Renée Vassilos

Renée Vassilos is The Nature Conservancy’s Agriculture Innovation Director. She manages TNC’s investments in early-stage agriculture technology companies that will scale regenerative agriculture production practices. Prior to joining The Nature Conservancy, Renée spent nearly a decade at John Deere, including several years based in Beijing, where she worked across corporate functions and geographies to build global market product strategies, design and manufacture equipment, and marketing and sales. Post-Deere, Renée led her consulting firm, Banyan Innovation Group, advising growth-stage agriculture technology start-ups and investors. Renée has a BS and MS in agricultural economics from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and University of California, Davis respectively.