Jahi Wise, EPA's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund program
Jahi Wise has joined the Environmental Protection Agency as the senior adviser to the administrator and acting director for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund program. He previously served as the special assistant to President Joe Biden for climate policy and finance in the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy. Before that, Wise served in a variety of roles in clean energy finance, law and policy.
The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture has brought on Stephanie McBath as the associate director of public policy and Josie Montoney-Crawford as the manager of public policy. McBath previously worked on Capitol Hill for Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., as his senior legislative assistant. She will lead NASDA’s Natural Resources and Environment Policy Committee and the Rural Development and Financial Security Policy Committee. Montoney-Crawford most recently served as government relations coordinator and CLPAC manager for CropLife America. She will lead NASDA’s Food Systems and Nutrition Policy Committee and the Plant and Pesticides Policy Committee.
The National Corn Growers Association has moved Julie Busse into the role of director of renewable fuels, where she will lead the Ethanol Action Team. She spent the last five years working in NCGA’s communications department, most recently as director.
Chase DeCoite now works for the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy as the vice president of food industry outreach. He previously worked for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association as the director of animal health and food safety policy.
The U.S. Grains Council has hired Alexander Grabois as the new manager of global strategies and trade, based in D.C. He will help support market development programs, particularly in South As
Stephanie McBath, NASDAia. Most recently, Grabois spent seven years working at ProChile, an organization that promotes commerce between the U.S. and Chile. He was the trade commissioner, managing ProChile’s office in Philadelphia.
Rip Mason has been selected as the new chief executive officer of Ag Resource Management (ARM), a provider of agricultural lending and crop insurance. Mason was most recently selected to serve as the vice chairman of ARM’s board of directors, a position he will maintain. He has previously held leadership roles with LegalShield and Jafra Cosmetics. Mason succeeds John Hoffman, who became CEO of ARM in January of 2020.
Certis Biologicals has named Mike Allan vice president of business development and licensing. He most recently was the vice president of North America. Before joining Certis Biologicals in 2018, Allan was the president of North America for Isagro USA.
Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture, an international ag development organization, has selected Mike Espy as the new chair of the CNFA Board of Directors. Espy served as secretary of agriculture during the Clinton administration and before that was a member of Congress representing Mississippi’s second congressional district. Espy succeeds Elin Miller, who will continue to serve as a member of the CNFA Board.
René Muñoz has been brought on as the chief of staff for Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif. Muñoz was the chief of staff for former Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, D-N.M., before going to work for Federal Street Strategies as a strategist.
Jordan Smallwood has been hired as a staff assistant on the majority staff of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Smallwood was previously an intern for Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del.
Teddy Lake has rejoined the staff of Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. Lake most recently served as the communications adviser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
President Joe Biden has announced the appointments of two Farm Service Agency state executive directors and one Rural Development state director.
Former Ag Secretary Mike Espy, Cultivating New Frontiers in AgricultureWilliam Bunce has been tapped to lead the FSA office for Wyoming. In his career, he has managed multiple large-scale Wyoming ranches, including livestock, sheep, and cattle feedlot operations. Bunce worked at the Wyoming Department of Agriculture as marketing director and was also the staff director for the Wyoming Business Council. He has also held leadership roles with the American Polled Hereford Association, New Mexico Livestock Board, American Quarter Horse Association, the Quarter Horse Journal, and the Quarter Racing Journal.
Ginger Sykes Torres will lead Arizona’s FSA. Before joining USDA, Torres’s career was as an environmental planner and civic leader working to create a “more equitable, resilient, and sustainable planet for future generations,” according to USDA's press release. She has served as the vice chair of the City of Phoenix Environmental Quality and Sustainability Commission, advising the Mayor of Phoenix and the Phoenix City Council on environmental, sustainability, and climate resilience issues, and was also the chair of the City of Phoenix’s Urban Heat Island Tree and Shade Subcommittee.
Maximiliano Trujillo will lead the Rural Development office in Puerto Rico. Bringing 20 years of service to the post, Trujillo previously worked as a policy and strategic government affairs consultant in D.C., consulting on federal telecommunications, health care, and economic development. He was the senior policy adviser for Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., focused on Puerto Rico-related issues and before that, was the advocacy director for AARP in Puerto Rico.
Wayne Pryor has been elected to serve a ninth two-year term as president of the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation. Pryor was the Farm Bureau’s vice president from 1998 to 2006 and has also been a member of the organization’s board of directors since 1988. He is also on the board of the American Farm Bureau Federation and is the president and chairman of the Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Co. board of directors.
The CHS owners have elected new board leadership at the cooperative's 2022 annual meeting held last week in Minneapolis. Reelected as chair is Dan Schurr, Iowa, selected to serve as first vice chair is Scott Cordes, Minnesota, reelected secretary-treasurer is Russell Kehl, Washington, and selected as the second vice chair is C.J. Blew, Kansas. Newly elected to the board is Jerrad Stroh, Nebraska, who will represent CHS members in Region 8, which consists of Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. He succeeds former director Steve Riegel, who retired from the board on Dec. 2.
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