Church Brothers Farms hired Greg Corrigan as director of sales, west. He worked at Raley’s Family of Fine Stores for 35 years, ascending the ranks from produce clerk at Bel Air Supermarkets to vice president and senior director of produce and floral. Corrigan also served as CEO of the United Vegetable Cooperative. Loree Dowse was also promoted to vice president of marketing and communications. She has been with Church Brothers Farm since 2023, recently as director of marketing. She earlier held roles with Del Monte Fresh Produce/Mann Packing, Wells Fargo and Porter Novelli International.
Greg Corrigan (Church Brothers Farms photo)California Citrus Mutual hired Diego Cruz as director of grower services. He previously worked for Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., where he was an agriculture district representative. Cruz will focus on managing and expanding grower benefit programs and supporting the team’s advocacy-related efforts at the federal, state and local levels. He is a graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Assemblymember Mia Bonta, co-chair of the Select Committee on CalFresh Enrollment and Nutrition, promoted Monica Sepulveda to senior legislative aide. Sepulveda has been with the office since 2021.
Tony Andersen has departed the California Natural Resources Agency to join the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection as its executive officer. He served as deputy secretary for communications at CNRA for the past two years. Earlier in his career, he was deputy director and strategic adviser at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and strategic communications director for the wildlife recovery and debris taskforce for the State of Oregon and strategic communications director for the Portland Water Bureau.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture hired seven summer interns and fellows. Five of those individuals are Maddy Institute interns sponsored by the nonpartisan, nonprofit public policy institute for the San Joaquin Valley focused on inspiring public leadership for the Central Valley. Two fellows are sponsored by the California Council on Science and Technology and Stanford Environment and Policy Internships program. Individuals completing summer programs at CDFA are:
Marisol Ferrerya Orozco: Maddy Institute Intern from California State University, Sacramento
Garret Gomes: Maddy Institute Intern from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Raisa Rahim: CCST Fellow
Zayra Y. Vazquez: Maddy Institute Intern from California State University, Stanislaus
Sofia Vera Verduzco: Stanford EPIC Fellow
California Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross with summer CDFA interns and fellows (CDFA photo)Mia Zamora: Maddy Institute Intern from California State University, Fresno
Jesus Zavala: Maddy Institute Intern from California State University, Bakersfield
Matt Herman has been named national business development lead for Agri-Pulse. He previously was publisher of DTN/Progressive Farmer and associate publisher of Top Producer at Farm Journal Media. He has been actively involved in numerous industry associations and has held board positions with the National Agri-Marketing Association, Agriculture Media Council, Agriculture Publishers Association, Progressive Agriculture Foundation and the National Ag Day Planning Committee.
Elissa McLerran Gilliam has left the American Frozen Foods Institute after nearly five years with the organization. She served as senior director of public policy. Gilliam will join the National Sorghum Producers, based in Lubbock, Texas.
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The Institute of Food Technologists hired Eric Ellis as chief financial officer. He worked for the National Restaurant Association in a variety of roles over the past 10 years, including most recently as chief financial officer. He serves as a member of the Association of Finance Professionals board of directors. Ellis replaces Mark Barenie, who retired after more than 30 years with IFT. Barenie was recently recognized with IFT’s Distinguished Service Award.
The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition named Duncan Orlander as a policy specialist in its Washington office. He has been on the staff of the Congressional Research Service, specializing in food and agriculture issues. Orlander has done research on federal farm programs, regional food systems and consolidation in grain and beef processing at the Harvard School of Public Health and Weill Cornell Medicine.
Ashley Viglione (RFA photo)The Renewable Fuels Association hired former intern Ashley Viglione as a government affairs associate based in the Washington office. She will support RFA’s advocacy and policy efforts. Viglione is a recent graduate of Denison University where she studied communications, environmental studies and sustainable design before teaching English in Spain. She completed two summer internships with RFA.
Wendell Calhoun was named senior communications manager for Syngenta North America Crop Protection. He has been with the company for 30 years, previously holding roles in public affairs, agricultural sales, corporate communications and marketing communications. He will join Syngenta’s communications team and be responsible for working closely with the company’s Crop Protection and Corporate Communications team on media relations and issues management efforts. He has earned multiple National Agri-Marketing Association awards.
Vive Crop Protection hired Dor Kestecher as senior portfolio manager within the product management department. Most recently, Kestecher was vice president of business development for ag biologicals company Lavie Bio. Kestecher also previously farmed and worked at Syngenta.
The Eurasia Group named David Meale as its China practice head. He worked for the State Department for three decades, recently as a senior foreign service officer assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing as the deputy chief of mission.
Tammi Arender will step away from anchoring full-time at RFD-TV to launch her own production company. She will be focused on helping those in agriculture get their stories told by mainstream media. Arender is also scheduling speaking engagements and continuing to contribute stories to RFD-TV.
Megan Sandy joined CropLife America as a communications coordinator. She is a recent graduate of North Carolina State University.
Jonathan Field (Farmers Communication Exchange photo) California ag industry leader Jonathan Field died Aug. 5 surrounded by family. He was 77. Field held a number of roles supporting California agriculture, including manager of the California Tree Fruit Agreement for over a decade, leader of the Walnut Bargaining Association and compliance officer for the California and Arizona Leafy Greens Marketing Agreements and for the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board. The family will provide information about a celebration of life at a later date.
Longtime soy policy advocate and Delaware state Farm Service Agency executive director Richard Wilkins died Aug. 19. He was 66. He served in numerous leadership roles during nearly a decade on the American Soybean Association board of directors, including as president in 2016. Wilkins was also a member of the Mid-Atlantic Soybean Association and served his state association as president before taking on the role of executive director. He was appointed Delaware state executive director for the Farm Service Agency in May. Services will be held Thursday at Calvary Church in Milford, Delaware.
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