Navyn Salem

In 2007, Navyn set out to help end the crisis of malnutrition for over 250 million children around the world by setting up a factory in Tanzania, her father’s home country, that would produce ready-to-use therapeutic foods to treat severe acute malnutrition. In 2009 she expanded the vision by founding Edesia, a U.S. non-profit food aid manufacturer, to treat and prevent malnutrition in developing countries worldwide. Its factory in Providence, RI produces a range of fortified, peanut-based products like Plumpy’Nut® and Nutributter® for humanitarian agencies like UNICEF, World Food Programme, USAID and other NGOs working in emergency and conflict zones. Since production began in March 2010, Edesia has reached over 1.7 million children in 37 countries, including Chad, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, Pakistan, and Syria. In 2012, Navyn was named New England Business Woman of the Year by Bryant University, received the Roger E. Joseph Prize from Hebrew Union College for being an outstanding humanitarian, and was awarded an honorary doctorate in social sciences from Boston College, her Alma Mater. In 2013, Navyn received an honorary degree in business administration from Bryant University, became a Trustee of Boston College and is a member of the Chicago Council’s Global Agricultural Development Initiative Advisory Group. She is a member of the 2014 Class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute.