Willy Foote is founder and CEO of Root Capital, a nonprofit that offers farmers around the world a path to prosperity by investing in the agricultural businesses that serve as engines of impact in their communities. Since its founding in 1999, Root Capital has provided more than $1.7 billion in loans to 770 agricultural businesses in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Together, these businesses have bought and marketed crops for 2.4 million smallholder farmers, reaching over 10 million people in rural communities. Willy is a Skoll Entrepreneur and an Ashoka Global Fellow. He served for nearly a decade on the Executive Committee of the Aspen Network for Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) and serves on the Strategic Advisory Council of the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan. Willy holds an MS in development economics from the London School of Economics and a BA from Yale University.
