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A solutions-to-market competition aiming to help support the next breakthrough in water, food, and agriculture.
 

Ali Decker

Co-Managing Director Ali is a 2025 MBA Candidate at MIT Sloan specializing in environmental sustainability in the Food and Agriculture industries. Prior to attending MIT Sloan, Ali worked for 5 years in medical device user-centered research, design, and regulatory advising as a Human Factors Engineering consultant. She now uses this expertise to develop customer-focused solutions that advance business strategy, whether physical products (as a Product Manager Intern at ButcherBox) or company processes (as an ESG Research Fellow at FoodChain ID). After completing her Sloan MBA, her goal is to identify and solve crucial problems at the intersection of business strategy and environmental sustainability.

 
 

Sam Jakshtis

Co-Managing Director Sam is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Real Estate Development at MIT. He has prior experience in the proptech and fintech sectors as a financial data engineer. Having grown up on a livestock farm, he continues to play an active role in managing the farm’s operations.

 
 

Fakhri Guniar

VP of Mentor & Judge Outreach Fakhri is a 2026 MBA Candidate at MIT Sloan. He started his career by leading a project to provide clean water access on the remote fishermen islands in Indonesia. Afterwards he became part of the founding team for food business aggregator to help them access capital and resources to scale up their businesses and also co-founded a venture backed company on food waste and food supply chain. His last role was working on impact fund focusing on nature-based innovation in the forest and marine ecosystem. During his time at MIT Sloan, Fakhri wants to explore innovation to solve problems at the intersection of climate, food, water, and well-being.

 
 

Muditt Khurana

VP of Applicant Experience Muditt is a 2026 Master’s in Finance candidate at MIT Sloan, with a focus on venture capital and investment strategy. Before joining MIT, he worked in venture capital and family office management, gaining experience in evaluating startups across sectors like SaaS, edtech, and mental health tech. His background also includes roles in quantitative finance, where he applied generative AI and big data to optimize trading decisions at WorldQuant. At Sloan, he’s continued to deepen his expertise, supporting founders through strategic guidance and deal sourcing. Following his degree, Muditt aims to drive impactful investments and support transformative startups that push boundaries in innovation and growth.

 
 

Kanon Kobata

VP of Operations Kanon is a first-year PhD student in the Microbiology program. During her undergraduate studies, she majored in Food Science and Food Business, exploring emerging food tech spaces through the lenses of both technical sciences and product development. In addition to her work in the lab prototyping plant-based seafood products, Kanon placed 3rd and 1st in multiple national-level food product development competitions. After graduating from college, she spent about two years in the industry at a food tech startup, introducing herself to the cutting-edge field of microbial fermentation technology. She hopes to continue her research at the intersection of microbial biotechnology and food tech, aiming to create a sustainable food system.

 
 

Anna Liang

VP of Applicant & Mentor Communications Anna is a 2026 MBA Candidate at MIT Sloan. Prior to Sloan, Anna worked for four years in consulting, focusing on technology strategy across various industries in both Fortune 500 and non-profit initiatives. At Sloan and beyond, Anna is interested in solving problems at the intersection of consumer products and food technology.

 

Rakesh Mistry

VP of Marketing Rakesh is a MBA 2025 on exchange from London Business School. He is an ENT surgeon by training with a longstanding involvement with healthtech startups. He is also an Venture Capital Fellow 2023 and NHS England Clinical Entrepreneur. His passion for combining science and technology to make a positive impact on society has led him to develop in interest in sustainable technologies outside of healthcare and he hopes to meet other startups and founders in this community as the VP of marketing!

 
 

Kareena Shah

VP of External Outreach Kareena is a second-year undergraduate at MIT pursuing a degree in aerospace engineering with which she hopes to leverage emerging aerospace technologies to spur social change. Motivated by the plight of marginalized folks facing extreme water stress and inaccessibility, she began a World Water Crisis Awareness Campaign and created a podcast, One Drop At A Time, to highlight the various aspects of this global humanitarian issue and different entities affected. Her travels to India enabled her to interact with affected rural communities first-hand and work directly on implementable solutions. As VP of External Outreach, Kareena hopes to bring the WFA Prize to a larger audience and broaden its reach, thus empowering individuals to advocate for actionable change within their own communities and pave the way for disruptive innovations in water and agriculture.

 

Hana Sousa

VP of Marketing Hana is a second year undergraduate student. She has a background in water innovation and advocacy, including scientific Olympiads and volunteer projects. Hana's goal is to ignite curiosity and passion for science in young individuals, encouraging them to fearlessly pursue their dreams and make a meaningful impact in the world.