Kirsten Tobey
Founder and Chief Impact Officer, Revolution Foods
Kirsten Tobey founded Revolution Foods in 2006 with Kristin Groos Richmond, a former classmate at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Kirsten continues to steward the mission and drive the vision and brand experience for the company, overseeing marketing communications and talent management, among other key aspects of the business.
Prior to founding Revolution Foods, Kirsten’s career spanned from leading experiential education programs in the U.S. and Ecuador to evaluating the scalability of school feeding programs with the United Nations Hunger Task Force in Ghana. Kirsten is an Ashoka Fellow, Aspen Institute Fellow (Catto), a member of the Culinary Institute of America’s Sustainable Business Council, and with co-founder Kristin Groos Richmond, was named Entrepreneur of the Year by NewSchools Venture Fund in 2010, is one of Time Magazine’s Education Activists of 2011, and listed as one of Fortune’s 40 under 40 for 2013.
Kirsten’s work centers around developing innovative, attainable solutions aimed at providing access to healthy food and education to all current and future generations. She currently is a member of the Board of Directors for Mercaris, Net Impact and People’s Community Market.
Kirsten holds an AB from Brown University and an MBA from UC Berkeley. She lives in Berkeley with her husband and three daughters. Kirsten’s past associations include being a member of the USF Presidential Commission for Health Professions, and mentor for Women’s Initiative Fellowship Program through the George W. Bush Institute.
Courses, Events & Writings
INNOVATION INTENSIVE: From Concept to Shelf: Rapid Innovation for Consumer Packaged Goods
From Concept to Shelf: Rapid Innovation for CPG Businesses is an inspiring, invigorating blend of short lectures, group discussion, and guided, hands-on teamwork to speed initiatives into market-ready products.
Revolution Foods Voted One of the 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2015 (FastCompany)
Every day, Revolution Foods provides 300,000 of what it calls "real food" meals to schoolchildren in 25 cities, for only $3 apiece. That’s 300,000 fewer mystery meats gut-bombing America’s future.
6 Companies That Are Growing Rapidly While Doing Good (Fast Company)
Sometimes, social responsibility is sacrificed in the name of keeping companies afloat. But these six companies, dubbed Rockstars of the New Economy by B Lab, have achieved three to 100 times revenue or job growth while maintaining a high environmental and social impact. That’s success.
Kristin Richmond and Kirsten Tobey: The Foodies (Time)
Revolution Foods, provides healthy (and tasty) school lunches to low-income students in cities on both coasts. According to Time the Kristin/Kirsten duo is the first private business in this field to achieve a sustainable business model.
