Connect Who or what is your inspiration in business?

My motivation comes from firsthand experience in the certification industry, where I saw sustainability premiums fail to reach farmers while middlemen captured most of the value. Over time, fraudulent practices and paper-based compliance eroded trust and farmer motivation for organic farming. This drove me to work on solutions that restore economic justice, ensure traceability, and enable transparent, data-backed disclosures so consumers can make informed choices.

How do you stay motivated?

I stay motivated by focusing on the gap between what sustainability promises and what actually happens on the ground. Seeing farmers and workers excluded from value keeps the problem real. I break it into systems I can improve data, traceability, incentives and measure progress through small, verifiable outcomes rather than narratives.

What would you do with the $25,000?

I would use the $25,000 to pilot the SFS framework with a small set of supply chain partners building a basic digital traceability and data capture system, testing carbon and compliance modules, and validating premium flow tracking to farmers. The goal is to generate real-world evidence that transparency, verification, and economic justice can work at scale.