The Bureau of Land Management has tapped Joe Stout to serve as California State Director. He will oversee 15 million acres of public lands and 42 million acres of minerals and energy resources in California, as well as 1.6 million surface acres in northwestern Nevada. Most recently, Stout worked as Forest Supervisor at the Eldorado National Forest in the Central Sierras of California, overseeing four ranger districts and managing programs in natural resources, fire and aviation, public services and engineering. He is no stranger to BLM California, having previously worked there for over seven years as both associate and acting state director. Stout will begin his role on Aug. 11.
Raven Mariani joined the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation (CALF) as the alumni engagement manager. She will be responsible for developing and implementing alumni relations programs and outreach strategies. Mariani joins the foundation after eight years as an agriculture instructor and FFA program coordinator in northern California. Prior to teaching, she served as the member relations and marketing coordinator at the Sonoma County Farm Bureau.
The International Fresh Produce Association added Mica Hider to staff as director of political affairs. She was previously at the American Chemistry Council and the National Association of Realtors.
DFA and Safe Food Alliance selected Brendan O'Donnell as president and CEO. With over two decades of food and agriculture industry experience, O'Donnell comes to the role from TOMRA Food, where he focused on global nut and citrus markets.
Marin County, California, hired Joe Deviney as the new agricultural commissioner. Deviney is replacing Stefan Parnay following his retirement after serving the department since 2010. Deviney is coming to Marin from Santa Clara County, where he has been ag commissioner and sealer of weights and measures for 12 years overseeing a staff of 28. In Marin County, he will have 14 full-time employees and a 2024–2025 operating budget of $3.3 million. Deviney started on Monday. 
Ed Young, California-Great Basin Region
Ed Young was selected as the deputy regional director of business services for the California-Great Basin Region. On staff since 2014, Young will oversee five divisions in his new role: financial management, information management, program and budget, acquisition services and the office of communications.
Garrett Edmonds joined the Public Lands Council as director of government affairs. He was a legislative correspondent in the office of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
The National Agricultural Aviation Association hired longtime member Amy May as manager of communications and meetings. She brings more than 20 years of experience in communications and organization to the role. May will be working with Lindsay Barber, NAAA’s director of communications and meetings, to assist with planning the Ag Aviation Expo and board meetings.
Carrie Vollmer-Sanders was tapped as president of Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture effective Aug. 26. A sixth generation farmer, Vollmer-Sanders has experience working in sustainability at U.S. Farmers & Ranchers in Action, and he served at on the Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board.
The CropLife America government relations team added two new staff and promoted Brian Glenn to senior manager of federal government relations. Josie Montoney-Crawford is leaving the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture to be a second senior manager of government relations at CLA. She is returning to the trade association after working there before joining NASDA. CLA is also adding Stephanie Pizzoferrato as director of state government relations focused on the eastern half of the country. She previously worked at Lanxess, Covestro and the Scotts Miracle-Gro Co.
David Townsend joined The Fertilizer Institute as director of member programs. He worked at the American Farm Bureau Federation the past five years, most recently as assistant director of member engagement. A University of Delaware graduate, Townsend was National FFA president in 2016-17.
Eric Steiner joined the Olsson Frank Weeda Terman Matz (OFW) government relations team as a senior policy advisor. Steiner began his career in Washington as a fellow with the Congressional Hunger Center, and has since been a political staffer for the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, an aide to the Senate Agriculture Committee under three Republican chairmen, and he has led in-house government affairs for an array of companies and industry groups, including Kraft Foods, Elanco Animal Health, the National Association of Wheat Growers, and the American Forest and Paper Association.
Carly McDonald was promoted to communications director in the office of Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash. She was most recently digital director in the same office, and has previously worked for Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kan., as a legislative assistant.
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Anika Sanders Cooper was appointed general counsel of the Surface Transportation Board. She has been acting general counsel since January, and on staff with the organization for nearly 20 years.
Shannon Gleave was named 2024-2025 president of the School Nutrition Association. She is currently the Glendale Elementary School District’s director of food and nutrition in Arizona.
Former Sorghum Checkoff Chair Verity Ulibarri was elected U.S. Grains Council board chairwoman at the USGC’s annual meeting in Salt Lake City. She is the second sorghum sector representative to serve as chair of the Council board in recent history, following Dale Artho.
Verity Ulibarri, U.S. Grains Council ChairwomanKen Silveira was named president of Bengard Ranch. With over 35 years of fresh produce industry experience, Silveira will lead the integrated fresh vegetable company farming on nearly 20,000 acres in California, Arizona, Florida and Mexico. He has expereince as CEO of Inn Foods and president of Mastronardi Produce-West.
Melissa Vignau was selected as the regional resources management and planning division manager for the California-Great Basin Region by the Bureau of Reclamation. She will oversee activities related to water rights, water-related contracts, facility inspections, water conservation, WaterSMART, Native American affairs and water transfers in the region. Most recently, she served as chief of water resources at the Central California Area Office, where she managed water-related actions and supported management of the American River, Stanislaus River, and the Nimbus Fish Hatchery.
Taniell Nirvana Liepner was promoted to business development manager at Biome Makers Inc. Before joining the company last year, she worked at PreciGenome, Costal Sun Farm, MarieChem Inc. and founded her own company in South Africa, Clean Green Health.
David Baxter was promoted to vice president of sales and marketing at Natural Delights. A member of the team for six years, Baxter’s new role will oversee the brand’s marketing and sales strategy and support the grower community.
Grace Miller is joining the California FFA Foundation as a development officer. She recently graduated from California State University, Fresno with a degree in agricultural education and is an Arcata FFA alumna.
The Biotechnology Innovation Organization appointed Sylvia Wulf as interim lead of its Agriculture and Environment Center of Excellence. Wulf had been president and CEO of AquaBounty Technologies, where she led commercialization of AquaAdvantage salmon, the world's first genetically engineered animal approved for food.
Forza Logistics Group added four individuals to staff. Ben Kowalski was named president. He brings decades of freight industry and leadership experience to the organization. Additionally, Chris Jacobs was named vice president of sales, Tyler Grube was selected as director of operations, and Sorav Singh joined the sales and operations team.
Kent Chandler joined the energy and environmental policy program at the R Street Institute. Previously, he was chair of the Kentucky Public Service Commission.
Ashley McManus has resigned as Republican staff director on the House Natural Resources Committee's Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee. She had worked on the committee for Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., since 2019. McManus is now a vice president at Lot Sixteen LLC.
Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., promoted Connor Clark Young to legislative director. He was previously a senior legislative assistant covering agriculture, food, and animals portfolios.
Olivia Wilhite was promoted to senior legislative assistant in the office of Rep. Val Hoyle, D-Ore. She covers agriculture, food, animals, energy, environmental protection, public lands, natural resources and tribal issues.
Muhammad Yunus, a trailblazer in microfinance who won the 1994 World Food Prize and the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, has been appointed to oversee an interim government in Bangladesh after its prime minister fled the country racked protests and riots. His World Food Prize cited his “innovative micro loan programs for the poor, providing millions of people access to more food and better nutrition.” Well known in American cooperative and finance circles, he received the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2010.
Rick Gibson – longtime crop insurance industry veteran – passed away at the age of 88 on a safari with his son, Kim. He was most recently CEO of Agro International. “Rick Gibson was a true pioneer and visionary for our industry,” said Tom Zacharias, president of the National Crop Insurance Services.
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