Name: Alejandro Velez (pictured on right)
Year: 2009
Claim to fame: Sustainable mushroom farmer/Bachelorette contestant
Some people dream of being famous TV stars and some people dream of changing the world. In his time since graduating UC Berkeley in 2009, Alejandro Velez has accomplished both. With all intentions of entering the corporate world of investment banking and consulting, in his last semester at Cal, Alex shook things up and instead found a new life path in the fantastic realm of sustainable farming. He partnered with his friend, Nikhil Arora, and together they founded Back to the Roots—a nonprofit organization dedicated to growing gourmet mushrooms entirely on recycled coffee grounds. Alex and Nikhil attracted the attention of Whole Foods and Chez Panisse and received a grant from the UC Berkeley Chancellor for social innovation to make this dream of turning waste into fresh, local food a reality. After some initial experimenting, Back to the Roots now focuses on creating Grow-Your-Own Mushroom Garden kits for those of us at home who want to partake in the project, as well as helping to sustain urban school community gardens.
As if being on Forbes 30 under 30 and hosting your own TED talk about sustainability is not enough, Alex strutted his stuff on the most recent season of the hit show, The Bachelorette. He courted the bachelorette star for five rounds before being eliminated. From mushroom farming to performing The Muppets for a charity show, Alex is representing the Cal Bears in the best ways possible!
Sources:
http://www.backtotheroots.com/
http://www.wetpaint.com/the-bachelorette/articles/who-is-alejandro-velez…