Lobbying and public affairs firm BGR Group hired Kellie Adesina as vice president in the commerce and infrastructure practice. She was most recently director of federal government affairs at Kraft Heinz and earlier held a similar role at Bayer focused on crop science issues, including gene editing, biotech and pesticides. On Capitol Hill, Adesina was chief counsel for the House Agriculture Committee Democrats during the 2018 farm bill negotiations. She also served as senior counselor in the Office of the General Counsel at the Agriculture Department during the Obama administration.
The National Grocers Association has made promotions. Stephanie Johnson is now senior vice president and head of government affairs. She has been with the organization for four years, recently as group vice president for government relations. Laura Strange was elevated to chief public affairs and advocacy officer. Strange has been with the group for over 12 years, recently as senior vice president for communications and external affairs.
Colin Newman (LinkedIn photo)The Farm Credit Administration named Colin Newman director of the Office of Congressional and Public Affairs. Newman will serve as FCA’s principal point of contact for Congress, the media, other government agencies, Farm Credit System borrowers and the public. He worked at the International Dairy Foods Association for the past nearly nine years, most recently as senior vice president for strategic initiatives. He has also held roles at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Morgan, Meredith & Associates.
Sarah Trujillo joined the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association as associate director of policy communications. She worked at the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation in Maryland for the past five years, recently as senior manager of marketing and digital media. Earlier, she worked for the National Turkey Federation for four years.
Alexander Wilgocki is now an adviser for oversight and lawfare at the Agriculture Department. He was previously a professional staff member on the House Judiciary Committee. Earlier, Wilgocki was a policy analyst at the America First Policy Institute.
The board of directors for Deere & Co. elected Brent Norwood as senior vice president and chief financial officer. He has been vice president and finance director for the company’s Construction and Forestry division and John Deere Power Systems since 2023. During his 14 years with the company, he’s worked on Deere’s acquisitions of Wirtgen and Blue River Technology, and held roles in global marketing operations, corporate business development, and investor relations. Prior to joining Deere, Norwood worked in investment industry roles focused on capital markets, equity research and principal investing related to mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts and capital projects.
Joshua Jordal joined Compeer Financial as a senior credit officer for wholesale. He worked at Farm Credit Mid-America for the past six years, recently as director of retail credit operations.
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Canada Pork hired Sonja Frohberg as senior vice president of policy and market development. She will be focused on leading Canada Pork’s policy and market development initiatives and helping drive success for the country’s pork industry both domestically and internationally. Frohberg has over 18 years of experience in the Canadian government, recently as the country’s agricultural counselor at the Embassy of Canada in Washington, D.C., where she represented the country’s meat and livestock sector. She has also held roles across key departments, including Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; the Canadian Food Inspection Agency; and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.
Jeremy Cowan (The Livestock Conservancy photo)Jeremy Cowan was named lead senior program manager at The Livestock Conservancy. He will be focused on overseeing the group’s efforts to conserve, promote and protect more than 170 breeds of endangered agricultural livestock and poultry. Cowan previously worked at Kansas State University as an assistant professor of sustainable food production systems and earlier was an extension director for Washington State University.
Cole Martin joined Bloomberg News as a soft commodities reporter based in New York. He has worked for Argus Media for the last fours years, recently as biofuels associate editor.
The Farm Foundation announced members of the 2026 Young Agri-Food Leaders cohort. Participants from a range of sectors will engage in a year-long experience focused on leadership development, mentorship, collaboration and building connections across the agri-food system. Those selected include:
- Kayla Bhalla, Walmart
- Rob Galbraith, Builders Vision
- Alison Grantham, Grow Well Consulting LLC
- Alex Hem, Foundation for Food and Ag Research
- Willis Nelson, Nelson & Sons Farming
- Darren Seidel, ADM
- Justina Slim, Dine College
- Victor Tuschen, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
- Jade Umberger, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture
- Brielle Wright, National Black Growers Council
South Dakota Trade named board member Joe Fiala as interim president and CEO. Fiala serves as deputy commissioner for the South Dakota Governor's Office of Economic Development and will continue in that role in addition to his temporary role at South Dakota Trade until a permanent leader is selected. Previous CEO Jesse Fonkert stepped away from the role in March. Undersecretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Luke Lindberg held the post before his appointment in the administration.
Susan Sun (LinkedIn photo)Susan Sun was named director of food and agriculture research development at Nouryon. She serves as president of the ISAA Agrochemical Network, a global community of agrochemical professionals. She was previously a crop care research and technology manager at Croda Inc. and earlier was principal research chemist at AkzoNobel.
Johnson Zeledón was tapped to lead Texas A&M's AgriLife Research & Extension Center in Corpus Christi. He will supervise center operations and those of its associated research stations in Beeville and Flour Bluff, as well as lead scientific teams to secure extramural funding and foster strong relationships with local stakeholders and regional leaders. Zeledón will relocate to the Lone Star State after serving as head of the Seedcare Institute-North America at Syngenta Crop Protection in Stanton, Minnesota.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association hired Zahrah Khan as associate director of operations to lead the global marketing and research team’s administrative functions, project management and workflows. She was operations director at the American Sheep Industry Association for the past 17 years.
Are you changing jobs, getting promoted or receiving an award? Know someone who is? Email Lydia@Agri-Pulse.com to be featured in next week’s edition of Farm Hands on the Potomac.
