He possesses a rare ability to perceive when others are in distress or need help. Such deep concern for others is unusual, especially for someone of his age. Moreover, he is profoundly kind-hearted and exudes a gentle and compassionate nature. He genuinely cares for his family, his pets, and his friends.

Luke’s capacity to genuinely appreciate and absorb the nuances of the world around him sets him apart. Though he may be reserved, his profound connection to the world and the people in it is unmistakable.

Finally, Luke is remarkably resilient for a child his age. He has faced significant physical and emotional challenges throughout his young life. He has endured multiple hospitalizations due to severe illnesses, including surgeries and even broken bones. Despite these adversities, he consistently bounces back and surmounts each obstacle.

Steve Johnston, MD, MBA

Dad vs. Blindness

The success of any organization is critically dependent on the importance of its mission to key members. Upon receiving the diagnosis that his son was going blind, nothing has been more important to Steve than championing the mission of A Race Against Blindness: support research and find a cure for retinitis pigmentosa caused by Bardet-Biedel Syndrome. Steve is uniquely qualified to achieve that goal. He is an MD/MBA with a vast understanding of the healthcare system, coupled with real-world experience in building companies, leading teams, and solving complex challenges.

We founded the nonprofit when we found out our son has a rare genetic condition and is slowly going blind. But that really only scratches the surface in terms of our motivation. Since learning of Luke’s diagnosis , we have become strongly connected to the rare-diseases community. While rare diseases are actually not unusual, with more than 7,000 diseases classified by the FDA as rare, each one individually often affects only a small number of people. Thus many rare diseases don’t receive enough attention and resources to help fund research for adequate treatments or even possible cures.

Robert U. Craven is well-known for building award-winning, high-integrity products, brands, and businesses and for being deeply focused on making a difference in the lives of other people.

The former CEO of MegaFood and Garden of Life has successfully worked with entrepreneurs, private equity, and large CPG companies to facilitate rapid and profitable growth. In addition to delivering high-growth results, Robert advocates for transparency, innovation, and building award-winning cultures.

As CEO, Rob has:

• Grown a leading supplement company from $15 to $65 Million in 3 years – #14 on Inc 500 Fastest Growing List
• Grown a second, leading supplement company from $11 to $60 Million in 6 years
• Led the company named Best Company to Work for in New Hampshire in 2018 by Business New Hampshire Magazine
• Led the sale of the company from Private Equity to a large Strategic investor for the largest multiple of equity in the industry at that time
• Grown a third, organic ingredients company from $10 to $25 Million, growing EBITDA by 5x, in three years
• Been voted Top Conscious Business Leader in 2018 by Conscious Company Media
• Received the 2014 Nutrition Business Journal award for Management

Rob is also co-founder and Managing Partner of Findaway Adventures - a hands-on growth services & angel investment platform. Findaway Adventures exists to improve the world by providing more opportunity for young, change-the-world companies and their founders. The firm brings money, strategy, and expertise to help accelerate impact-minded companies.

Rob is also a certified 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership coach. Learn more about the 15 commitments at conscious.is.

Hi, I’m James, founder of Pluck.

At Pluck, we’re all about organ meats, yet not just any organ meats. Quality is everything when eating any part of an animal. We define quality as grass-fed, grass-finished, humanely treated, pasture-raised animals raised with no GMOs or hormones. “As close to nature as possible” is what I say.

There’s a lot of what is wrong in our current agricultural systems, but more and more farms are pivoting to what is right: Regenerative Agriculture. With diverse crop coverage and no tilling we can change not only the food produced on these farms but our health as well. We are what we eat AND what we eat eats.

Ancestral principles of “like supports like” and nose-to-tail eating drive our mission at Pluck. We are missing out on the whole animal benefits when we only eat muscle meat. Pluck is the perfect gateway into eating organs because it doesn’t taste like organ meat. What you taste is the savory, deliciousness of Umami (the fifth taste). Eating organs support the health of your organs. Even better, organs contain bioavailable nutrients which means you get more “bang-for-your-buck” because your body can recognize and absorb these essential vitamins and nutrients.

Look, I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t eat organ meats as a kid.

I was the pickiest of picky eaters.

I didn’t eat my first taco until college. When I say that I had a PB&J sandwich for lunch daily between the ages of 5 and 15…I’m not joking. Growing up, we basically ate the same 4 or 5 home-cooked meals every week. Fridays were pizza night out and Sundays were Chinese food ordered in.

As a child of the 70s, I grew up eating fast food, frozen vegetables, and when microwaves started becoming vogue, microwave meals, particularly popcorn. My father owned a grocery store so we had access to lots of common foods and snacks, most of all, candy!

I understand picky eating and more importantly, I understand the human need for comfort food.

In fact, I’ve spent the last 20+ years as a professional chef focused on making comfort foods healthy without sacrificing taste. I’ve cooked for celebrities, musicians, and billionaires, but it was becoming a father that forced me to go deeper in my exploration of functional food.

At the age of two, my youngest daughter was afflicted with the life-threatening Shiga toxin. I had left town for work thinking she was on the road to recovering only to return to her looking like skin and bones. It was a truly frightening time where my wife and I struggled to get nutrients into her.

Fortunately, she survived and is a vibrant, healthy child but the experience left me wanting to create a functional food product that anyone could eat and benefit from without requiring them to adopt new habits or step outside of their comfort zone.

That’s what Pluck is all about. Nutrition in a pinch. No need to adopt new habits, simply use Pluck instead of salt and pepper and turn everything into a nutrient-rich, bio-available superfood.