22 / SEEDWORLD.COM DECEMBER 2017 Bill Goodbar, Founder, The Goodbar Group An agribusiness veteran with a career spanning 30 years, Goodbar founded the Goodbar Group in 2016. This followed four years with INTL FCStone, where he was managing director and headed the firm’s agribusiness investment banking practice. From 1997 to 2011, he was a managing director with AgriCapital Corporation in New York. Goodbar graduated from the University of Colorado with an MBA with an emphasis in finance in 1990.  Anthony Leddin, Co-founder, Plant Breeders Without Borders An Australian plant breeder with a strong interest in aid development, Leddin is cofounder of Plant Breeders Without Borders, an organi- zation that coordinates volunteers with selected projects in need of plant breeders. It debuted its first pilot project in Ethiopia in February 2015, which focused on improving forages for small livestock holders. Claire Luby, Executive Director, Open Source Seeds A recent PhD graduate at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Luby’s research focused on carrot genetic diversity and intellectual property. She continues to pursue this research at the university, along with a number of other projects. Luby is also executive direc- tor of Open Source Seeds, an open source system for plant variety releases, similar to open source software. Dr. Miguel Rapela, CEO, Argentine Seed Association As CEO of the Argentine Seed Association, Rapela has worked in the seed sector for many years. He has a vast experience on issues such as cultivar protection, having participated in committees at the International Seed Federation. He has also been part of the profes- sional staff at the Relmó Paraguay, an agriculture company. Ioana Tudor, Global Head of Seedcare, Syngenta As global head of Seedcare for Syngenta, an agribusiness company, Tudor has 20 years of experience having lived and worked in the U.S. and Switzerland in many areas including crop protection, biotech traits, and seeds. She has broad experience in building and driv- ing businesses, leading cross functional teams spread around many countries, negotiating and implementing large complex agreements, as well as merger and acquisition transactions. COMMUNICATION AND WORKING collectively together on a global basis remain key goals for the seed industry as a whole. CEOs and executive directors at seed companies and associations continue to stress the importance of getting the word out about plant breeding, especially as the world population continues to climb. “The future of plant breeding is really important because we have to increase our food production by 70 percent for a population that is going to reach 9 billion by 2050,” says Anthony Leddin, an Australian plant breeder, who helped form Plant Breeders Without Borders, an organization that encourages plant breeders, undergraduate, and graduate students to volunteer their time for inter- national breeding projects. “Plant breeders are on the front line in our war against hunger and malnutrition. There is a lot of work that has to be done out there. And, in doing this in countries that really need this, you get such a social experience by interacting with a different culture, learning to get things done, and working with limited resources.” Plant Breeders Without Borders coor- dinates volunteers with selected projects in need of plant breeders. Projects to date have focused on advancing underdevel- oped species where no breeding work is being done to avoid conflicts of interest. “I just recently came back from a project in Indonesia, where this was our second pilot project,” says Leddin. The original pilot project was in Ethiopia. “In Indonesia, we looked at what is called an underutilized species, where there isn’t much breeding work being done for development. We were able to find a partner in an Indonesian university With the global population predicted to reach 9 billion by 2050, the seed industry has much work to do as it aims to increase current food production by 70 percent. Lisa Kopochinski lisakop@sbcglobal.net Looking Ahead to the Future ABOUT THE GIANTS