Our Rising Stars

The Rising Star Award is bestowed by the IFAMA Young Board and recognizes outstanding contributions of early career professionals, under the age of 35.

Dr. Mario A. Ortez exemplifies the qualities of a globally engaged, forward-thinking leader. Combining academic excellence, private sector experience, and entrepreneurial vision, he shapes the future of food and agribusiness through both scholarship and  commitment to mentoring the next generation of leaders.

As Assistant Professor of Agribusiness and Entrepreneurship at Virginia Tech, Dr. Ortez designs and teaches applied courses that empower future agribusiness leaders through real-world problem solving. His commitment to high-impact, student-centered education has established him as a valued mentor and role model for agribusiness professionals.

His extension work focuses on improving the livelihoods of farmers and rural entrepreneurs by equipping them with practical financial tools, market intelligence, and advanced analytical techniques including Data Science and Artificial Intelligence. His outreach efforts help producers and agribusiness operators strengthen business models, understand value-added production economics, and develop robust business plans and financial strategies that attract investment and mitigate risk.

Dr. Ortez has long championed IFAMA's mission and values, from participating in IFAMA's Case Study Competition when he was a graduate student to securing funding to lead and support a team of students in the IFAMA 2025 Case Study Competition in Brazil.

Michelle Marais is Project Coordinator at Urban Farmer Pty Ltd, leading the U-MIX project in Johannesburg, South Africa. Since July 2023, she has trained 1,400 smallholder poultry farmers across eight countries, aiming to reach 2,000 in a year and 4,000 more using a train-the-trainer model. Known for her passion for sustainable agriculture and youth engagement, Michelle’s dedication and leadership make her an ideal recipient for the 2024 IFAMA Rising Star Award.

Michelle has competed and won several IFAMA sponsored competitions beginning with an International Essay Competition in 2020, with her teammates from the University of Free State, (South Africa) took First Place. In 2022, Michelle competed on a Graduate-level team representing the International School of Agribusiness Management (Spain) in Costa Rica in 2022, winning First Place. In 2023, she competed on International team of Early Career Professionals during the IFAMA 2023 Student Case Competition in New Zealand, and won Second Place.

Michelle earned a BAgEc degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Free State, South Africa and a Masters in Agribusiness from ISAM in Spain, where she graduated at the top of her class. After winning the Women’s Insight Deliberation Competition in March 2024, she was selected to serve an ambassador for women in Agriculture in South Africa.

Luis Peña-Lévano is 

Luis pursued his PhD in Agricultural Economics at Purdue University with specialization on International Trade and Environmental Economics. His dissertation focused on Climate Change interactions with food security, agriculture, livestock, and forestry.

Luis is an expert in dairy economics, benefit-cost analysis, agribusiness, labor issues, environmental economics, financial management, mathematical optimization, and general equilibrium modeling. He is currently the chair of the International Section of the Agricultural and Applied Economic Association (AAEA). Luis has also received multiple awards such as 2022 Paul B and Robert Dykstra Faculty Excellence Award, EAERE Best Paper in Environmental and Resource Economics (2020), Outstanding Young Scholar Award (2017) by the FAMPS section of the AAEA, among many others.