LA Foodscapes: Tech-Powered Solutions for an Inclusive & Resilient Food System
As food insecurity rises, climate change accelerates, and the retail food economy shifts, how can technology be leveraged to expand food access, support small food businesses, and build climate resilience? This panel conversation will explore the intersection of food justice, innovation, and climate adaptation. The event will feature entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and community leaders discussing ethical tech solutions—from digital food assistance platforms to data-driven urban agriculture, climate-smart logistics, and worker-centered automation. Discussions will also focus on how inclusive, community-centered innovations can better serve historically marginalized communities and ensure equitable access to food and economic opportunity. Join us to discover how technology can be a force for equity and resilience in Los Angeles’ evolving food landscape.
Meet our speakers:
Noramay Cadena (moderator) is the Managing Partner of Supply Change Capital, a venture capital firm investing in technology to transform the food system. Over the last 9 years, Noramay has invested in over 85 companies across industries and stages. Prior to her career as an investor, Noramay spent over a decade in the aerospace industry as an engineer and operations leader. In 2024, she was recognized as a Pioneer Woman of the Year by the Los Angeles Commission on the Status of Women. In 2022, she was recognized as one of 10 women of influence in private markets by PEI. She’s also been named one of 55 rising-star VCs who shook up the industry (2021), one of 50 renowned women in robotics (2020), and was named one of the top 100 influential Latinas in the United States by Latino Leaders Magazine from 2020-2022. She’s an original cofounder of Latinas in STEM (2013) and SomosVC (2019), a Kauffman Fellow, and holds 3 degrees from MIT.
Maen Mahfoud is the Founder & CEO of Replate. After immigrating to the U.S. from the Middle East, Maen Mahfoud was shocked to see the level of food insecurity that permeated the Bay Area, while subsequently, an enormous amount of food went to waste. Knowing the effects of food waste on our climate, and his community belief in food meant to be shared not wasted - he launched Replate, a seamless technology solution for businesses to donate surplus food to nearby nonprofits. In seven years, Maen has grown the company internationally, now operating across the United States and serving hundreds of corporations, including Netflix, Boston Consulting Group, Snap, Dignity Health, SFO, Kaiser, and many others.
Maen and Replate have been featured in Fortune, Business Insider, Fast Company, TMZ, the New York Times, and L.A. Weekly. Maen is a DRK entrepreneur, 2023 recipient of the James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award, and a Stanford Graduate School of Business rising social entrepreneur. He holds a Master's in Public Health from Imperial College London, a degree in Molecular Biology from UC Berkeley, and a Human-Computer Interaction for User Experience Design Certificate from MIT. Additionally, he was sponsored to further develop leadership acumen in the Harvard Business School’s Executive Program.
Brent Taylor is an entrepreneur driven by scaling agrifood brands and technologies that provide sustainable, global food solutions to improve human health. A California native who spends his free time surfing, Brent cut his entrepreneurial teeth starting in 2010, when he co-founded Beyond Meat ® --pioneering meat made from plants -- which had a successful and historic IPO in 2019. Frustrated by the lack of innovation on behalf of active older adults, Brent went on to co-found Perennial, a brand dedicated to developing targeted, plant-based nutrition for active adults >50. Perennial closed its doors in 2021. Before his entrepreneurial endeavors, Brent garnered several years of management experience in agriculture/food as a Senior Analyst – Corporate Development at Dole Food Company, Inc., where his primary focus was in acquisition opportunities, divestitures/business restructures, and global corporate strategy. A magna cum laude graduate from UCLA with BA degrees in International Economics and Political Science, Brent also received his MBA with honors from the Wharton School (WG’10).
Sabrina Williams is the Founder & CEO of Seedbox. Sabrina has a background in architecture, law and urban planning with almost 25 years of experience working with groups across the U.S. as a community organizer and organizational development specialist. In 2000, she founded a non-profit to address sustainability and food security in low-income neighborhoods, and created SEED as a project focused on urban farming and community food systems. She began helping non-tech food growers in South Los Angeles and Cuba explore regenerative agriculture and technology by introducing a DIY, automatic irrigation system. In 2019, Sabrina founded SEED, with the goal of democratizing agtech. She is a certified Master Gardener.