Research Triangle Park – North Carolina Biotechnology Center board member Karen Levert is among three women to receive the 2022 Agribusiness Demeter Award of Excellence, which recognizes outstanding achievements in the field or outstanding contributions to the agribusiness industry.
Other nominees for this year’s Demeter Award are: Diane Allemang, CEO and Chief Marketing Officer of FMC Corporation, an agricultural science company in Philadelphia; and Kendall Jones, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, who is president and CEO of ProAg, a major crop insurance company.
LeVert is a venture partner of Pappas Capital in Research Triangle Park and co-founder of Ag TechInventures LLC. After successful IT, finance and executive careers in corporate America, Levert became an entrepreneur and has now come full circle in her mission to advance disruptive technologies in agriculture.
Levert founded Southeast Tech Ventures (Optoelectronics Applications) and later Ag Tech Ventures, two accelerators to bring early stage technologies from university research labs to market. She then joined Papa Capital to invest in companies that have the potential to transform the ag tech industry.
“Karen has a key focus on supporting women in their entrepreneurship,” said Michelle Voncanon, agriculture program and events manager for NCBiotech’s agricultural sector development group, which nominated Levert for the award. “She recognizes the barriers that women can face and has made it her mission to empower these amazing women and their technologies to make a bigger difference in agriculture.”
Levert started her career 25 years ago at a Fortune-500 insurance company. She has a BBA in Information Technology from Eastern Michigan University, and an MBA from the University of Dayton.
A recipient of the Council for Entrepreneurial Development’s Outstanding Service Award, she has also been named to the WRAL TechWire Hall of Fame. In addition, Levert is a member of the North Carolina Ag Tech Council, eVert began her career at a Fortune-500 insurance company. She has a BBA in Information Technology from Eastern Michigan University, and an MBA from the University of Dayton. NC Economic Development Partnership Board and North Carolina State University Agriculture and Life Sciences Foundation Board.
The award was presented at last week’s Women in Agribusiness Summit in Dallas.
