The Center for Food Integrity

Speakers Bureau

Trust Intelligence | Belief-Based Research | Values-Led Engagement

Why Trust – And Why Now

Trust in food and agriculture has never been more fragile — or more consequential.

Today’s consumers, policymakers, customers and communities don’t evaluate food system claims through science alone. They filter information through deeply held beliefs, personal values and the voices they choose to trust. In this environment, even the most rigorous data can fail to move conversations forward if it doesn’t connect with how people make decisions.

The Center for Food Integrity Speakers Bureau brings research-informed sessions to your event that provide strategic context and introduce our CFI Integrated Trust System™ — CFI’s proprietary approach to operationalizing trust as a strategic discipline across the food system.

Drawing on CFI’s latest belief-based consumer research, ethnographic insights and real-world case studies, our speakers explore:

The Evolution of Truth: How advances in communication technology have fundamentally reshaped what people consider credible — and why beliefs drive trust more than facts alone
Belief-Based Consumer Research: What CFI’s proprietary research across the national population reveals about five distinct belief-based consumer segments shaping food conversations today
The CFI Trust Model™: Why shared values are 3–5x more important than competence in building trust — and how to lead with values before facts
Values-Led Engagement: How food system leaders can move from reactive messaging to proactive, values-first engagement that lowers defensiveness and opens dialogue
CFI Trust Intelligence in Action: The strategic frameworks behind CFI’s Integrated Trust System, Growing a Healthier America initiative and Trusted Voices Network
The Value of Trust: Why trust is not a communications problem but an enterprise-level strategic discipline — informing decisions across policy, operations, innovation and stakeholder engagement

Whether your audience includes farmers, food manufacturers, retailers, health professionals or policymakers, CFI sessions provide a new lens for understanding stakeholder trust — and practical tools to build it.

What Attendees will Gain

Designed to be both thought-provoking and immediately actionable, attendees leave with:

A clear understanding of how truth has evolved and why beliefs — not just data — shape trust in today’s food system
Insight into CFI’s belief-based consumer segmentation research and the five dominant consumer mindsets driving food conversations
A practical introduction to values-led engagement — the research-proven approach where shared values create 3–5x more trust than competence alone
Frameworks for reframing challenging topics (e.g., seed oils, pesticides, ultra-processed foods) using CFI’s values-led engagement approach
An understanding of how CFI’s Trust Intelligence™ and CFI Integrated Trust System™ help organizations predict, derisk, prepare, align and engage on trust-critical topics and strategic trust-building opportunities
A shared language and strategic mindset that participants can apply immediately — in boardrooms, at retail, with policymakers, in communities and online

Past Session Topics Include

When Facts Aren’t Enough: Trust, Truth and Food Safety Leadership
Engaging With Confidence: Building Trust in Today’s Food & Ag Conversations
What If Science Doesn’t Matter? How Consumers Define Truth About Food
Operationalizing Trust: From Trust Intelligence to Enterprise Strategy
The Value of Trust: Why Strategic Engagement Is the New Food System Imperative
The Trust Equation: What CPG Leaders Must Understand About How Consumers Decide What to Believe

Every session is customized to your audience, industry context and strategic priorities. Sessions can be delivered as keynote addresses, breakout sessions or workshops, ranging from 45 to 90 minutes, in person or virtually.

Our Speakers

Charlie Arnot

Charlie Arnot is recognized as a thought leader in food and agriculture. He is highly regarded as both a writer and sought-after speaker who engages audiences across the globe. Charlie has more than 25 years of experience working in communications, public relations and issues management within the food system. He serves as CEO of the Center for Food Integrity, a international non-profit organization dedicated to building consumer trust and confidence in today’s food system.

Roxi Beck

An active speaker, trainer, facilitator and a trusted advisor to food system thought leaders, Roxi Beck helps audiences think differently about earning trust. As consumer engagement director for The Center for Food Integrity Roxi brings nearly 20 years’ experience working with clients across the food system, directing strategy and activities for consumer-facing food and agriculture initiatives. Whether working with registered dietitians, toxicologists, corporate executives, communication directors, restaurateurs, farmers, non-profit leaders, even consumers, Roxi connects the dots on the varied pressure points that shape today’s food system and helps organizations incorporate transparency principles and trust-growing approaches into their culture.

Greta Bierbaum

Greta supports CFI’s work by helping organizations navigate complex food and agriculture issues through stakeholder engagement, strategic facilitation and reputation management. Raised on a family farm near St. Louis, Greta brings both professional expertise and personal connection to the food system. She works with partners across the value chain to strengthen communication, manage sensitive topics and engage audiences with confidence.

Greta holds an MBA from St. Louis University and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP)®. Her approachable facilitation style has made her a valued contributor to workshops, planning sessions and industry events focused on advancing productive dialogue in food and agriculture.

Kelly Leighton

Kelly Leighton is Executive Director of The Center for Food Integrity (CFI), an association dedicated to building trust in the food system through research, strategy and stakeholder engagement. With more than 25 years of experience in strategic marketing, communications and business development, she has partnered with leading organizations across food and agriculture—including The Coca-Cola Company, General Mills, Cargill, Ecolab, Corteva Agriscience, Elanco, Mars, Chick-fil-A and FMI – The Food Industry Association.

At CFI, Kelly leads the organization’s mission to advance transparency, collaboration and trust across the food system. Her leadership integrates research, insights and strategic partnerships that help companies align practices with consumer expectations and strengthen confidence in food and agriculture.

Jana McGuire

Jana is passionate about helping those in food and agriculture earn consumer trust. Joining in 2013, she brings a wide range of experience to CFI with
a long career encompassing broadcast news, and public and media relations.

From project management and training to writing and video production, Jana dons many hats to help the food industry reach important audiences with the
right messages.

Donna Moenning

Donna Moenning has more than three decades of professional experience in food and agriculture. From consumer focus groups to strategic planning, Donna
is known for her insights on consumer confidence in food and agriculture communications. She has been with the Center for Food Integrity for 10 years.
Prior to that, she held staff leadership positions in public relations for Midwest Dairy Association and nationally for the Beef Industry Council. She
believes all effective communication begins with understanding your audience.

Donna has spoken to food system stakeholders in more than 35 states, Canada, South America and Europe. She is passionate about helping others – from
youth to scientists, farmers and ranchers to company CEOs – share their story with their target audience.

Allyson Perry

Allyson has worked with The Center for Food Integrity since July 2009.

Having grown up on a farm in eastern North Carolina, she is no stranger to agriculture. Allyson worked in the pork industry for 18 years in community,
public and government affairs as well as human resources. While working in the pork industry, she worked with state officials and regulators in seven
separate states. She was once a pork producer herself.

She is a former member of the Missouri Pork Producers and served on the executive board of the Agribusiness Association of Iowa—the largest
association of ag retailers in the nation—having served as the first female chairperson.

Michael Whitmer

Michael helps organizations across the food system strengthen trust through research-based insights and strategic engagement. With more than 20 years of experience in food and agriculture, he brings a thoughtful, relationship-driven approach to understanding partner needs and connecting them with the resources, expertise and programs that advance their goals.

A skilled communicator and facilitator, Michael has presented at industry events including the Alliance for Smart Agriculture Summit and Growing a Healthier America trainings. He is passionate about building meaningful partnerships that elevate transparency and foster productive dialogue across the food system.

Michael holds an MBA from Webster University and lives in St. Louis with his wife and four children.