Based in California’s Silicon Valley, Impossible Foods makes delicious, nutritious meat and dairy products from plants — with a much smaller environmental footprint than meat from animals. The privately held food tech startup was founded in 2011 by Patrick O. Brown, M.D., Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry at Stanford University and a former Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. Investors include Mirae Asset Global Investments, Khosla Ventures, Bill Gates, Google Ventures, Horizons Ventures, UBS, Viking Global Investors, Temasek, Sailing Capital, and Open Philanthropy Project.

Food & Beverage

Impossible Foods

Carl Belshause is the VP of Operations at [Impossible Foods](/org/impossible-foods). Carl has held this position since June 2020. Prior to that, they were the General Manager at [Anheuser-Busch InBev](/org/anheuser-busch-inbev) from January 2012 to June 2020. Before that, they were a Manufacturing Engineer at Cooper Lighting from May 2011 to January 2012. Carl was also a Mechanical Engineering Intern at Caterpillar Inc. from May 2010 to August 2010. Carl began their career as a Mechanical Engineer Co-op at [General Mills](/org/general-mills) from January 2008 to August 2009.

Carl Belshause has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the [Georgia Institute of Technology](/org/georgia-institute-of-technology) and a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the [Georgia Institute of Technology](/org/georgia-institute-of-technology). Carl also has a certification from ASQ in Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

Carl Belshause reports to Dennis Woodside, President. They are on a team with Giselle Guerrero - VP, Creative, Heather Huestis - VP, Marketing, and Dan Greene - SVP, US Sales.

Carl Belshause

An internationally renowned leader on global climate change policy, Figueres has decades of experience in collaborative diplomacy. She is currently a Founding Partner at the Global Optimism Group, which works to build a resilient mindset around the climate crisis, and inspires leaders from governments, the private sector, civil society and grassroots groups to join the cause.

Previously, Figueres was the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) from 2010 to 2016, where she rebuilt global climate change negotiations after the failed Copenhagen conference of 2009 and brought together governments, corporations, activists, financial institutions and NGOs to deliver the unprecedented Paris Agreement of 2015.

Christiana Figueres

George McCloskey is the SVP of Risk and Safety at Impossible Foods and leads the Enterprise Risk Management, Business Continuity & Resilience, Global Security, and Environmental Health and Safety teams. 

Prior to Impossible Foods, George was the Chief Security Officer at Stripe, Inc. helping to build economic infrastructure for the internet. Prior to Stripe, George was the Chief Security Officer and Head of Trust and Safety at Square, Inc., a global payments and financial services company located in San Francisco, CA. 

Before Square, George was the Chief Security Officer at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, California. Pixar’s culture helped develop the values of trust, creativity, and collaboration that have become a roadmap for leadership and program development in building high functioning teams that serve and provide value to the organization. 

George has also had a distinguished law enforcement career, having served a combined 26 years at the local and federal level. He is a graduate of the FBI National Executive Academy, and serves various organizations in conservation and philanthropy.

George is a Certified Protection Professional (CPP) through ASIS International and a member of the International Security Management Association (ISMA) where he serves on the Board of Directors and as Treasurer of the Executive Committee.  He is also a Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP) and a graduate of St. Mary’s College of California.

George McCloskey

Ashley Geo is a Senior Manager at [Impossible Foods](/org/impossible-foods), where they lead product marketing and GTM efforts. Prior to joining [Impossible Foods](/org/impossible-foods), Ashley worked as a Consultant at the FAO, writing grant proposals and managing department-wide communications and conferences. Ashley also served as Sustainability Manager at [Stanford University](/org/stanford), creating and implementing new sourcing, labeling, and waste practices within the university's dining operations and food procurement systems. Ashley's experience also includes research roles at Slow Food and the [Stanford University](/org/stanford) Psychology Department.

Ashley Geo has a Bachelor of Arts in Human Biology from [Stanford University](/org/stanford).

Some of their coworkers include Nils Kristiansen - Digital Marketing Manager, Erin Dress - Director of Retail Marketing, and Tim Dale - Manager, Marketing Analytics. Ashley Geo reports to Heather Huestis, VP, Marketing.

Ashley Geo

Peter McGuinness is the current CEO at [Impossible Foods](/org/impossible-foods). Prior to joining [Impossible Foods](/org/impossible-foods), McGuinness served as President and Chief Operating Officer at [Chobani](/org/chobani) from January 2013 to April 2022. McGuinness was responsible for driving the transformation of [Chobani](/org/chobani) from a manufacturing-driven company to a marketing machine. Peter also served as President & CEO at DDB Chicago from January 2011 to July 2013, and Chairman & CEO at Gotham, Inc. from January 2008 to December 2011. Prior to that, they were Regional President for Europe, Middle East & Africa at [Momentum Worldwide](/org/momentum-worldwide) from January 2005 to December 2008.

Peter McGuinness has a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing and Economics from [Roger Williams University](/org/roger-williams-university).

Some individuals on their team include Giselle Guerrero - VP, Creative, Sue Klapholz - VP, Nutrition & Health, and Kate Aydin - CIO.

Peter McGuinness

Heather Huestis is the Vice President of Marketing at [Impossible Foods](/org/impossible-foods), a planet company with a mission to eliminate animals from the food chain by 2035 by making the most delicious meat from plants.

Before [Impossible Foods](/org/impossible-foods), Heather was an Executive Producer at cult creative advertising agency, Mother, for over six years. There, she helped to build and lead the Experiential discipline into an award winning team (most famously capturing the attention of NYC with a live dance performance and Target fashion show in the windows of every room on the south side of the Standard Hotel!).

Heather was the GM of Noisey in its inaugural year at Vice. Launching the media giant's music vertical in 8 countries while producing shows from Berlin to Beijing.

In 2018, she relocated to Los Angeles to join Impossible. Since arriving, the female led Creative team launched the brand's first national co-branded campaign for White Castle (Wu-Tang in Space Eating Impossible Sliders) airing now.

Heather Huestis

Erin Dress is an experienced team leader with deep Marketing and Sales expertise, particularly in the consumer goods and retail industries.

Erin Dress

Before joining Impossible Foods Inc in 2016, Giselle Guerrero is a Contracted Interactive Art Director at Apple.

Giselle Guerrero

Sue Klapholz, M.D., Ph.D, is VP of Nutrition and Health at [Impossible Foods](/org/impossible-foods). She is also on the board of directors of our sister company, Lyrical Foods. Sue holds five patents and brings a wealth of experience from her diverse career as a scientist, doctor, teacher, editor and writer.

Before joining [Impossible Foods](/org/impossible-foods) in 2013, Sue was a senior scientist at Cell Genesys, where she established a large DNA cloning lab and led the team that cloned the megabase-sized human immunoglobulin genes in yeast, among other projects. Sue also taught a professional course in cloning and analysis of large DNA molecules at [Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory](/org/cold-spring-harbor-laboratory), NY, and was a lecturer on genetics and evolution at [The University of Chicago](/org/the-university-of-chicago).

Sue was a resident physician in the Department of Psychiatry at The University of California, San Francisco. She was also a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biochemistry at [Stanford University](/org/stanford), where she worked on cloning a gene responsible for manic-depression, and a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biology at [The University of Chicago](/org/the-university-of-chicago), focusing on the genetic control of recombination and chromosome segregation during meiosis in yeast. Sue has an M.D. from The University of Illinois College of Medicine and a Ph.D. in genetics from [The University of Chicago](/org/the-university-of-chicago). She has volunteered with a variety of organizations, including the Stanford Health Library, the Palo Alto Children’s Theater and the Palo Alto Humane Society.

Sue Klapholz

Thakkar joins [Impossible Foods](/org/impossible-foods) from Apple, where he served as iPhone Product Manager in the Worldwide Product Marketing division. Before Apple, Thakkar held several product leadership roles at Motorola Mobility, a mobile devices company acquired by Google.

Ravi Thakkar

Before joining [Impossible Foods](/org/impossible-foods), Greene served as Chief Revenue Officer for a conversational artificial intelligence startup, and served as an executive consultant with other early-stage software companies. Prior to that, Dan spent 11 years overseeing large teams and revenue-generating business units at Google and Twitter.

Greene graduated from The United States Naval Academy and served over 10 years as a Navy fighter pilot and director of operations for multiple aviation units. He left active duty in 2004 and earned his MBA at the University of California Los Angeles before going to Google.

Dan Greene

Jared Umsted

Arpita Bhattacharyya

Michelle Ishida

Hannah Riddle

Patrick O. Brown transitioned from CEO to Chief Visionary Officer in 2022.

The idea for [Impossible Foods](/org/impossible-foods) came to Pat while he was on sabbatical from his position as an HHMI investigator and professor of biochemistry at the [Stanford University](/org/stanford) School of Medicine. In reflecting on how he could use his training and experience to make the largest positive impact on the world, he realized there was a way to make delicious, affordable meat and dairy products, directly from plants – that would be better for the environment and for consumers. In 2011, Pat chose to devote himself full time to [Impossible Foods](/org/impossible-foods). 

After receiving his BA, MD and PhD (in Biochemistry) at the University of Chicago, Pat completed a residency in pediatrics at Chicago’s Children’s Memorial Hospital. As a fellow with Mike Bishop and Harold Varmus, he defined the mechanism by which HIV and other retroviruses incorporate their genes into the genomes of the cells they infect. 

At Stanford, Pat and colleagues developed DNA microarrays – a new technology that made it possible to monitor the activity of all the genes in a genome – along with the first methods for analyzing, visualizing and interpreting global gene expression programs. 

He pioneered the use of gene expression patterns to classify cancers and improve prediction of their clinical course. He has also been a leader in making scientific and medical research results freely available to scientists, physicians and the public. With Harold Varmus, then Director of the [National Institutes of Health](/org/national-institutes-of-health), and Berkeley professor Michael Eisen, he founded the Public Library of Science, a nonprofit scientific publisher that has transformed the publishing industry by making scientific and medical research results freely available to the public. 

He is a member of the [National Academy of Sciences](/org/national-academy-of-sciences) and the Institute of Medicine and recipient of the [American Cancer Society](/org/american-cancer-society) Medal of Honor. He is also the co-founder of Lyrical Foods, Inc., maker of Kite Hill artisanal nut-milk-based cheeses and yogurts. 

Patrick O. Brown

Founder and chef of Los Angeles-based Crossroads Kitchen and author of the New York Times bestseller The Conscious Cook

Tal Ronnen

Kate Aydin is the Chief Information Officer at [Impossible Foods](/org/impossible-foods), where she oversees the business technology, data engineering, information security, and IT operations and governance functions. Her focus is on providing strategic and operational leadership, and ensuring that all technology offerings are working in synergy with the overarching business plan and objectives. She also leads the implementation of the company’s long term vision by continuing to build a well-defined roadmap that is scalable, secure, resilient and growth-oriented. 

Kate joined [Impossible Foods](/org/impossible-foods) in 2018 as the Vice President of Information Technology, and built the Information Technology function from the ground up. Before [Impossible Foods](/org/impossible-foods), she gained 25 years of experience in the Information Technology space with a focus on leading business transformation programs for high-growth, complex, and fast-paced organizations. She worked as a consultant independently and as part of the [Capgemini](/org/capgemini) team, and also served in senior leadership roles for Clorox and [Stryker](/org/stryker). 

Kate has a certification in Organizational Leadership from [Harvard Business School](/org/harvard-business-school), an MBA from Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business, and a Bachelor’s of Science in Industrial Engineering from Bogazici University in Istanbul.

Kate Aydin

Anna Ahmed is an experienced marketing and operations manager with a passion for translating consumer and data insights into products or services. 

Anna Ahmed

Before joining [Impossible Foods](/org/impossible-foods) in 2019, Nils Kristiansen consulted Fortune 500 CPG clients at German retailer REWE and helped brands navigate the e-commerce, digital marketing & shopper marketing space.

Nils Kristiansen

Jason Gao is the Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary at Impossible Foods. He oversees the company’s legal, regulatory, safety & security, and governmental affairs.

Jason joined Impossible Foods in October 2018 as the Associate General Counsel, Assistant Corporate Secretary, overseeing corporate matters including corporate governance, equity administration, employment, legal operations, and M&A. He was later promoted to SVP, Deputy General Counsel, further expanding his role at the company.

Jason joined Impossible Foods after working for three years as a Corporate & Securities Counsel Lead, Assistant Secretary at Square Inc., where he scaled the team from before its IPO through its first several years as a public company. At Square, he focused on board matters, public company oversight and disclosures, legal issues related to equity and compensation, and corporate financings. 

Jason Gao

Leilani Gayles oversees people operations, including talent acquisition, compensation and rewards, talent and leadership development, diversity, equity and inclusion, and strategic people initiatives to support the company’s commitment to creating the best work experience for all.

Leilani Gayles

David Borecky is the Chief Financial Officer at [Impossible Foods](/org/impossible-foods). He joined the company in 2019 as Chief Accounting Officer and was promoted to CFO in 2021 after serving for six months as interim CFO. He leads the accounting, strategic finance, financial planning and analysis, treasury, investor relations, internal audit, tax, and information technology functions. David helps drive strategic planning and decision making while continually assessing risks and opportunities for the organization. 

From 2016 to 2019, David was the Controller for [Stripe](/org/stripe), where he scaled and managed various accounting, finance, and treasury functions. Prior to that, David held multiple senior management positions at mobile payments provider Square, where he built out the company’s global finance and accounting operations and worked alongside executives to successfully lead Square's IPO registration process. He was also responsible for sourcing, executing, and integrating strategic acquisitions. Prior to Square, David held leadership roles in treasury and finance at OpenText Corp., a global leader in enterprise information management and Canada's largest publicly traded software company.

David holds an honors degree in business from [Wilfrid Laurier University](/org/wilfrid-laurier-university) and a Masters degree from the Schulich School of Business at [York University](/org/york-university). He is a Canadian Chartered Accountant and a U.S. Certified Public Accountant. 

David Borecky

Jen Carr

Tim Dale is an Analytics Manager with 7+ years of marketing experience at advertising agencies and mission-minded organizations. 

Tim Dale

founding general partner at [Khosla Ventures](/org/khosla-ventures)

Samir Kaul

Advisor at [Horizons Ventures](/org/horizons-ventures), the Hong Kong-based private investment fund of Mr. Li Ka-Shing

Bart Swanson

Vanessa Wittman

Chief Executive Officer and Cofounder of [Bon Appétit Management Company](/org/bon-appetit-management-company)

Fedele Bauccio

Chief Scientific Officer of Calico LLC and Professor Emeritus of Genomics at [Princeton University](/org/princeton)

Impossible Foods

Org chart

Teams

Leadership Team

Board of Directors

CEO and Executive Team

Founding Team

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