Kincannon & Reed Recruits CEO for Meiogenix

July 17, 2024 – Executive recruitment firm Kincannon & Reed, which exclusively focuses on food, agribusiness, and the related life sciences, has helped to recruit Ricardo Garcia de Alba as CEO of Meiogenix, Inc., an agriculture biotech company that develops disruptive new products based on its proprietary chromosome editing technology. He will succeed Luc Mathis, who has led the company for the previous four years. Christophe Dumont, Jon Leafstedt, and Stephen Coffey led the assignment.

“Meiogenix is now a global company, established in the U.S., that serves a broad, global market and customer base,” said Johan Cardoen, former CEO of CropDesign, former managing director of Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie and Meiogenix chairman of the board. “The deep Agribusiness perspective and experience Ricardo brings, having helped Corteva in positioning farmers for growth with advanced tools, technologies, and strategies, will propel Meiogenix to achieve its vision. We welcome Ricardo and look forward to working with him to take Meiogenix through the next stage of its growth.”

In December 2021, under Mr. Mathis’s leadership, Meiogenix closed $13 million (€11 million) Series A financing round, led by Sofinnova Partners, with participation from Genoa Ventures, Bpifrance, Casdin Capital and Alexandria Venture Investments.

“The solid work of our development team has positioned us for exciting growth opportunities,” said Mr. Mathis. “The proof that the technology is effective in both monocots and dicots plants opens the path to the development of commercial applications, products and promising partnerships. I am confident that, under Ricardo’s leadership, the next phase of Meiogenix’s development will bring a new level of innovation and I look forward to seeing a whole spectrum of new possibilities unfold.”

Mr. Garcia de Alba comes to Meiogenix after serving 15 years at Corteva Agriscience, where he held multiple leadership positions in the company’s seed and crop protection businesses. Most recently, he led the company’s Global Row Crop Herbicide and Nitrogen Management Portfolio, overseeing weed management responsibilities for the Enlist System and the company’s corn, soybean, cotton, and sugarcane business. His background also includes serving in several executive business development, engineering, and sales and marketing roles for Dupont and other leading manufacturing companies across the U.S., Brazil, Mexico, the U.K. and Spain.

As CEO, Mr. Garcia de Alba will lead Meiogenix toward its mission of helping farmers address challenges involved in the development of advanced varieties, bringing them solutions that unlock the natural genetic diversity of crops.

Related: Kincannon & Reed Fills Senior Position for CropLife America

“I am grateful to join an organization with innovation that has such extraordinary potential, having been so successfully developed by a top-performing team,” said Mr. Garcia de Alba. “Ever since I was introduced to Meiogenix for the first time, the company, the technology and the team involved captured my interest, excitement and enthusiasm. I look forward to leading the team through this exciting and critical part of the company’s journey.”

Serving Clients Throughout the World

Founded in 1981, Kincannon & Reed serves clients throughout the world from locations in the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. The firm is based in Arlington, VA. Kincannon & Reed’s mission is: “We recruit leaders for organizations that feed the world and keep it healthy.”


Kincannon & Reed Recruits COO for Double Good

Kincannon & Reed has assisted in the recruitment of Aaron Scott  as chief operating officer – manufacturing at Double Good in Chicago. “A data-driven decision maker, Aaron is a strategic and collaborative leader who is proactive in his approach,” said Paul Izenstark, managing director. “His entrepreneurial spirit and genuine affinity for Double Good’s mission will benefit him greatly in this new role.”


Mr. Dumont brings executive experience, a passion for the industry, and a broad network cultivated from over 30 years in the industry as an executive with organizations such as Bayer and Monsanto to each search engagement. As a strategic leader, he is well-versed in sustainable growth and talent identification and development. He works with clients to discover needs and identify leaders that solve problems and grow organizations. Mr. Dumont is fluent in French, English, German, and Spanish.

Mr. Leafstedt, managing partner, draws on his expertise in agriculture and biotechnology to help associations, cooperatives, and early-stage companies define their talent needs and recruit senior leadership. Passionate about connecting people with the right roles and organizations, he has led more than 200 searches in his tenure with Kincannon & Reed. Mr. Leafstedt is located in Des Moines, IA.

Located in Saratoga, NY, Mr. Coffey joined Kincannon & Reed after 15 years of search experience working with Fortune 100 clients on a global scale. As a member of a two-person team, he executed senior information technology searches for one of the Big Three automotive manufacturers. He was also responsible for relationship management with the global talent acquisition lead for a Fortune 50 conglomerate, filling executive-level roles across life sciences, test and measurement, and corporate units.

Related: Kincannon & Reed Recruits President and COO for Clarkson Grain Company

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor  – Hunt Scanlon Media

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