Management
David Miller
Rooted by heritage in Iroquois County, Illinois, Mr. Miller returned to his native landscape after a 30 year career in banking and real estate financial management. He has devoted his new career to mentoring and seeding ventures in sustainable agriculture. He is the acting CEO of one of such venture, Iroquois Valley Farms LLC, that focuses on the mid-size family farmer. Mr. Miller founded Working Farms Capital in 2008.
An MBA graduate of Columbia University’s School of Business and 1975 graduate of Loyola University of Chicago, Mr. Miller views education as the primary key to changing the nature and health of our current food and energy production systems. Mr. Miller resides in Winnetka, IL. along with his wife and three children.
Dr. Stephen Rivard
Dr. Rivard earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from Loyola University of Chicago. He began a practice in the newest medical specialty at the time, emergency medicine. After twenty six years – and having raised two children — he changed careers and founded Illinois Vein Specialists in Illinois. He also began diversifying his investments to focus on health and organic farmland. His interest in organic farming goes beyond profit. It also includes the mission of creating a more socially conscious and sustainable future for his children. Dr. Rivard is the co-founder of Iroquois Valley Farms LLC and actively chairing it’s Board of Managers.
Staff Bios:
John Emrich
Mr. Emrich has over twenty years of experience in investment management and corporate finance. John is a graduate of Tufts University, the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA, and is a candidate for a Master of Science in Environmental Studies from Green Mountain College. John was formerly on the Board of Iroquois Valley Farms and currently acts as that firms Chief Investment Officer.
Ryan Rivard
Mr. Rivard currently serves as corporate counsel. He graduated with a dual JD/MBA from Illinois Institute of Technology’s Chicago-Kent School of Law, focusing on business and environmental law and is a Beta Gamma Sigma Award Recipient. Mr. Rivard also serves on the Economic Sustainability Subcommittee for the National Sustainable Agricultural Standards Committee.
“The soil’s health is our health. Yet we have eroded it and poisoned it and failed to replace lost nutrients to such a degree that a recent UN survey found that in just 50 years we have lost a third of the world’s farmable soil .”
HRH The Prince of Wales.
