# Chris Mann

> Chris Mann is a co-founder and former CEO of Guayakí, renamed Yerba Madre in 2025. A Harvard economics graduate and former principal of organic restaurant Natural Flavors, he helped develop a beverage business linking shade-grown yerba mate purchases with forest stewardship and producer livelihoods. He has also served on the boards of GoLocal Sonoma County and OSC2.

- **Role:** Co-founder at Yerba Madre; former CEO of Guayakí
- **Organizations:** Yerba Madre (formerly Guayakí), Natural Flavors, GoLocal Sonoma County (historical board service), OSC2 (historical board service)
- **Education:** BA in Economics, Harvard University
- **Known for:** Co-founded the business now known as Yerba Madre., Helped develop Guayakí’s Market Driven Regeneration model connecting shade-grown mate purchases with forest stewardship., Led Guayakí during its development from a small natural-food business into a nationally distributed beverage company.

## Career timeline

- **Before Guayakí** — Helped build Natural Flavors, an organic vegan restaurant involving 25 employees and 60 local farmers.
- **1997** — Joined the early Guayakí founding group in San Luis Obispo.
- **2006** — Guayakí relocated to Sebastopol, California.
- **2011** — Discussed mission protection, benefit corporations and investment time horizons with RSF Social Finance.
- **2015** — Discussed maintaining mission during growth with RSF; identified as serving on the boards of GoLocal Sonoma County and OSC2.
- **2018** — Discussed packaging reductions, electric delivery and employment for people affected by the prison system in a Climate Collaborative interview.
- **2022** — Appeared with David Karr on How I Built This, published November 28.
- **2024** — Succeeded as board chair by Robyn Rutledge as Ben Mand became CEO.
- **2025** — The company he co-founded changed its name from Guayakí to Yerba Madre.

## Achievements

- Co-founded the business now known as Yerba Madre.
- Helped develop Guayakí’s Market Driven Regeneration model connecting shade-grown mate purchases with forest stewardship.
- Led Guayakí during its development from a small natural-food business into a nationally distributed beverage company.
- The company received the 2018 Outstanding Value Chain Engagement Award.

## Latest updates

- **2025-05** — Guayakí became Yerba Madre; Mann was included in coverage of the founding partners and their April reunion in Argentina.
- **2025-01** — Reporting confirmed that Robyn Rutledge had replaced Mann as board chair in 2024.
- **2022-11** — Featured with David Karr in How I Built This.

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/chris-mann
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-21