Arturo Elizondo

THE LOTTERY OF LIFE. From a young age, Arturo Elizondo understood how fortunate he was and how easily his life could have been very different. Growing up on the Mexican-American border in Laredo, Texas, Arturo witnessed firsthand the stark contrasts between his life and that of others just across the border in Mexico. His father commuted daily to work in Mexico while his family resided in the U.S. to ensure a better education for Arturo and his siblings. “I realized the reality of the lottery of life—that I didn’t do anything to deserve my lot, and neither did they,” he says. These early experiences instilled in him a deep sense of empathy and a desire to help level the playing field for those less fortunate.

Arturo’s journey has been driven by a commitment to make a significant impact on the world. As the CEO of The EVERY Company, Arturo leads a pioneering business using advanced food technology to create animal-free proteins through fermentation. This innovation meets consumer demand and greatly reduces the environmental impact of traditional animal protein production. By making proteins that taste and work like those from animals, The EVERY Company is transforming the food industry and helping to build a more sustainable future.

Growing up in a conservative, Catholic, Mexican-American family, Arturo’s drive for excellence was fueled by a desire to make his parents’ sacrifices worthwhile. “My parents moved to the U.S. so that I could get a good education,” he recalls. From a young age, he set his sights on attending Harvard, a goal that was firmly planted in his mind when his first-grade teacher mentioned it as the best college. Arturo’s high school years were marked by relentless dedication to academics and extracurricular activities, as he sought to be the perfect student and compensate for the internal conflict he felt about his sexual orientation.

NAVIGATING IDENTITY AND INNOVATION. Attending Harvard was a transformative experience for Arturo. Exposed to diverse perspectives and a liberal arts education, he began to question and reconfigure many of the beliefs he had grown up with. A philosophy class at Harvard solidified his commitment to veganism, as he learned about the complex moral and emotional lives of animals.

Arturo’s desire to create positive change initially led him to government work. He interned with his congressman in Texas, the USDA in Washington, D.C., and even the White House under President Obama. However, he soon understood the limitations of effecting change within the bureaucratic constraints of government. This realization spurred him to pivot towards the private sector, where he believed he could make a more immediate and tangible impact.

BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE TOMORROW. In 2015, Arturo co-founded The EVERY Company, with the mission to revolutionize food production. The company uses synthetic biology to produce animal proteins through fermentation, a technology long used in the pharmaceutical industry. “We wanted to apply this deep tech to food to create a more humane and sustainable way of producing proteins.”

Arturo’s journey as an LGBTQIA+ founder has been marked by both challenges and triumphs. Growing up, he suppressed his sexuality and focused on academics as a form of overcompensation. “I had essentially muted it,” he says. “I was trying to suppress it, but I was also trying to overcompensate for it and focus my attention on things like education.” Moving to San Francisco allowed him to embrace his identity fully and start afresh.

Arturo’s advice to aspiring LGBTQIA+ founders is to “get in the arena.” He emphasizes the importance of taking action and learning through experience rather than overthinking. “There’s a level of knowingness that comes from living and experiencing mistakes that you can’t get from thinking,” he says. “Start small, take the first step, and learn from the journey.”