Becky Elias, MBA

Expert Advisor
Formerly at:

Becky is an executive leader in government and industry who is deeply passionate about the intersection of food, health and community. She has nearly 20 years of experience in the food system, where she enabled schools to serve fresh fruits and vegetables, food inspectors to become more consistent, the public to make more informed dining decisions, and the retail food industry to integrate holistic food safety and public health practices.

Becky brings a pragmatic idealism to her work, guiding organizations to integrate food safety and public health into enterprise innovation, organizational culture, crisis response and public policy influence. She helps teams and organizations develop ambitious strategy, effective execution, and trust among workers and consumers in safety every day.

During her time leading Global Retail Food Safety and Public Health at Starbucks, her team supported safe launches of innovative products, reusable cups and food donation at scale. She also facilitated global food safety harmonization, led internal audit systems and optimized retail practices. She guided the company through the pandemic, enabling resilience with safe and nimble operations, and best-in-class employee health programs. As the head of the Food Safety Program for Public Health - Seattle & King County, Becky applied an educational approach to regulatory compliance. She launched a cutting-edge food safety rating system, innovative inspector consistency programs, and a public disclosure process for foodborne illness outbreaks.

Becky has a B.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A in organizational development and multiple-bottom-line business from Antioch University.