Ryan Shadrick Wilson

Senior Advisor, Milken Institute; Chair, Feeding Change

Ryan Shadrick Wilson has been referred to as “the good food whisperer” because of the quiet yet significant role she has played in launching many of the innovative ideas and companies shaping the food revolution. Today, Ryan wears several hats.  She serves as chairperson of Feeding Change, a Milken Institute global effort to catalyze a more nourishing, sustainable, and equitable food system. She is the chairperson of Territory Foods—a healthy meal-delivery food-tech company. And, she serves as chairwoman of public company Acon S2—a sustainability-focused acquisition company. Ryan also founded Boardwalk Collective to serve as a “venture catalyst,” working with entrepreneurs, investors, celebrities, and philanthropists. She also serves on the advisory boards of numerous young companies, as well as several nonprofit organization boards.  Previously, Ryan was chief strategy officer and general counsel of Michelle Obama’s Partnership for a Healthier America. Ryan spent the first decade of her career at the international law firm Hogan Lovells, where she counseled food and agriculture companies around the globe. While at the firm, she also maintained a commitment to a robust pro bono practice, handling civil rights, death penalty, and political asylum cases. Ryan graduated with honors from Princeton University and Harvard Law School.