Mason McNeill - Rerouting America's Food Waste, One Grocery Store at a Time

Mason McNeill - Rerouting America's Food Waste, One Grocery Store at a Time

Most people don't think much about what happens to the food that doesn't get sold. Mason McNeill does. As Chief Commercial Officer at Denali, the nation's largest organics recycler, he's spent his career building the systems that catch that material before it hits a landfill and put it back to work. Denali runs routes to grocery stores and food producers across all of the lower 48, collecting food waste and organic residuals and routing them to recycling facilities where they become compost, animal feed, fertilizer, or renewable fuel. Mason breaks down how that circular chain actually functions, including the part most people don't see: you need customers on both ends. Someone has to send the material, and someone has to want what comes out the other side. Keeping that balance is a big part of his job. He also gets into depackaging technology, one of the more practical breakthroughs changing what's possible in organics diversion. Manually separating food from packaging used to be slow, inconsistent, and a contamination risk. The equipment that handles it now has made it possible to take on waste streams that weren't workable before. And looking ahead, Mason is clear-eyed about how much is still left to build. Landfill costs are rising. Communities across the country are asking hard questions about what's going into the ground. The infrastructure to answer those questions at scale is still catching up. He doesn't frame that as a problem so much as a direction. Episode in a glance 00:10 Denali and organics recycling 01:03 Inside Denali and what a Chief Commercial Officer actually does 03:48 The current state of organics recycling and Denali's strategy to lead it 05:52 Serving customers on both sides of the circular supply chain 09:54 How depackaging technology is unlocking more food waste diversion 14:08 Looking ahead at landfill diversion, infrastructure, and grassroots momentum About Mason McNeill Mason McNeill is the Chief Commercial Officer at Denali, the nation's largest organics recycler, where he leads customer relationships, sales, and infrastructure growth across the country. He holds degrees in finance, accounting, and history from the Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas and began his career at Stephens, a leading investment banking firm, advising private and family-owned companies on accessing capital markets. His work at Denali centers on building the infrastructure and partnerships needed to divert organic material from landfills and return it to productive use as animal feed, fertilizer, compost, and renewable energy. Connect with Mason McNeill and his work Mason McNeill on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/masonbmcneill [https://www.linkedin.com/in/masonbmcneill] Denali Website → https://www.denalicorp.com/ [https://www.denalicorp.com/] Send us a message! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2311933/fan_mail/new]

Mason McNeill - The Banker Who Bet on Waste

Mason McNeill is the Chief Commercial Officer at Denali, the nation's largest organics recycler. But before he was thinking about food waste and circular supply chains, he was a young investment banker in Little Rock, learning how to tell the story of businesses that had spent decades building something worth believing in. Mason grew up in the Arkansas River Valley and showed up to college knowing he wanted to study business. What he didn't plan on was picking up a history major along the way. That combination turned out to matter more than he expected. Finance taught him how businesses actually work. History taught him how to think, how to read a situation, and how to make a case. He's been doing both ever since. The conversation gets into what drew him from investment banking to the waste and recycling space, and why he thinks sustainability advocates underestimate how important it is to speak the language of capital. His take is pretty direct: great ideas don't move without money behind them, and if you can't tell the story in a way that gets investors excited, it stays an idea. That's not cynicism. It's just how he's watched things work, and not work, over the course of his career. Episode in a glance 00:44 Growing up in Arkansas and studying business and history 01:52 Why critical thinking and liberal arts matter in business 05:06 Investment banking explained and connecting capital to sustainability 09:48 Joining Denali and the organics recycling mission 13:27 Advice for sustainability businesses and the next generation About Mason McNeill Mason McNeill is the Chief Commercial Officer at Denali, the nation's largest organics recycler, where he leads customer relationships, sales, and infrastructure growth across the country. He holds degrees in finance, accounting, and history from the Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas and began his career at Stephens, a leading investment banking firm, advising private and family-owned companies on accessing capital markets. His work at Denali centers on building the infrastructure and partnerships needed to divert organic material from landfills and return it to productive use as animal feed, fertilizer, compost, and renewable energy. Connect with Mason McNeill and his work Mason McNeill on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/masonbmcneill [https://www.linkedin.com/in/masonbmcneill] Denali Website → https://www.denalicorp.com/ [https://www.denalicorp.com/] Send us a message! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2311933/fan_mail/new]

Elizabeth & Marissa - Community-Centered Strategy for a Changing World

Elizabeth Schuster and Marissa Ferrari are the co-founders of Sustainable Economies, a research-driven consulting firm working at the intersection of nature and community. They're back together on the podcast to share how they built a business from a single lunch conversation, why strategy and storytelling are stronger when they're developed side by side, and what it actually looks like to help conservation nonprofits find their footing in an uncertain world. Elizabeth brought a decade of independent consulting in strategic planning to the table. Marissa brought deep experience in community-centered branding and communications. What they discovered, first at the Women in Sustainability Network, then over a shared project at Summit Metro Parks, was that their two approaches were almost identical in process. That realization became Sustainable Economies. Together, they walk us through what it looks like to help a conservation nonprofit move from a rigid five-year action plan to something more honest: a North Star that holds steady while strategies stay flexible. They share the story behind Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District, a watershed that covers 20% of Ohio, and how years of community engagement led to a funded research collaboration that's now shaping real policy. And they make a case for why right now, in the middle of funding cuts and policy uncertainty, is exactly the wrong time for mission-driven organizations to go quiet. Episode in a glance 00:00 Introduction 00:41 How They Met and Teamed Up 03:33 Why Strategy Needs Story 07:25 Founding Sustainable Economies 13:54 Client Wins and Resilience 23:37 Measuring Impact and Wrap Up About Elizabeth Schuster & Marissa Ferrari Elizabeth Schuster and Marissa Ferrari are the co-founders of Sustainable Economies, a consulting firm that helps conservation nonprofits and public agencies develop strategy, clarify identity, and measure impact. Elizabeth brings over 10 years of experience in strategic planning, community engagement, and facilitation. Marissa brings expertise in brand development, communications, and stakeholder research. Together, they work with clients in Ohio and across the country to build resilient organizations rooted in research and plain-language storytelling. Connect with Elizabeth and Marissa Sustainable Economies on LinkedIn → Sustainable-Economies [https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainable-economies]  Sustainable Economies → sustainableeconomies.com [https://sustainableeconomies.com/] Send us a message! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2311933/fan_mail/new]

Marissa Ferrari - From Ms. Magazine to Mission-Driven Work

Marissa Ferrari is Partner and Creative Director at Sustainable Economies, where she works with mission-driven organizations at the intersection of nature and communities. Her winding path that took her from a childhood in rural Michigan to a career in brand strategy and communications, and what she's learned about creativity, storytelling, and finding your way when the road doesn't run straight. Marissa grew up in a small town in southwestern Michigan, spending her childhood building tree forts, wandering creeks, and roaming the woods behind her house. It was a relationship with the natural world that never left her. She went to college expecting to become a doctor, switched to literature and women's studies, and landed an internship at Ms. Magazine during the Gloria Steinem era. When that door didn't open the way she hoped, she spent years wondering if she'd missed her shot. What she found instead was a richer path with AmeriCorps, economic development, copywriting, advertising, and eventually a creative directorship that draws on every one of those stops. For Marissa, storytelling is the engine behind effective nonprofit communications. The best stories make the audience the hero. We drive decisions on how stories captures emotion, not by the data they share. Marissa’s ambition as a woman, from the internal friction of having teachers tell her to stop raising her hand, to how building her own practice - gave her room to finally see what she could accomplish. Her realization from this work is that we are not separate from nature, and the more people remember this, the more it fuels her hope. Episode in a glance 00:00 Introduction 00:53 Tree Fort Roots 02:38 From Biomed to Literature 06:17 Nonlinear Career Lessons 10:10 Storytelling and Creativity 21:32 Hope and Staying Connected About Marissa Ferrari Marissa Ferrari is Partner and Creative Director at Sustainable Economies, a consultancy supporting mission-driven nonprofits and public sector organizations working at the intersection of nature and communities. With a background in literature and women's studies and more than two decades in communications, brand strategy, and creative direction, she brings both artistic sensibility and research-driven rigor to the work of helping organizations find and tell their stories. Connect with Marissa Ferrari and her work at Sustainable Economies Sustainable Economies on LinkedIn → Sustainable-Economies [https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainable-economies]  Sustainable Economies → sustainableeconomies.com [https://sustainableeconomies.com/] Send us a message! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2311933/fan_mail/new]

Elizabeth Schuster - From Peace Corps to Environmental Economist

Elizabeth Schuster is the founder of Sustainable Economies, a strategic planning, branding, and communications firm, and a partner in environmental economics. Her sustainability journey started from building forts in the New Hampshire woods to transforming a struggling Peace Corps assignment into a certified organic coffee co-op in Honduras. She grew up on 17 acres in New Hampshire, where early years of backpacking and time in nature laid the foundation for a lifelong commitment to the environment. But it was a study abroad in Venezuela, watching farmers grow food by hand, then seeing a pesticide bottle reused for drinking water - that crystallized her three-pillar approach to sustainability: human health, economic viability, and ecological impact. That has guided everything since. During Peace Corps experience in a remote Honduran mountain village she went on a mission to plant trees, which nearly stalled after a year with only 10 planted. By shifting from top-down volunteer to community collaborator and interviewing every household, learning about coffee, corn, and the real economic trade-offs families were navigating, she helped launch a certified organic coffee co-op that delivered both a higher market price and a reforested watershed. That discovery became the spark that shaped her entire career. From there, she pursued graduate work in agricultural and environmental economics, joined the Nature Conservancy as an environmental economist, and eventually built her own firm. She also shares what it means to be a qualitative collaborator in a field that often prizes pure data, and why the most impactful sustainability work is rooted in courage, inclusion, and hearing every voice. Episode in a glance 00:00 Introduction 00:36 Gordon the Whisper Whiner 01:16 Roots in New Hampshire 03:44 Peace Corps Turning Point 07:54 From Manufacturing to Economics 11:52 Data Trust and Closing About Elizabeth Schuster Elizabeth Schuster is the founder of Sustainable Economies, a strategic planning, branding, and communications firm, and a partner in environmental economics. With a background in environmental studies and a graduate degree in agricultural and environmental economics, Elizabeth spent four years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras before going on to work as an environmental economist at the Nature Conservancy. She brings a systems-level, deeply collaborative approach to sustainability work — one grounded equally in data, community voice, and her three-pillar framework of human health, economic viability, and ecological impact. Connect with Elizabeth Schuster and her work Sustainable Economies on LinkedIn → Sustainable-Economies [https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainable-economies]  Sustainable Economies → sustainableeconomies.com [https://sustainableeconomies.com/] Send us a message! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2311933/fan_mail/new]