The Organic Trade Association has named Matthew Dillon as the group's co-CEO. He joins Tom Chapman, who has been OTA's CEO since April 2022. Dillon comes to OTA from Abundant Life Seed, where he was the CEO and executive director, and the Organic Seed Alliance, which he founded in 2003. Under the co-CEO arrangement, Dillon will lead public relations, policy, member engagement and fundraising. Chapman will oversee OTA's regulatory and technical efforts, the association's programming and head up operations and financial management.
Jackie Applegate, BayerJackie Applegate is retiring from Bayer at the end of March after serving three years as president of North America Crop Science. She will be succeeded by Brian Naber, who has over 25 years of experience with the company and currently serves as the APAC crop science regional lead. Malu Nachreiner, currently serving as Senior Bayer Representative and Country Division Head for Crop Science in Brazil, will succeed Naber as commercial lead for the Asia Pacific region. As of February 1, Oliver Rittgen will serve as the division’s new Chief Financial Officer following Kelly Gast who retired after almost 30 years with the company. Oliver’s current assignment is Chief Financial Officer for Bayer’s Consumer Health Division. Sascha Israel has been appointed as Head of Product Supply succeeding Dirk Backhaus who retired after 27 years with the company. Amanda McClerren, former Head of Crop Science R&D Digital Transformation and Information Technology is going to take over Sascha’s former role as Chief Information Officer, Head of Digital Transformation and Information Technology. Jessica Christiansen assumes the position as Head of Crop Science Communications after having led the division’s Sustainability and Business Stewardship Team. She is taking over from Tom Armitage who left the company.
The National Grocers Association has promoted three to new senior staff roles. Jonathan Downey is now the chief operating officer and senior vice president. He previously was senior vice president of membership and industry relations. Christopher Jones is now chief government relations officer and counsel. He previously was the senior vice president of government relations and counsel. Lastly, Laura Strange has been moved up to chief communications and engagement officer and senior vice president. She previously was senior vice president of communications and external affairs.
Juan A. Millán has been appointed to serve as the acting general counsel at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. He succeeds Greta Peisch, who stepped down from the role. Millán has most recently served as the deputy general counsel for monitoring and enforcement in the Office of the United States Trade Representative.
California Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia has announced this will be his final year in the state assembly. After serving 10 years, Garcia is taking a step back to spend more time with family. Over his 10 years, Garcia has established himself as a “climate change, renewable energy, and environmental justice champion,” according to his biography on his website. He had led efforts which established California’s emission reduction mandate and a policy framework that prioritized climate investments for disadvantaged communities.
The Chief of Cal-OSHA, Jeff Killip, has announced he is resigning from his position effective Jan. 19, and returning to his home state of Washington. He has accepted a job as executive director of the Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commission.
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Karl Stock has been selected as the new regional director for the California-Great Basin Region at the Bureau of Reclamation. Stock will succeed Ernest Conant, who has moved into the role of senior adviser to the deputy commissioner for operations. Stock joined Reclamation in 2001, and most recently was the manager of the Reclamation Law Administration Division.
Neal White has taken on the roles of CEO and president of Rusco, a water filtration company, and Vu-Flow, an irrigation manufacturer. He most recently was the sales director for North America at Watts Water Technologies.
Patrick Mills has joined the Idaho Potato Commission as the new retail promotion director for the West and Canada. He succeeds Kent Beesley who has retired. Mills previously worked for Sprouts Farmers Market and Lucky’s Market and Safeway earlier in his career.
Mindy Burris DeRohan, California Association of Winegrape GrowersMindy Burris DeRohan has added membership to her title as the new manager of membership and communications at the California Association of Winegrape Growers. She has been with the organization for a year. Before that, she was a program manager for the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom.
The Washington Grain Commission appointed Ben Adams as the commissioner for District 4 Wheat. He will represent Adams, Chelan, Douglas, Grant, and Okanogan Counties. He succeeds Mike Miller, who retired from the commission at the end of 2023.
Brittany Jablonsky has begun her new role as chief of staff at the National Farmers Union. She spent the last eight years with the Farm Credit Council, most recently as the vice president of public policy and stakeholder relations.
Stephen Sothmann has joined the firm DTB AgriTrade as a new partner. The trade lawyer previously held executive roles with the Meat Import Council of America and the Leather and Hide Council of America. He has also served multiple terms on the Agricultural Trade Advisory Committee.
Viren Shah will become AGCO’s new senior vice president and chief digital and information officer effective next Tuesday. Shah comes to AGCO from GE Appliances where he has been the chief digital officer since 2018.
The Pet Food Institute has promoted Pat Tovey to vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs, and Dana Waters to manager of international affairs. Tovey has been with PFI for almost 13 years and previously was senior director of food safety and regulatory compliance. Waters has been with PFI for over a year and previously was a policy analyst.
Becca Smith has been elevated to senior director of member and industry relations at the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives. She will also lead the Director Education Advisory Committee at the NCFC annual meeting. She previously was the director of communications and member relations.
Whitney Forman-Cook now works for The Nature Conservancy as the senior policy adviser for forest and fires. She most recently worked at the Society of American Foresters as its chief operations officer. Her career also includes stops at the National Association of State Foresters, the National Association of Conservation Districts, and Agri-Pulse.
The U.S. Grains Council has promoted Ana Ballesteros, who most recently served as the marketing director for the Latin America region, to deputy director of Europe and the Middle East. Previously based in Colombia, Ballesteros will now work from the Council’s Tunis office. To fill Ballesteros’ role in Latin America, the USGC has brought on Diana Correa and Angelica Rios. Based in Medellín, Colombia, Correa will serve as a marketing specialist for the Council’s Latin America regional office. She comes to the Council from Tigo, where she previously served as the manager of the president’s office. Rios is based in Bogota, Colombia, and will serve as a marketing specialist for the Council’s LTA office. She most recently worked at Cargill where she was a senior merchant.
Jordan Healey has left the American Farm Bureau Federation, where she was the director of leadership and organizational training. She now works for the Association for Talent Development as a new project manager. Before taking a role with AFBF, Healey worked for the National FFA Organization.
The Santa Barbara Foundation has added four new trustees to its board. They are George Adam, Alexandra Allen, Kiah Jordan, and Lois Mitchell . They will join incoming board chair Matt Rowe, incoming vice chair Angel Iscovich, treasurer Danna McGrew, incoming secretary Michael Pfau.
Lawrence Kurzius has been tapped as Elanco’s next chairman of the board, succeeding Dave Hoover, who was Elanco’s first chairman. Hoover will remain on the board as an independent director. Kurzius has been on Elanco’s board since 2018. He has served as executive chairman of McCormick & Company since 2017, and before that, was the CEO from 2016 to 2023 and president from 2015 to 2022.
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