tinyTeam
AAMAR KHWAJA
FOUNDER, CEO & THE ORIGINAL TINY FARMER
Meet Aamar Khwaja, a foodie with a fiduciary mind. Aamar is the founder of Modgarden’s tinyFarm. Once a Wall Street banking professional with roles ranging from iBanking to Technology Management, Trading and Risk Management, Aamar found himself stuck and sick from his life and food.
To address his health crisis, Aamar channeled his years spent in business delivery, multi-level negotiation with large institutional clients, and programme management for JPMorgan/Bank America into an entrepreneurial solution to his own problem—modgarden.
Aamar has morphed into a dedicated entrepreneur, single dad, and a passionate believer in the power of home-grown organic food to change your health and the world around you. Aamar isn’t your average tiny farmer. In fact, he’s not your average anything.
modgarden compass
modgarden’s compass points to the intersection between human wellness and nature. We are informed by the beauty and brilliance of plants—from their roots to their leaves, and the interdependence of their rich ecosystem. Each of our team members connect closely with nature, and have co-created a business that strives to build meaningful connections that will help us to optimize our human health.
modgarden’s purpose serves the common good. We enable people to connect with and trust the food they eat. Our mission is to enable people to grow food with convenient, nature-inspired technology, all while delivering delicious and pure nutrition. Truly organic food grown in soil by people at home, no matter where they live, breeds vitality and builds health. Our aspiration is for people, just like us, to taste the rewards of real food, grown in real soil, and make a deeper connection with our earth. It needs us. We need it.

SID APAYA
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
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HOPE
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
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It’s safe to say that ‘food’ is at the centre of Hope’s universe. When she’s not eating it, sniffing it out, gathering it, cooking with it, sharing it, she’s teaching about it. And now with modgarden’s tinyfarm she’s growing it. For the past 15 years Hope has been acting in lead roles in engagement, culture creation, marketing and business development for brands across the world.
She has been captured by the spirit and powerful practicality of modgarden and has taken on the role of Engagement Advisor and Jill of all trades for the growing tinyteam. This many-hat role suits Hope’s diverse experience and broad network. She lives and breathes the target tinyFarm user persona and is game to apply it to grow this brand.

JAMES MCMILLEN
CHIEF HORTICULTURE OFFICER
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MONICA KARPPINEN
LOGISTICS & PROJECT WRANGLER
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Monica is part holistic operating system and part human accountability coach. Her M.O is to keep the diverse and focused modgarden team on track. Monica lives by the list and throws every inch of herself into ensuring projects, operations and logistics are mapped out, implemented, retooled, standardized, analyzed and reported on. The devil is in the details for Monica, and her 15 years of due diligence management experience enables modgarden to launch on multiple levels. modgarden is able to draw upon her wealth of experience in marketing, operations, budgeting, merchandising, distribution, HR, design, agile project management and launching multi-stakeholder programs.

MARYAM NIZAM
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
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Advisors

HOWARD MOSKOVITZ
MindGenomics
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HEATHER DUBBLEDAM
DESIGNER OF TINYFARM CONCEPT
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ALAN TRATNER
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The Inventors Workshop International and the Entrepreneur’s Workshop, Director of the Small Business Entrepreneurship Center in California, is a SCORE (US SBA) consultant, and was publisher of the Lightbulb Journal and INVENT! magazines. He is an inventor and serial entrepreneur, with 13 inventions/patents. He has been dubbed the “Minister of Ideas” by the media and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Inc., Entrepreneur, Business Week, TIME, USA Today, America Online Forum, NPR, and has appeared on OPRAH, CNN, Good Morning America, and CNBC. Alan has mentored and assisted thousands of green technology, sustainable ecology and energy companies, and inventors. He was a former Professor of Environment and Energy, participated in the First International United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, in Stockholm Sweden, was a staff member of Environmental Quality Magazine, and helped establish the famous Earth Day. He founded the Environmental Education Group Foundation in 1972 with many supporters, including Nobel prize winner Dennis Gabor.
tinyLab Team

DR. NICK BELLISSIMO
Associate Professor and Director of the Nutrition Discovery Labs in the School of Nutrition at Ryerson University
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DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE
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We have two key persons working from the Dalhousie Agriculture Department.
Dr. Lord Abbey has a background in Plant Science and Pharmaceutical R&D with a research focus on sustainable food systems and compost quality enhancement for plant fortification and ultimately, assurance of healthy diets and human health and wellbeing.

DESIGN 1ST
modgarden DESIGN TEAM
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