 Principal
Haven has 18 years in communications, working with diverse organizations ranging from prestigious non-profits to small start-up businesses, large corporations and individuals working on food systems, health and wellness, sustainable seafood and social justice. In her early career, she spent 10 years honing her skills in corporate marketing at international computer companies, launching groundbreaking
new technologies that enabled multimedia in Europe and Asia – a sea change from her upbringing on her family’s self-sustaining organic farm. On the family farm, she learned to pull weeds, harvest, cook and compost as a young agricultural laborer whose out-of-school hours were spent with her hands in the dirt. Cooking followed farming. Pots simmering on the stove and the pleasures of the community table remain her overwhelming passions today.
Prior to founding HavenBMedia, she was Vice President and Partner at Straus Communications, where for six years she nurtured the business, growing it from a one-person shop to a serious resource for the sustainability community and major brands. At Straus she’s led Bon Appétit Management Company, Equator Coffees, Egg Innovations and many of the firm’s longstanding clients. She developed a media training program that built skills and confidence for CEOs, Executive Directors, and spokespersons at organizations from CCOF to CUESA to World of Good Foundation. She presented at the Ecological Farming Association annual conference, the annual meeting of Californians for Pesticide Reform, and the Center for Agroecology Sustainable Business Institute. She worked closely on communications initiatives with major national NGOs focused on food, farming and ocean conservation, including the Humane Society of the United States, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Environmental Defense, California Institute for Rural Studies and Natural Resources Defense Council.
Prior to Straus, she was Director of Marketing and Communications for TransFair USA, the certification agency for Fair Trade products in the United States. There she fought for fair pay for farm workers in developing countries, working with both social justice advocates and mainstream corporate America, including Starbucks, Procter & Gamble and Dunkin' Donuts to drive consumer awareness of the Fair Trade Certified label to an all-time high. Prior to TransFair, she was Director of Marketing for the San Francisco Symphony.
Haven holds a B.A. in East Asian Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Kansai Daigaku of Osaka, Japan. She has worked and lived in Japan, Israel and Guatemala. She is a member of the Soul Food Farm CSA, San Francisco Professional Food Society and SLOW Food USA, and advises on communications strategy for the worker-owned green business cooperative WAGES. Weekends find her at the local farmers market, cooking for friends and family, swimming, hiking or scuba diving. She lives with her husband and three truly exceptional Maine Coon cats in Oakland California.
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