Kelly McJannett

Kelly McJannett is the CEO of Food Ladder, an innovative NGO creating social enterprises to address food security internationally.

Kelly is passionate about using business to create sustainable solutions to pervasive social issues affecting communities around the world, and galvanising the power and passion of organisations and governments to the movement.
In four years, Food Ladder has transformed from the seed of an idea to an award winning business funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade that has collectively created employment for over 300 people previously living in poverty or suffering from long-term unemployment.

With a background in communications, Kelly is experienced in developing start-ups as well as designing innovative and compelling strategies to deliver growth. Kelly has held management roles in Indigenous education, employment and development sectors before pursuing her dream of addressing food security challenges on a global scale.

With a unique model that promotes the self-sovereignty and economic independence of communities, Food Ladder is empowering disadvantaged people to grow their own produce using its hydroponic greenhouses in the slums of India through to Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Working with governments to scale its reach, Kelly’s vision is to provide a socially, environmentally and economically sustainable solution to food security for impoverished communities around the world.

Kelly is the recipient of the Sydney University 2016 Anstice Community Leader MBA Scholarship.