the food supply chain for healthier outcomes. Ellie is a member of the firm’s Executive and Investment Committees. She shapes the firm’s vision strategy and investment products and develops Manna Tree’s global network. For the past 10 years, Ellie has studied the evolution of the food and beverage supply chain, as well as the increasing consumer demand for healthier alternatives.  

Prior to founding Manna Tree, Ellie helped develop the impact investing thesis for a family investment office well known for ESG driven strategies. As part of new product development for the office, she helped launch the first ever arctic asset manager based in Alaska. This established her early belief in the power of impact investing to address social challenges without sacrificing returns, as well as the importance of energy and food as asset classes.  

In 2022, Ellie was honored to be appointed to the Alaska Permanent Fund Board of Trustees. As part of her role of trustee, she sits on the Governance Committee which reviews the Board of Trustees Charters and Governance Policies and recommends proposed changes to the full Board for approval as necessary to ensure that the Charter remains relevant and appropriate. 

In addition to her role at Manna Tree, Ellie is an active philanthropist. Through her family office, Mission: Ingredients, Ellie drives positive change in global population health. She supports ingredient research, outdoor wilderness, youth education, and military health and recovery programs.  

Ellie also supports American Red Cross, having dedicated countless hours to the organization since first volunteering with the Red Cross of Alaska in 2014.  

Ellie’s combination of experience with both investment and philanthropy has inspired families and institutions to make investments in human health.  

Ellie earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology from Harvard University, where she was a varsity ski racer. She earned her master’s degree in agriculture economics from Purdue University and her MBA in agribusiness from Indiana University’s Kelly School of Business, where she was a Tobias Fellow.

As Chief Investment Officer, Ross co-chairs Manna Tree’s investment committee and drives the firm’s investment strategy through his leadership of Manna Tree’s Global Investment Solutions team.

Ross has built his career around balancing investment decisions, market expansion, and leadership within organizations to reach optimal scale. This mindset landed Ross on the Worthy 100 list in 2021 as one of the top 100 entrepreneurs in the country building firms that are making a difference.

His experience growing investments came originally as an operating President where he scaled his firm 400%, and exited to a private equity investor in 2009. His industry leading efforts placed him on the Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest growing firms in his category due to an innovative mortgage program he co-developed with two of the nation’s leading publicly traded homebuilders.

In 2009, Ross founded an advisory firm Strategic Architect, where he worked closely with over 20 companies annually, each with between $5M and $500M in revenue. He counseled the C-Suite and family offices on investment decisions, market expansion strategies, and how to scale teams and operations.

Ross has trained 5,000+ leaders on implementing strategies linked to cash flow, debt structures, sales strategies, and marketing plans to unlock growth. Clients have included: the PGA Tour, Vail Resorts, DOW, and the University of Colorado.

Ross earned his finance degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder, an Executive Leadership Scholar at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, and a Financial Management Certificate from Cornell University. He has volunteered at the University of Colorado to help launch the first-ever leadership certificate program, and has been active in supporting the school through experiential leadership retreats in Vail, serving as an advisor for the Natural and Organic MBA program, and supporting students to develop a values-based approach in business.

Outside the office, Ross loves to share nature and longevity hacks with his friends and family; he is an avid hiker, skier, biker, and fly-fisherman.

As President of Manna Tree, Brent is responsible for building and managing the firm’s day-to-day operations. He also sources and executes new deals and monitors and grows Manna Tree’s portfolio of investments.

Across his 25+ year career, Brent has become a leading authority in Operational Excellence, centered on strategy development and business execution through the optimization of processes, technology, and organizational design. He has vast experience with companies across a diverse range of industries and has served in various management roles at GE Capital, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Newmont Mining, and a boutique consulting firm.

Brent earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Architectural Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder. He serves on the boards of Manna Tree portfolio companies Cheetah, Evolve BioSystems, Verde Farms, and Gotham Greens. In 2017 Brent established a non-profit school, Zealous Schools, and served as board President for the first three years.

Home is in Colorado’s mountains, where he enjoys fly-fishing, mountain biking, and skiing with his family.