Resource Innovation Institute (RII) has assembled a council of global business and environmental leaders to advise the non-profit on its efforts to serve the needs of agricultural producers facing climate risk and technology adoption.

The new Strategic Advisory Council–composed of senior leaders from business, investment, government and philanthropic communities–will shape RII’s strategic plan, which will be announced this fall.

“Agriculture is changing. Many producers are shifting toward various forms of ‘indoor’ cultivation, which is driving a need to holistically quantify resource impacts and support farmers of all kinds,”

said Derek Smith, Executive Director of Resource Innovation Institute.

“Governments, utilities, investors and producers need data-driven solutions to identify the most efficient, productive and profitable cultivation approaches. Our role as a trusted non-profit organization with five years of expertise on these issues is to lead the measurement, adoption and celebration of the most efficient agricultural ideas. We are appreciative of the commitment of our Strategic Advisory Council to help guide our planning.”

RII recently began work on a three-year USDA Conservation Innovation Grant designed to advance a data-driven market transformation strategy that targets greater resource efficiency in emerging ‘controlled environment’ horticultural sectors, including greenhouses and vertical farms growing a range of crops, from microgreens to tomatoes to berries. RII is developing the strategy in partnership with the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).

Since its founding as a non-profit organization in 2016, RII has established:

The organizations represented by RII’s Strategic Advisory Council members include: