John H. Costello
President and Chief Executive Officer
John H. Costello is President, CEO, and co-founder of CNFA. For more than two decades, Mr. Costello has directed CNFA's extensive economic and agricultural development operations. Since 1992, CNFA has managed over $150 million of U.S. Government resources to develop private agriculture and promote investment in Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Africa, Caucuses and the Near and Middle East. Mr. Costello has over 25 years of senior executive experience in international business and economic development programs and has served as chairman of the United States Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid. Previously, John was president and CEO of Helen Keller International, Inc. of New York. He is a graduate of Syracuse University.

Jack Swartwood
Vice President, Operations and Compliance
Jack Swartwood is a senior executive with more than 30 years experience in USAID-funded project management, including supervision of major humanitarian assistance, agricultural and economic development, and privatization-related activities worldwide.  He has a unique blend of private and public sector experience, with extensive expertise in administrative operations, contract management, computerized management information and accounting systems Jack has prepared and managed annual project and operating budgets in excess of $50 million and coordinated assessment actions in 34 countries in collaboration with USAID Missions.

Jason Scarpone
Vice President, Africa Programs
Jason Scarpone leads the management and backstopping for CNFA's programs in Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Malawi, Western Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia and South Sudan. For CNFA Mr. Scarpone worked directly with the Moldova Agribusiness Development Program in 1999-2000 and advised CNFA’s earlier initiative in Southern Africa. Most recently, Mr. Scarpone served as Director of Community Development Programs for East-West Management Institute (EWMI).  In this position, he directed EWMI’s Private Farmers Assistance and Rural Enterprise efforts in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Southeast Asia.   Prior to that assignment, Mr. Scarpone was based in West Africa as International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) Country Director in Guinea where he developed an integrated post-conflict program designed to transition from post-conflict to economic development.  In addition, he served as Regional Post Conflict Development Advisor for IRC’s post-conflict programs in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Cote d’Ivoire. A senior manager with 15 years experience designing, implementing and managing over $80 million in community-based social and economic development programs, Mr. Scarpone received his undergraduate degree at Northwestern University and an M.P.A. in Labor Relations and International Development from New York University.

Tom Campbell
Senior Advisor
Tom Campbell joins CNFA armed with fine tuned skills and expertise gleaned from over 40 years at Dow Agrosciences in sales, marketing and government affairs. He started at Dow in 1965 as a field seller servicing corn and soybean producers in Illinois and Missouri. Throughout his career he represented various regions in the Midwest and West U.S., including Hawaii and represented a diverse product portfolio including various fruit, vegetable, grain, timber, and textile crops. From 1989 to 2005, he served as Dow's Federal Government Affairs Manager in Washington, DC. Tom holds a BS in Animal Husbandry from Kansas State University. He brings a set of valuable tools, wide ranging and well-informed insights, and an in-depth knowledge of the private agribusiness sector which will serve CNFA well in our new business development activities around the world.

Marcus Winter
Senior Advisor
Marc Winter is an accomplished agribusiness and enterprise development expert having served over 35 years in agriculture and enterprise development with USAID. He brings to CNFA a rich set of skills as well as geographical and technical experience, including project design and management, policy reform, project/program evaluation, and natural resource management. Marc is a highly experienced Africa hand having served in Nigeria and Zimbabwe as well as completing long-term assignments in Asia and the Middle East. Marc spent much of the 1990s serving as Senior Agricultural Economic Development Specialist for the Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade and played a central role in the design and evaluation of many USAID agriculture and enterprise development initiatives in the Newly Independent States (NIS) as well as in Eastern and Central Europe. Marc received his B.A. in Agriculture Business Administration and his M.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Minnesota.