RII Adds Six New Members to Board of Directors

Resource Innovation Institute (RII), a not-for-profit advancing resilient agricultural systems, announced it’s adding six new members to its Board of Directors on March 6. These leaders will help drive RII’s mission to scale resource-efficient and circular food production systems, enhance nutritional security, and strengthen community resilience through the integration of controlled environment agriculture (CEA).

The six new board members include former Desert Aire President Keith Coursin, IFPA Vice President of Innovation Vonnie Estes, ARCO/Murray Partner Patrick Hidder, former KUBO Greenhouse Projects North American Director of Strategic Development Andrew Horowitz, World Wildlife Fund Senior Director Julia Kurnik, and Walmart Senior Director Innovations Agricultural Strategy Michael Yates.

• Keith Coursin, Board Chair, recently retired from his role as President of Desert Aire Corp., a manufacturer of commercial and industrial dehumidification systems used in CEA and other applications.
• Vonnie Estes serves as Vice President of Innovation at the International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA), where she helps companies navigate, develop, and commercialize innovation in agriculture.
• Patrick Hidder is a partner and shareholder of ARCO/Murray, a premier design-build general contractor with over 40 offices and 5,500 projects across North America. Since joining ARCO/Murray in 2010, he has provided operational leadership and played a key role in expanding the company’s footprint, including co-founding its Dallas office in 2015.
• Andrew Horowitz was formerly KUBO Greenhouse Projects North American Director of Strategic Development, where he connected commercial and operational teams to help North American growers maximize efficiency. Prior to KUBO, he worked as a project manager and engineer at Little Leaf Farms and as a process engineering consultant at Barry-Wehmiller Design Group.
• Julia Kurnik is the Senior Director, Innovation Start-ups at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) where she researches emerging trends and tools with the potential to drive environmental sustainability and financial growth in food and agriculture systems. She has extensive experience launching multi-stakeholder initiatives, designing and piloting new business strategies, and developing policies that support sustainable CEA practices.
• Michael Yates leads Innovation Agricultural Strategy at Walmart, focusing on transformative solutions for fresh food divisions. With two decades of experience in sustainable energy and controlled environment agriculture, he specializes in aligning consumer preferences, scientific advancements, and sustainability goals.

These board members join Jonathan Eisenberg (Independent Investor), Brian Herrington (The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company/Hawthorne Gardening Company), Chieri Kubota, Ph.D. (The Ohio CEA Center at The Ohio State University), Shanita Penny (Forbes-Tate Partners), Kim Player (Player Research & Consulting), Michael Roth (Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture), Jan Westra (Priva), and Elizabeth Whalen (Former Board Member, U.S. Green Building Council).