2025 ReFED Food Waste Solutions Summit

Kathleen A. Merrigan is an expert in food and agriculture, celebrated by Time magazine as one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World" in 2010. Currently, she is the Kelly and Brian Swette Professor in the College of Global Futures and Executive Director of the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University.

From 2009 to 2013, Merrigan was Deputy Secretary and COO of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where she led efforts to support local food systems through the "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food" initiative and managed USDA’s $150 billion budget. She is known for authoring the law that established national standards for organic food and the federal definition of sustainable agriculture. Merrigan is a board member of Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, the Invasive Species Corporation, a trustee of CIFOR-ICRAF, and an advisor to Astanor Ventures and the Organic Farming Research Foundation.

Merrigan holds a PhD in Public Policy and Environmental Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Master in Public Affairs from University of Texas at Austin, and a BA from Williams College.