Ruth Newsome

As the Rainforest Alliance’s Chief Product Officer, Ruth Newsome is responsible for leading the design, development, and delivery of the Rainforest Alliance’s data and technology products required to successfully drive impact.

Ruth joined the organization in 2018 and has held multiple roles—beginning in the Markets Transformation team, and more recently leading the Supply Chain Excellence team—providing guidance, services, and digital tools to producers and companies.

Prior to the Rainforest Alliance, Ruth was part of the Unilever Sustainable Sourcing team. There, she led the strategy for the sustainable sourcing of wood fiber and forest products, deforestation risk traceability initiatives (such as for palm oil), and the development of global reporting capabilities for sustainable sourcing metrics for the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan objectives.

Ruth’s career has focused on successful change management driven by process, data, and technology. She has extensive experience across a variety of corporate functions, including research and development, supply chain, finance, IT, and procurement.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in applied biology and a Master’s degree in decision sciences from the University of Westminster in the UK, and a Master’s degree in Socio-Cultural Anthropology from Columbia University in the United States.