Julia Collins has more than a decade of experience leading food operations and food technology companies. A serial entrepreneur, Julia discovered food was her calling as a young girl in San Francisco where it was the epicenter of her community. She’s spent her early career building industry-leading food companies in New York City. Serving as a leader, growing brands such as Union Square Hospitality Group, Mexicue and Murray’s Cheese, Julia led restaurant projects including Murray’s Cheese Bar and Murray’s Melts.

She went on to lead as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Harlem Jazz Enterprises, which holds The Cecil and Minton’s, a historic jazz supper club. While there, The Cecil, an Afro-Asian Brasserie, won Best New Restaurant of the Year. She later went on to co-found Zume Pizza where she became the first Black woman to create a company valued at over a billion dollars. In 2018, she became a mother and gained clarity on her life’s purpose: bringing delicious food to people in a way that helps heal the planet for everyone, including her son. 

Today, Julia leads Planet FWD, a company on a mission to tackle climate change by making it easier to bring climate-friendly products to market. Empowering the next generation of sustainable brands through its proprietary software, Planet FWD’s platform reduces the cost and complexity of creating sustainable and carbon neutral products. This platform provides food, fashion and beauty brands with the tools to understand, reduce and neutralize their carbon footprint, and get on a path to net zero emissions. The platform is inspired by Planet FWD’s own snack brand, Moonshot, which launched in 2020 as the first climate-friendly snack brand. 

In addition to leading Planet FWD, Julia sits on the advisory council for Launch with GS, the Food for Climate League board and is an EIR for Cleo Capital. She is an active angel investor focused on funding female entrepreneurs and BIPOC founders. Julia is also an Ambassador for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Julia graduated from Harvard University and earned her MBA at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. She resides in San Francisco with her 2 sons and partner.