Ross Dakin

Senior Strategist, Global Tech & Operations, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Ross Dakin is a senior strategist on the Global Technology & Operations team at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Ross recently advised the Microsoft Technology and Civic Engagement team in New York City following his appointment as a White House Presidential Innovation Fellow under the Obama Administration. As a private sector technologist in Silicon Valley, Ross created the infrastructure that helped the same-day delivery provider Deliv achieve market-winning growth; novel financial services at Upstart; threat intelligence collaboration tools at BrightPoint Security (acquired by ServiceNow); and distributed call center technology at LiveOps. Over the past two years, Ross has served as an advisor to the Farmers Market Coalition and other market organizations on data collection and analysis initiatives, and wireless electronic payment processing improvements.

Ross also volunteers his time by providing prehospital emergency care services as a licensed EMT under the auspices of various organizations including the National Ski Patrol, Palo Alto Medical Reserve Corps, Santa Clara County Medical Volunteers for Disaster Response, and multiple arms of the American Red Cross.

Ross holds a Bachelors of Science in Computer Engineering degree from Santa Clara University, where he serves on the Dean’s Engineering Advisory Board. Ross is currently based in New York City.

Top 3 obstacles facing farmers markets: 1) reauthorizing relevant appropriations in the Farm Bill, 2) the ability for farmers markets to leverage technology as a scaling mechanism, 3) the growing number of same-day-delivery grocery services potentially cutting into the farmers market customer base.

Also a member of United Nations Association of the USA (Sponsoring Member) — the principles of farmers markets apply to multiple Sustainable Development Goals (Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well-Being, Sustainable Cities and Communities, Responsible Consumption and Production).