Alexandra Watts has earned her BS in Finance and the Spanish language from Bryant University. During her time at Bryant University, Alexandra was a securities analyst and a portfolio manager in the technology sector of the student run equity portfolio called the Archway Investment Fund. She also competed for the school’s Division I Track & Field team, specializing in the pole vault. Professionally, she has experience with UBS Financial Services, concentrating in Wealth Management. Alexandra resides in Boulder, Colorado with her dog Boomer.  Alexandra has a passion for health, animals and sustainability. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, running, cooking and traveling.

Gary Gagnon has three decades of experience as an executive in the hide and leather industry including 19 years as the Vice President and General Manager of Prime Tanning’s web blue tanning facility in St. Joseph, Missouri. He has extensive knowledge of the mechanisms that drive the global hide, leather and wet blue tanning industries. In 2008, he joined The Jacobson as an analyst and the editor of our Hide Bulletin.

David Gavensky has over 35 years working in the hide and leather industry in South America. He worked for A.J. Hollander y Asociadoa S. A.; Tannerco S.A. as the general manager; Curtasa S.A. as general manager; Curtarsa Curtiembre Argentina S.A. as foreign trade manager; GST AutoLeather, Inc. as Director of South American Business Development. Today he is a consultant in the leather business, utilizing his vast wealth of knowledge and contacts in the business over the decades

Tore Alden began his career as an analyst for the Agricultural Marketing Group at Smith Barney. When the group left to form International Agribusiness Group (IAG), he directed the firm’s fundamental research reports covering the markets for grain, oilseed, coffee, frozen concentrated orange juice, along with oil and natural gas. After leaving IAG, he developed and implemented trading strategies for grain, oilseed and livestock for a hedge fund. Before joining The Jacobsen, he covered the oilseed complex for Informa Economics. Tore covers the Vegetable Oils Bulletin for The Jacobsen.

David Becker is an analyst and portfolio manager with 30 years of experience in the capital markets. Prior to joining The Jacobsen, he worked for 2-investment banks and 3-hedge funds in London and New York, focusing on commodities, fixed income, equities and foreign exchange. David is the editor of The Jacobsen’s Organic & Non-GMO Bulletin.

John Donicht earned a degree in economics from the University of Wisconsin and an MBA in finance from the University of Minnesota. In the 1990s, he traded fats and oils for five years before joining with a partner to create By-Products Interactive (BPI). BPI created a platform to trade by-product commodities that were not traded on a centralized exchange. BPI acquired The Jacobsen Publishing Company in 2000 and John has been President since 2001.