New Team Member
News
17 April 2023
Paola Giavedoni new
Lead Global Collaborations
I am so pleased to announce that we have welcomed Paola Giavedoni to the Foodvalley team as our new Lead Global Collaborations. In this role, Paola will act as a vital link between Foodvalley’s connections in the global food ecosystem, further supporting our goal towards healthy, sustainable, affordable food for all.
As Lead Global Collaborations, Paola will actively identify international topics relevant to Foodvalley’s Innovation Fields. She will also develop and scale our international collaborations and help substantiate our ecosystem activities. In addition, she will scout and attract relevant international partners that can provide impactful solutions to boost our interventions and activities.
Paola brings a deep understanding of the food industry at the European level – how it works, what the current needs are and how it is evolving. In her previous position as Director of Innovation at EIT Food, she gained an in-depth knowledge of the current challenges of the food system along the whole value chain and how to interact with the system’s different stakeholders and players at any level. Moreover, she is experienced in defining and measuring the impact of large-grow initiatives.
Paola is Italian, married and a mother of two girls (17 and 21 years old). The family has a small dog – an important component of the family. She lives in France, but close to Geneva, Switzerland.
I am confident that with her experience as a leader in innovation, her strong track record in the agrifood sector and her international background, Paola is very well suited to bring our joint mission of shaping the of food together to the next level.
On a personal note, I very much look forward to working with Paola. She has a fresh, novel way of thinking and brings along new and most relevant unexplored networks. Last but not least, Paola inspires with her openness, willingness to share and learn, and drive to go above and beyond to bring about collaborative action. Turning thoughts and ambitions into practice.
Another step in shaping the future of food together!
Marjolein Brasz, CEO Foodvalley

Paola about her role as Lead Global Collaborations
To accelerate innovation in the food sector, new collaborative approaches are required, such as sharing learnings and best practices, leveraging each other’s experiences, defining ideas on how to solve strategic challenges.
To achieve this mutual support and collaborative action, networks are vital. It is at the community level that implementation of innovative solutions takes place, where theory can become practice; this is one of the strengths of Foodvalley.
Paola’s experience brings a deep understanding of the food industry at European level, how it works, what the needs are, how it is evolving. There are a lot of learnings also from my last work experience with EIT Food, for example what are the challenges of the food system along the whole value chain, or how to interact with the different with the different stakeholders and players of the system at any level. Or how to define and measure the impact you want to bring with an initiative. All this is necessary for making the right choices and scaling in practice.
For Paola it’s also the choice of small daily actions that can make a difference. My diet has changed, I eat much less meat and more vegetables, I pay more attention to the choice of what I buy, where the products are produced. And it is not only about food, as a systems worker I look at adjacent actions at home such as a more conscious use of water (e.g. recycling water from the kitchen to the plants).