On Board: Welcoming Crystal Webber to the WIN Board of Directors
Crystal Webber knows full well that diversity of representation matters to a board’s success.
And why wouldn’t she? The registered dietician, food biochemist and Formulation Innovations Group (FIG) founder and chief innovation officer has held board positions across the natural products industry throughout her 20 years in the biz and currently serves as vice president of the board at the Naturally Proud Network (NPN), a 501(c)(3) LGBTQIA+ professional networking association.
One lesson all that board service has taught her is that representational diversity matters even more when a board’s members have the potential to make a truly valuable impact.
This is one of the many reasons why Webber makes the perfect fit for WIN’s board of directors, which she joined as one of the newest members this June.
As Webber puts it, “The WIN BOD is known to be very hands-on and able to drive impactful initiatives very quickly.” As a dynamic innovator and change-makerherself, she’ll feel right at home—and she’s already hit the ground running.
Missions aligned…
I’m very aligned with WIN’s focus areas, especially those geared toward the next generations of female leaders! Fostering professional growth, investment opportunities and more board and C-suite positions for women now will set the global nutraceutical industry up for a much better gender-equity balance in the years to come.
That’ll not only make the nutraceutical industry a more enjoyable space for those currently advancing through their careers; it’ll also make it a more attractive career choice for students and early-stage professionals.
Strength in diversity…
The more value and impact a board’s members have, the more representation matters. Having board members from a wide range of backgrounds in experience, age, ethnicity, gender and more improves diversity of thought. That improved diversity of thought boosts productivity as boards work through issues and strategies. Plus it fosters trust and authenticity with the group’s stakeholders.
Knowing her “why”…
I love being known for making very difficult product formulations work. It’s so rewarding to see a brand launch something they pursued for years without success, or to give a client a prototype for a product they’d been told over and over wasn’t possible.
Being the inaugural board vice president for the Naturally Proud Network and supporting their development of programs that give back to community-based LGBTQIA+ nonprofit organizations truly fills me with pride—pun intended!
And while being mostly behind the scenes as a product-development consultant working under NDAs has sometimes limited how publicly excited I can be about a new product after launch, every once in a while I experience a moment when people speak favorably about a product I built. I love those moments because they provide true unbiased feedback since the people talking aren’t aware of my role in the process. And that’s the best kind of feedback!
All work and no play…
I enjoy being a cat foster mom. I get to raise kittens through the super-cute stage and support them with an unconditional lifeline in case their adoptive pet parents struggle down the line. Having kittens year-round is excellent stress relief!
Pulling food science techniques into my home kitchen is something I do for fun as well. Failures in my lab, such as a gummy that only gelled at the outer layer, might become liquid-centered maple-syrup balls baked into a pancake for my next brunch party.
Leaving a legacy…
I hope to help WIN expand its reach to women working in overlapping areas that touch the nutraceutical industry. I want to be an excellent liaison for communication between the BOD, its committee leaders, and WIN’s members. Ultimately, my goal is for my unique perspectives to leave a legacy of positive impact on WIN’s direction during my time on the BOD.
Contributor: Kim Decker landed her first food-industry writing gig back in 1998 while she was wrapping up her degree in food science with an English minor at the University of California, Davis. All these years later, her parents still thank her for not wasting the money they spent on her education. That’s because Kim continues to explore topics in the food, beverage and nutrition fields from her Bay Area home for trade magazines and industry clients. If you'd like to read and learn more, you can visit Kim here.
