Gov. Gavin Newsom has made a series of appointments to key jobs.
Christine Aurre has been tapped as the new legislative affairs secretary in the Office of the Governor, filling the role held by Christy Bouma since March 2022. Bouma will continue to serve Newsom's administration as a member of the State Compensation Insurance Fund. Aurre previously was the deputy legislative affairs secretary. Before that, she was the legislative director in the Office of State Senate Majority Leader Robert Hertzberg from 2019 to 2022.
Doria Robinson, California State Board of Food and AgricultureDoria Robinson, of Richmond, has been appointed to serve on the California State Board of Food and Agriculture. Robinson has been the District 3 City Council Member on the Richmond City Council since 2022. She has also served as the executive director of Urban Tilth since 2008.
Newsom has also reappointed Rachelle Arizmendi, of Sierra Madre, Michael Gallo, of Merced, and Glenda Humiston, of Novato to the California State Board of Food and Agriculture.
Nicholas Hardeman, of Sacramento, has been appointed chair of the Fast Food Council. He has been chief of staff to State Senate President Pro Tem Emeritus Toni G. Atkins since 2016. Before that, he served as a special assistant to former State Assembly Speaker John Pérez and then State Assembly Speaker Toni G. Atkins. New appointees to the Fast Food Council include SG Ellison of Sonoma, Angelica Hernandez of Paramount, Piardip “Joe” Johal of Pleasanton, Michaela Mendelsohn of Los Angeles, Richard Reinis of Los Angeles, and Anneisha Williams of Los Angeles. Ellison has been CEO of Diversified Restaurant Co, since 2019. Hernandez has been a cook trainer at McDonald’s since 2012. Johal has been CEO of Wendy’s of the Pacific since 2002. Mendelsohn has been president and CEO of Pollo West Corp since 1988. Reinis has been a partner at Thompson Coburn since 2014, and Williams has been a shift leader at Jack in the Box since 2021.
Mandla Nkomo has been tapped as the new CEO of Partners in Food Solutions. He succeeds co-founder Jeff Dykstra, who will step down in July. Nkomo previously worked for CGIAR, where he was the chief growth officer for the CGIAR Excellence in Agronomy Initiative. He will be based in South Africa.
Todd Tillemans has been selected as the new chief commercial officer at Perdue Farms. Tillemans previously was the CEO at Cynosure, a developer and manufacturer of light-based aesthetic and medical treatment systems. Before that, he was the U.S. president of The Hershey Co.
Anna Stutz has joined the staff of House Ag Appropriations Subcommittee member Julia Letlow’s, R-La., office as a scheduler. She previously was a staff assistant for Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.
After 35 years with the organization, Kevin Moffitt is stepping down as president and CEO of Pear Bureau Northwest, effective July 1. To ensure a smooth transition, Moffitt will continue on in a part-time capacity to help mentor and train his successor. He joined Pear Bureau Northwest in 1989 as the director of international marketing, he then took the helm as president and CEO in 2001.
Bob Mattive, National Potato CouncilBob Mattive of Monte Vista, Colorado. has been elected as the new president of the National Potato Council. He will serve in the position for the next year. He and his wife, Gail, are partners of Worley Family Farms in Monte Vista. He succeeds RJ Andrus, Idaho Falls, Idaho, who has now become the immediate past president.
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Ted Tschirky of Pasco, Washington, has been tapped as NPC's first vice president and vice president of trade affairs. Dean Gibson of Paul, Idaho, is the new vice president of legislative affairs, Ben Sklarczyk, Johannesburg, Michigan, is the vice president of environmental affairs, TJ Hall, Hoople, North Dakota, was elected vice president of finance and office procedures, and Chris Olsen, Othello, Washington, is the new vice president of grower outreach and industry relations.
Greg Johnson has been elected as the new president of the California Farm Water Coalition. He owns Far West Rice in Durham, California. He replaces San Joaquin Valley farmer, Bill Diedrich, who served as the organization's president for the past eight years. Gina Dockstader, an Imperial Valley farmer, has been elected as vice president, and Wayne Western, of Hammonds Ranch in Fresno County, is the new secretary/treasurer. Brett Lauppe, representing CoBank, and Jeff Sutton, of the Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority, were added as new board members.
Priscilla Rodriguez has been added to the board of the San Joaquin Valley Water Blueprint. She serves as the Association’s assistant vice president. She also has experience working for the Friant Water Authority and the Latino Water Coalition.
CEA Alliance has added two people to its board of directors effective March 1, Craig Hurlbert of Local Bounti, and Andrew Horowitz, KUBO Greenhouse Projects. Hurlbert has served as Local Bounti’s CEO since December 2023. Horowitz is the North American director of strategic development for KUBO Greenhouse Projects, a Netherlands-based greenhouse construction business.
Keeff Felty was elected president of the National Association of Wheat Growers during the organization’s annual conference in Houston. Felty is a fourth-generation farmer in Oklahoma, who farms cotton, sesame, and pastureland along with his wheat crops. He succeeds Brent Cheyne of Oregon. Other officers who were elected include Pat Clements of Kentucky as vice president, Jamie Kress from Idaho as treasurer, and Nathan Keane of Montana as secretary.
The World Food Prize Foundation has added Francine Barchett and Nick Blumenthal to its Council of Advisors as youth members. The Council of Advisors guides the foundation’s programs and ratifies the selection of the World Food Prize Laureate by the independent selection committee. Barchett and Blumenthal are the third and fourth members to join the Council of Advisors as youth representatives. Barchett is a Ph.D. student at Cornell University. She was selected to join the Council of Advisors in recognition of her research in social science, scientific communication, and commitment to education. Blumenthal was selected to join the Council of Advisors in recognition of his activism efforts in leveraging science and technology to combat global food insecurity. He was a Borlaug-Ruan International Intern stationed at the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington, where he researched structural inequities of African agriculture.
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