fish monger for a modern world
Our countless journeys up and down the North Atlantic Coast over the past few decades has seen a seafood industry teeming with influential leaders and unique characters. Many, if not most, of these skilled suppliers have yet to fully lever differentiated commercialization strategies for their products, nor grander impact through the potential of capacity building and differentiation in other fisheries seeking guidance. Coming at it from diverse backgrounds - we create an arsenal of materials valuable to suppliers and brands which we use to engage and retain a modern consumer.
principals
Melissa DiPalma
Principal, Creative Lead:
Melissa is a designer, photographer and content creator specializing in producing compelling food stories. She started her career as a Swiss-trained graphic designer and spent 15 years teaching design and photography in colleges and universities in the US and abroad. Her work as a commercial and editorial food photographer has afforded her the opportunity to go deeper into the stories behind where our food comes from and the people who bring it to market. Now for Hingeline, Melissa helps to conceptualize and produce unique content for buyers, suppliers and consumers that promotes the people, places and products that Hingeline is known for.
Aaron Niederhelman
Founding Principal:
A life-long advocate of healthier & cleaner food, Niederhelman was selected as an Eisenhower Fellow in 2015. Europe and the Middle East offered insight into ramifications of an ever shrinking planet. Niederhelman had previously co-founded the EAF Agrarian Fund to promote economic growth and greater good from well sourced food with regional provenance. Now, Niederhelman works with diverse stakeholders in North Atlantic fisheries, and on regenerative Ocean farms to promote Northeast Seafood as a premium and pillar productline offering. Aaron hosts the widely listened to podcast talkshow: SourcingMatters.show & the UN talkshow for the Food Systems Summit Laying Down Tracks. Aaron participates on boards ranging from food security -to- climate change -to- social justice.
Scott Soares
Founding Principal:
Soares is former commissioner of Massachusetts Agriculture, and served as the Director of USDA Rural Development for Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island for the Obama administration. Scott has 15 years of fishery and aquaculture experience prior to that - including early in his career serving as the 1st Massachusetts coordinator of aquaculture for nearly a decade. Scott has long since been dedicated to improving the lives of fishermen and farmers through facilitating economic and environmental adaptation. From creating agricultural support programs and services, to adapting laws and regulations to be more producer friendly, to administering international and domestic market development for US producers - Soares has well earned credibility in the aquatic and terrestrial food production industries.
associates | Directors
Jonathan O'Brien
Director, Legal & Operations:
Jonathan is an attorney licensed to practice law in Massachusetts, New York and Paris. Jon has worked as a lawyer in the US and in Europe, with broad experience in corporate and real estate matters, and insight into foreign approaches to culture, food and tradition. With family connections to the Outer Hebrides in Scotland, Jonathan has witnessed the rise of aquaculture and fish farming in Northern Scotland since the 1970s. Through Hingeline, Jon is actively leveraging his legal background and personal interests to focus on the issues that face aquaculture and sustainable fisheries in the northeast US.
DAVID MOST
Director, Technology & Data:
Dave has 25 years of experience as a software engineer and systems architect. At Hingeline, David is applying his vision and architecture talents to develop comprehensive, yet approachable, solutions that connect buyers and suppliers and increase trust in and traceability of the supply chain and the seafood we consume. Prior to Hingeline, Dave was at Quad (NYSE:QUAD), where he led a team of engineers and designers focusing on mobile-first innovation, development and deployment for Fortune 1000 companies, leading retailers, and publishers.