Leading By Example
Meet the experts.
From the sciences to the humanities, our organization has gathered together thought leaders across a broad range of fields in the pursuit of cultivating wellness. Scroll down to find out more about the leaders who make our work possible.
Dafna Cohen-Asher
General Manager
Dafna Cohen-Asher is Lycored’s General Manager, bringing 15 years of international experience in business development, M&A, and strategic project leadership. Before joining Lycored, she served as Head of Corporate Development at ADAMA, where she led major global acquisitions, and previously held senior business development roles at Teva Pharmaceuticals. Cohen-Asher has worked across the U.S., Europe, Latin America, and Asia, and now leads Lycored’s global growth strategy, commercial expansion, and regional teams in Israel, the United States, and Europe.
Marissa Gautsch
SVP | Sales
Marissa brings over 20 years of commercial experience in leading teams, building customer relationships, and growing value for both customer and employer in the value-added food ingredients industry. She began her career at Cargill, where she held Sales Leadership, Global Account Management, Product Line Management, and Strategy & Business Development roles in the USA and Europe. Additionally, Marissa led sales teams at Tate & Lyle, Donaldson, and Land O’Lakes. Marissa holds Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees from Purdue University and an MBA from Carlson School of Management, University of MN.
Dr. Youlia Hagooly
Deputy GM | PhD SVP, Operations
Youlia joined Lycored in 2020. She will oversee our major operations expansion, where we have recently doubled our processing and formulation capacity and will help substantially upgrade our supply chain processes. Youlia has 10 years’ experience in advancing, building, and running global businesses. She holds a PhD from the Tel-Aviv University (Israel) in Chemistry and an MBA. She worked with Agan Aroma Ltd. and Adama Ltd. before finding a happy home at Lycored.
Guy Shemi
CFO
Guy Shemi is an accomplished financial leader with 29 years of experience across global manufacturing, technology, and industrial sectors. He currently serves as CFO of Lycored, guiding the company’s financial strategy and operational performance. Before joining Lycored, Guy held senior financial roles including CFO at Velox and CFO at Scodix, where he supported organizational growth and operational excellence. He also served as VP of Finance & Operations at Orbotech (acquired by KLA), contributing to major operational and financial advancements. Guy holds a B.A. in Economics from Ben‑Gurion University and an Executive MBA from Bar‑Ilan University.
Yelena Shilaev
SVP | Global Quality, Safety and Customer Centricity
Yelena has a 15-year history of fostering customer centricity including holding various managerial roles overseeing QA and production at Teva Pharmaceuticals. During her tenure at Lycored, Yelena substantially helped upgrade our QA and QC processes. She is excited to continue developing our customer focus through service excellence, safety and environmental aspects of the business.
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