John Cordaro

Biographical Summary for John Benedict (J.B.) Cordaro J.B. Cordaro is a Special Representative for Mars, Incorporated focused on Global Food Security and Food Systems. He seeks to increase awareness of the linkages among the key elements of food security–production, nutrition, safety and consumers– within the context of human rights for resilient and sustainable food systems; developing purpose driven partnerships; building personal and institutional capacity; and assembling and nurturing a stakeholder network to shape and advocate food policies for vulnerable populations. He is the Mars liaison with the UN Rome Based Agencies and Member State Representatives; the Private Sector Mechanism of the UN CFS; and helps create and manage Mars food safety partnerships, such as GAIN’s Business Platform for Nutrition Research (BPNR), the SUN Business Network, World Food Programme (WFP), Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa (PACA), and Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), including a participant in the Committee on Agriculture (COAG), supports the African Orphan Crops Consortium (AOCC) and has been an industry stakeholder representative on the Global Nutrition Report (GNR) since its inception. J.B. has over five decades international food experiences working in approximately 50 countries in U.S. and international agriculture, food, nutrition and health activities, including: (1) senior technical and management positions with the Agency for International Development (USAID), with a pioneering role to define how the private sector could market nutritious foods in developing countries; (2) senior staff to Senator Hubert H. Humphrey and Food Program Manager for the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment (OTA); (3) Executive Director, the Food Safety Council, Inc.; and (4) President and CEO, the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), including the industry’s CODEX activities, while also serving as the Trans-Atlantic Business Development (TABD) Manager for Food and Supplementation. He is well known for collaborating with business, public sector, NGOs, UN entities, Foundations and International Organization representatives to build bridges of consensus to shape, advocate and implement programs and policies to help achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. J.B. obtained a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree from Loyola of the South and a Master of Science degree from Cornell University with an emphasis in agricultural economics and nutrition policy planning.