Elise Kendall 

Elise Kendall is a food systems and international development professional with extensive experience in policy advocacy, sustainable agriculture, and labor rights. She holds an MSc in Global Development, Labour, and Activism from SOAS University of London and a BS in Global Resource Systems and Environmental Studies from Iowa State University. Her work spans grassroots implementation, policy design, MEAL system strengthening, and stakeholder engagement across more than 30 countries.

Career and research highlights:

• Authored masters dissertation: "Sustaining Whose Standards? Certification, Labour Regimes, and Power in West African Cocoa Value Chains"
• Worked as a Global Advocacy Policy Coordinator with CARE, co-authoring “Gender and Nutrition at the United Nations Food Systems Summit and Nutrition for Growth Summit,” published in the first UN Nutrition Journal.
• Led sustainable agriculture programming in Northern Malawi as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer

Research interests:

• global development and labour regimes
• political agrarian economy
• multi-scalar power dynamics
• producer agency in global value chains