Biography

Max Elder is a strategist and entrepreneur with over a decade of experience advancing food system innovations across both the public and private sectors.

As CEO of FSI, Max leads a philanthropic impact platform that invests in research, market development, and ecosystem-building initiatives designed to accelerate the transition toward sustainable proteins.

Before joining FSI, Max founded and served as CEO of Nowadays, a venture-backed food technology company building manufacturing platforms for whole-cut plant-based meats. At Nowadays, Max raised more than $10 million in venture capital, patented novel extrusion technology, and launched a national brand with a retail debut at Whole Foods Market.

Earlier in his career, Max was a Research Director at the Institute for the Future, the world’s leading futures-thinking organization, where he co-led the Food Futures Lab and advised global institutions on long-term transformations in agrifood systems.

Max has advised organizations including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Nestlé, Barilla, Campbell’s, Hershey, Google, and Dairy Management Inc., among others. He speaks globally on the future of food and sustainable protein innovation.

His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, NPR, Forbes, Fast Company, Quartz, and the World Economic Forum, and his research has been published in peer-reviewed journals and books.

Max serves on the Board of Directors of People for Better Food, the advisory boards of FoodShot Global and Food Systems for the Future, and contributes to global initiatives including the World Economic Forum Food Innovators Network and the E TIPU Agrifood Summit Steering Committee. He is a fellow at both the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and IMAGINE, a global leadership community founded by former Unilever CEO Paul Polman.

Max studied at Kenyon College and Oxford University.