Policy as Alpha

With every major transition, policy has often played a material role in who leads and who lags. In the industries where we focus — food & agriculture, energy, and oceans — policy and regulation define the boundaries of risk and the pathways for growth. We see that not as a constraint, but as alpha: an underappreciated source of competitive advantage and value creation when engaged with strategically.

That’s why today, S2G announced the appointment of Grant Leslie as Operating Partner, Government & Policy. Grant’s time at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Senate, and FGS Global has given her deep insight into how decisions made in Washington ripple through rural communities, supply chains, and markets. She knows how to get things done on the ground, across sectors, and across the aisle.

Building on Policy as a Value Driver

The sectors that S2G focuses on are among the most regulated in the economy. Regulation shapes everything from how crops are grown to how power is priced. For a company growing in these spaces, policy engagement can determine whether an innovation scales or stalls.

We’ve seen time and again that the operators and entrepreneurs who understand and engage early with the policy landscape position themselves to move faster and reduce risk. Those that ignore it often face preventable headwinds that slow growth or delay exits.

From the moment we evaluate an investment, we assess not only the commercial opportunity but also the regulatory and political dynamics around it. Post-investment, we work with founders and management teams to guide, coach, and connect them to the people and insights that help them navigate those dynamics effectively. Grant will lead this work across the firm, institutionalizing it as a core value creation lever.

Bridging Rural America and Innovation

From our roots in food and agriculture, we’ve seen firsthand how the future of American innovation depends on strong connections between corporations and rural America. Farmers, ranchers, and rural businesses form the backbone of the country’s production economy. They are also key partners in testing, scaling, and adopting new technologies.

S2G’s role is to bridge capital, innovation, and community, helping new ideas reach the people and places that make them real. That’s not about partisanship; it’s about partnership. America’s prosperity has always depended on cooperation between different parts of the economy: the innovators reimagining systems and the producers who keep it grounded in practicality. The same cooperative spirit that has long linked farmers and agribusiness can and should extend to other sectors where regulation and market forces meet.

Grant understands this deeply. She’s spent her career working across government, corporate, and rural communities to align policy with growth. We believe her ability to translate between these worlds — to bring farmers, business leaders, and policymakers into productive conversation — is precisely what our sectors need today.

From Crawl to Run

Up until now, S2G’s policy engagement has largely been in the ​“crawl” and ​“walk” phases. We invested time and talent, tested strategies, and tracked results. The ROI has been clear in our view: policy and regulatory engagement have helped our portfolio companies open new markets, secure incentives, and accelerate commercialization timelines.

Now, with Grant’s leadership, we’re ready to run. She will work alongside our investment and operating teams to help management teams see policy as a growth driver that can de-risk innovation, improve capital efficiency, and support competitive advantage at both the state and federal levels.

We believe the future of the U.S. economy depends on collaboration between innovation and production, capital and community, public and private. Grant’s appointment strengthens S2G’s ability to operate across those seams and to help the innovators building what’s next work hand-in-hand with the policymakers shaping what’s possible.