The world is in need of a health revolution—and it begins with the way we think about food.

Food controls us. But it doesn’t have to. Plantable was started to give you power over what you eat, and reframe how you think about food. The result is better health. Better overall well-being. And a sense that you’re in the driver’s seat when it comes to what you eat.

DR. NADJA PINNAVAIA FOUNDER

NADJA'S STORY

Dr. Nadja Pinnavaia started Plantable to give people control over their well-being. It all starts with how we eat.

From an early age, Nadja learned how precious life is. Her father died suddenly at a very young age, and her mother passed away from breast cancer. Another bout of cancer in the family prompted Nadja to start researching food and nutrition in search of solutions beyond the pending chemotherapy. She learned just how much lifestyle factors, especially our diet, impact our health and well-being. Applying her chemistry background to understand the biochemistry of the brain and body, Nadja learned that changing behavior is hard if food is controlling us. Plantable was born out of a scientific approach to making a healthy, plant-based lifestyle easy, enjoyable and delicious.

Nadja has an undergraduate degree in chemistry from King’s College, London, and a Ph.D. in quantum chemistry from St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge. Prior to founding Plantable, Nadja was a managing director at Goldman Sachs in London. She holds the Certificate in Culinary Nutrition from the Natural Gourmet Institute. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children.

THE PLANTABLE TEAM

Aviva Gibbs

EXECUTIVE CHEF

Aviva Gibbs is a classically trained chef with over 20 years of experience in the New York City food service industry. After obtaining her Undergraduate degree from Rider University in Interpersonal Communications, Aviva joined the finance industry in the Municipal Bond department of UBS. After 7 years of running portfolios, working numbers, and Googling recipes on the side, Aviva decided to change careers and pursue her passion; cooking. Upon graduation from the Institute of Culinary Education in NYC, Aviva honed her skills working at award-winning bakeries and restaurants in NYC, private schools throughout Manhattan, and at the very popular Vegan Meal Delivery company, Sakara.

Mateusz Lilpop

VP of Operations

Mateusz has over 15 years experience operating and owning some of New York’s most established venues. From his early days as Operating Partner at Wish You Were Here Group (Dudleys, Ruby’s), to getting critical acclaim opening his first restaurant Lalito with NYT reviewed chef Gerardo Gonzalez. In 2020 his career moved him to become Executive Director of Operations for Rethink Food, a non profit focusing on creating a sustainable and equitable food system. He is currently Vice President of Operations at Plantable where he oversees a plant-based health and wellbeing program, including meal production & consumer products, wellness training & coaching. He believes in the company's ethos around creating and educating people about how 'food can be used as medicine'.

Julie LaPiana Evarts, RN, MSN, CRNP

CHIEF CUSTOMER SUCCESS OFFICER

Julie is a Nurse Practitioner with over 30 years of experience in patient care. In addition to her clinical role, she has extensive experience in population health management. Prior to joining Plantable, she worked with a large regional insurance broker, examining claims data and working with employers, employees, health systems, and insurers to manage the health of employees and work to mitigate the cost of chronic disease. Julie not only understands the health and wellness needs of individuals but also the importance of addressing a root cause of chronic illness - the standard American diet. Her medical background allows her to represent Plantable in ongoing and future clinical trials.

Elisa Udaskin

Chief Marketing Officer

Elisa is an accomplished senior brand marketer and collaborative, inspirational leader with 20 years of experience driving top line growth and bottom line efficiencies both globally and locally through sound strategic planning and innovation. Elisa's marketing career at Kraft Foods and Mondelez International spanned traditional profit and loss management, innovation, customer relationship management and corporate partnerships in Canada, the US, Singapore and globally. She has spearheaded corporate initiatives partnering with nonprofit organizations throughout her career.

Jim Wachtel

Chief Growth Officer

Jim brings twenty-five years of proven sales leadership and growth strategy experience to Plantable. Over the last fifteen years, Jim has focused successfully on pioneering new products and services in the health risk management, and employee benefits space helping self-funded employers, brokers, consultants, health plans and payers, manage health risks and reverse chronic disease states, with group sizes from small to tens of thousands of members.

Melissa Vela

Product Manager

Melissa is the Plantable product lead with a passion for building and leading cross-functional teams and working with engineers and designers to build and launch data-powered health products. She has previous experience working with established health businesses including Philips, Sanofi, and Bristol Myers Squibb. With 8 years of experience working in various analytical roles, Melissa brings perspectives and best practices from industries from the worlds of finance, technology, and ecommerce.