Lindsay Tello joined the Almond Board of California as senior adviser for trade policy based in Washington. She has previously held roles with the Department of State, USDA Foreign Ag Service and the Federal Communications Commission.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., hired Emilio Contreras as a senior legislative assistant covering agriculture, food and energy issues. He previously worked for then-Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-Va., and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.
The Public Policy Institute of California added former Ag Secretary Ann Veneman to the group’s board of directors. Following her tenure as USDA chief from 2001-2005, she served as executive director of the United Nations Children’s Fund. Additional board members include League of California Cities CEO Carolyn Coleman and chief deputy district attorney with the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, Jerrilyn Malana. Ophelia Basgal was named board chair.
Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., hired Bebe Anver as general counsel. She was an immigration senior policy adviser to then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Earlier, Anver was a senior adviser at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and a policy staff attorney at the National Immigrant Women's Advocacy Project. 
Lindsay Tello (LinkedIn photo)
John Boesel, CEO of clean transportation group CALSTART, will retire by the end of the year. He has been with the organization which manages vehicle incentive programs in multiple states for more than two decades.
The Western Canal Water District hired Jenny Scheer as general manager. She was recently an ag water specialist with Water and Land Solutions, LLC, where she focused on partnering with farmers to respond to the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act and other water challenges. Earlier, she served as executive director of the Santa Clara Farm Bureau and worked in both domestic and international agriculture consulting roles. Western Canal Water District General Manager Ted Trimble will retire from his position in December and continue contributing to projects in a part-time capacity.
The Family Farm Alliance elected new 2026 officers. Mark Hansen, who raises irrigated forage crops and cattle in Washington’s Kittitas Valley, was elected president. Native to his family’s California farm, he worked as a crop consultant after graduating from Cal Poly. Additional officers include Clinton Pine of Idaho as first vice president, Nate Eckloff of Nebraska as second vice president, and Marc Thalacker of Oregon as treasurer. Additionally, Don Schwindt of Colorado was named chairman of the board.
SNAC International hired Matt Grill as vice president of advocacy to lead the snack industry trade association’s advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill and with federal agencies. Grill was previously senior director of congressional relations for the National Pork Producers Council. Earlier, he was director of federal relations at George Washington University and worked on Capitol Hill as a non-partisan Senate floor staff member and for then-Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa.
Farmers National Co. promoted Grant Fitzgerald to senior vice president of farm and ranch management to lead the company’s nationwide farm management operations. Fitzgerald will oversee a team of over 100 professional farm managers across the country, focusing on delivering customized solutions that maximize land value and productivity for clients. He has been with the company nearly 12 years, recently as regional vice president.
Seth Barsky (Bracewell photo)Seth Barsky joined Bracewell’s environment, lands and resources department as a partner in the Washington office. He worked for the Department of Justice the past three decades, including recently in the position of deputy assistant attorney general in the environment and natural resources division. At Bracewell, Barsky will advise clients on federal environmental and natural resources law including permitting, regulatory counseling and litigation, and interagency policy coordination.
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Former Housing and Urban Development secretary Ben Carson was named a national nutrition, health and housing adviser at the Agriculture Department. Carson, who is now retired, was director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Children's Center for nearly 30 years. He ran for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination before dropping out of the race midway through the primaries. “With six in ten Americans living with at least one chronic disease, and rural communities facing unique challenges with respect to adequate housing, Dr. Carson’s insight and experience is critical,” said Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins. “Dr. Carson will be crucial to implementing the rural health investment provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill and advise on America First policies related to nutrition, health, and housing."
Nick Paster joined the House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Republican staff as trade counsel. He previously was an international trade associate at the law firm of King & Spalding. During the first Trump administration, Paster was assistant general counsel at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
Jason Henshaw was named vice president and general manager of Perdue Specialty Meats. Previously, he was founder and chief executive officer of ultra-premium dairy brand, Zeal Creamery, before merging the company with Neutral Foods. Henshaw has also held roles with Coles Supermarkets, Origin Energy Limited and Windsor Management and Consulting.
UNICEF USA hired Graham Markiewicz as assistant director of global policy. He was previously investigations counsel at the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Jackie Weyerhaeuser was hired as executive assistant for House Ag Committee ranking member Angie Craig, D-Minn. A former intern for Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Weyerhaeuser graduated from Yale University this year.
Foster Farms appointed Riz Akbar to be chief commercial officer. He previously held roles at Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., Kraft Foods, Mondelez, Neo WPP and Publicis Group. Akbar will report to CEO Jayson Penn.
Longtime sustainable agriculture leader Fred Kirschenmann has died. He was 90. An organic farmer and college philosophy and religion professor by trade, Kirschenmann served as the director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University. He was also the first president of the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Pocantico, New York. Kirschenmann was a longtime supporter of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition’s work from the 1980s until his passing.
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