Robyn O'Brien

Robyn O’Brien’s life and the lives of thousands of others were dramatically changed one morning as her family sat down to enjoy their frozen waffles. Robyn’s daughter had a sudden and severe reaction to an ingredient in her breakfast waffles that almost took her life. She began a life-changing journey after the harrowing experience of rushing her daughter to the hospital and helplessly watching the staff work to slow her daughter’s swelling and short breathing to save her life. All from simply eating a frozen waffle that many Americans have in their freezers.

Robyn had no idea that her pursuit to help her daughter would change the food landscape in America forever. She began digging through ingredient lists and discovered a vast difference between what was permitted in American packaged foods versus other countries. As she began to connect the dots, she learned the dyes and chemicals American companies permitted were causing health issues not just for her daughter, but thousands of children. 

Robyn’s commitment to helping her daughter and other families put her on a journey she never anticipated. She started documenting everything she discovered and eventually approached some of the highest-level Executives and Government Organizations with her findings. Robyn faced incredibly hateful pushback against not just her, but her entire family as she began to confront the giants in the Food industry. But she didn’t back down, because she believed in what she was doing and knew change was necessary to save lives.

Robyn O’Brien is on the Forbes Impact 50 List for her courageous and impactful work at the intersection of food and climate. Robyn never intended to go on this journey or change the world in this way, but she is honored to have walked this road. Her research and tenacity have led her to change the food landscape for all of us, as evidenced by the recent elimination of red dye and so much more. Learn more about Robyn's powerful story and how she now encourages and inspires others to live boldly and answer the defining question in all of our lives, What would you do if you weren’t afraid?

Today Robyn is considered the original whistleblower and true “Erin Brockovich” on our food system. Robyn had no idea that her pursuit to help her daughter would change the food landscape in America forever. Eventually, Robyn gave a TEDx talk that went viral and has been viewed by millions. She authored an award-winning book, The Unhealthy Truth, How Our Food Is Making Us Sick and What We Can Do About It which has been translated into dozens of languages. 

Robyn is currently a partner at Montcalm, an impact investing platform based in San Francisco, and the founder of Sirona Ventures and rePlant Capital, financial services firms scaling agricultural and climate solutions, and AllergyKids Foundation, an organization that brought awareness to the impact our food system is having on the health of our children. Her work in the capital markets began in 1997 at Invesco where she was on a team that managed $20 billion in assets, including the top-performing hedge fund at the company. She joined Invesco after receiving a Fulbright fellowship and graduating as the top woman in her class from business school at Rice University. 

She is also an Executive Producer, along with Jason Momoa, Laura Dern, Rosario Dawson, and others of the award-winning documentary, Common Ground, an adjunct professor at Rice University, founder of the Women Transforming Food and Finance conference, and mother of four.