ACDI/VOCA is pleased to announce the appointment of three new members to its board of directors: Chris Cochran, Enoh Ebong, and Leslie Durschinger. The three experts bring their unique perspectives and diverse career stages and global experience to advise the organization.
Chris Cochran
Chris Cochran is a global sustainability executive with a deep expertise in food systems. Most recently, Cochran served as the inaugural executive director of ReFED, a nonprofit think-and-do tank focused on reducing food waste across the United States. Prior to this, he led sustainability efforts for Walmart’s global produce business.
He has spoken at leading conferences, such as The Wall Street Journal Global Food Forum, GreenBiz, Verge, Circularity, SOCAP, and Future Food-Tech. He has also been interviewed by major media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, PBS, and NPR. In 2019, Cochran was named a VERGE Vanguard award winner by GreenBiz for his leadership in sustainability.
Cochran began his career working with smallholder farmers in Central America. He still owns a cocoa farm with local partners in Honduras. He holds an MA in international economics and development from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a BBA in finance and accounting from Harding University.
Enoh Ebong
Enoh Ebong currently drives the development of strategic partnerships at the Milken Institute’s Center for Advancing the American Dream. Previously, she served as a U.S. government senior executive service member, general counsel, strategist, and, most recently, deputy director and chief operating officer of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). Ebong led and advanced international public-private partnerships for the agency, which partners with the U.S. private sector to develop sustainable infrastructure and foster economic growth in emerging economies.
Prior to this, Ebong practiced law at the Boston office of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris and Popeo, P.C., representing public and private companies in public offerings, financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance issues.
She holds a JD from the University of Michigan Law School, an MA in communication from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MA in history from the University of Edinburgh (Scotland). Ebong is a member of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Bar. Originally from Nigeria, she is now a U.S. citizen living in Washington, D.C.
Leslie Durschinger
Leslie Durschinger is the founder and CEO of Terra Global Capital, a global leader in technical advisory and investments that promote sustainable agriculture and forestry management. Durschinger has pioneered the alignment of global development values with financially viable approaches to sustainable landscape management. Terra is now a leader in emerging market climate-smart agriculture, reduced deforestation programming, and much more, providing technical expertise to governments, NGOs, and private companies and driving investment capital.
She brings more than 20 years of experience working in financial services for JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Barclays Global Investors, and Charles Schwab. Durschinger also serves as Board Chair of the International Emission Trading Associations REDD+ Working Group. She is a member of the Verra Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program Advisory Group, the REDD+ Social & Environmental Standards Committee, the VCS Jurisdictional and Nested REDD+ Expert Working Group, and the Coalition on Agricultural Greenhouse (C-AGG) Advisory Committee. Durschinger and her family live on a farm in Mendocino County, California, where they make small production olive oil.
