Board

Director of Farm Resources, Organic Valley

Bryan Wood is the Director of Farm Resources at Organic Valley / CROPP Cooperative, where he leads programs and services that advance organic farming practices across the United States. His team’s efforts focus on enhancing farm profitability through management practices, providing veterinary and nutritional support, offering organic certification assistance, and improving animal husbandry.

With over 12 years of experience at Organic Valley, Bryan has held multiple roles, including Regional Pool Manager for Michigan and Northern Indiana, where he provided support to member-owner dairy farmers, and Mideast Divisional Manager, overseeing a team of field staff supporting more than 500 farmers across four states.

Bryan holds degrees in Finance and Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He currently resides in Michigan, where he enjoys fishing, hunting, and raising four children.

Organic Expert, General Mills

Charlotte Vallaeys is the Organic Expert at General Mills, one of the largest producers of certified organic packaged foods with brands including Annie’s, Cascadian Farm and Muir Glen. She advocates the perspective of the organic community within the company, leads the sustainability strategy for the organic brands, collaborates with partners to advance initiatives that support organic agriculture, and represents General Mills with the organic industry. Charlotte has been deeply engaged in the organic community for nearly 20 years. Prior to joining General Mills, she worked at The Cornucopia Institute, Consumers Union and Consumer Reports, and has served as a consultant for various organizations on a wide variety of food system sustainability issues, including farm animal welfare and regenerative agriculture. She holds master’s degrees from Harvard and Tufts, and is currently working on a dissertation on regenerative and organic agriculture as a PhD Candidate in the Agriculture, Food and Environment program at Tufts University.

Principal, LeadershipOne

Board Member

Tim Schultz is a Principal with LeadershipOne, where he works with multi-generational family businesses as they transition from one generation to the next. His specialty focus is in Governance and Strategic Planning. Tim also directs the Center for Family Business at Cal State Fullerton.

Prior to joining LeadershipOne, Tim served at Lundberg Family Farms for 18 years in various roles, including Board Member, Treasurer, Chair of the Governance Committee and Executive VP of Operations.

Tim has been a long-time supporter of OFRF and served on its board since 2016. He received his bachelor’s degree from Cal Poly, Pomona and his MBA from the Drucker School of Management.

Founder and Farmer, Orchard Pond

Mary Phipps brings over 10 years of experience in sustainable agriculture. She has been operating her USDA certified organic farm since 2008, focusing on organic produce and value-added products produced in the on farm commercial kitchen. Mary has served on boards and councils for the University of Florida, including the Strawberry Growers Advisory Council. She and her husband and their two children were awarded the Farm Family of 2013 award for the Leon County Fair. Mary earned a BS in Landscape Architecture from the College of Environment and Design at the University of Georgia.

Organic Program Manager, Nature’s Path Organic Foods

Carrie-Anne Palmeri serves as Organic Program Manager to Nature’s Path Organic Foods, North America’s largest independent organic breakfast and snack food company. In this capacity, she oversees the strategic development of the company’s Organic Program, while also acting as Nature’s Path’s voice for organic advocacy, regulatory affairs, and public education to protect organic integrity and promote equitable access across borders.

Devoting her career to furthering organic agricultural development on a global scale through diverse roles in both the private and governmental sectors, Carrie-Anne got her start as a diversified French biointensive organic vegetable and berry farmer in Vermont. From there she spent over a decade living in Mexico and other parts of Latin America working across the organic agricultural sector as a farmer, organic technical extension agent, community organizer around food security & food sovereignty, and regulator. Prior to joining Nature’s Path, Carrie-Anne spent many years responsible for the International & Latin American Organic Compliance, Public Advocacy & Public Education Programs of Oregon Tilth (OTCO).

Through her roles on numerous international organic sector boards and task forces, Carrie-Anne continues to demonstrate her passion for organic agriculture. These have included Coalition Member to the U.S. National Organic Coalition; two-term Council Member to the Mexican National Council for Organic Production; and current service as a Voting Member of the Canadian General Standards Board Organic Committee, and Board President to the Canada Organic Trade Association.

Carrie-Anne holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Vermont with a focus on Ecological Agriculture and International Development. In her free time, she finds deep pleasure in hiking and gardening in Hudson Valley, New York where she resides with her partner.

Professor of Soil and Environmental Chemistry Director, Organic Agriculture and Biogas Production

Dr. Joe K. Kpomblekou-A is a Professor of Soil and Environmental Sciences in the College of Agriculture, Environment and Nutrition Sciences at Tuskegee University. He holds a Ph.D. degree from Iowa State University in Soil Science. His present research emphasis is on fate and kinetics of nitrogen (N), sulfur (S), and phosphorus in the ecosystem, chemistry and biochemistry of N and S in animal waste-amended soils including the effect of trace elements on biochemical reactions in the ecosystem. The ultimate goal of his research is to gain fundamental knowledge that will aid in the development of management practices that prevent the accumulation of contaminants in the ecosystem.

Dr. Kpomblekou-A is in charge of the organic agriculture and biogas production program at Tuskegee University; together with other scientists at four land-grant universities (Auburn University, Mississippi State University, North Carolina State University, and Oregon State University) and Alabama Sustainable Agriculture Network are promoting organic agriculture throughout the Southeast United States.

Policy Director, HEAL Food Alliance

Nichelle Harriot has over 15 years of federal policy experience working on a range of issues from pesticide regulation to building support for sustainable, organic, and agroecological farming systems and research. As policy director at the HEAL Food Alliance, she brings her learned experiences to enact transformative change to the food and farm movement. Nichelle earned her B.S. in Chemistry and Environmental Science at Morgan State University and her M.S. in Environmental Science and Public Policy at George Mason University. She’s currently based in the DC-MD metropolitan area and enjoys spending time with family and taking trips to the beach.

Owner, Crager Hager Farm

Bryan Hager and his wife Wendy own Crager Hager Farm, a diversified fruit and vegetable farm in Carroll County, Georgia. Crager Hager Farm sells at farmers markets, local restaurants, and to a regional wholesaler. The farm is certified organic and is working to reduce tillage and use permaculture principles. For the past fifteen years Bryan has been working to promote farms and preserve farm land in Carroll county. He is president of the board of Cotton Mill Farmers Market, served on the Carroll County Farmland Preservation Advisory Committee, the board of Farmers Fresh Food Network, and was a member of the Advisory committee for the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at UGA.

Bryan’s current focus is on improving the sustainability of America’s farming and food system by involving new people in growing food, rebuilding the local food system and developing low impact ways to grow food.

Natural Resource Economist

Catherine Greene is a natural resource economist who pioneered and led research on the U.S. organic sector from 1988-2020 in USDA’s Economic Research Service. She initiated USDA’s first organic commodity analysis and farm sector surveys, and led research on organic production, marketing and policy. Catherine has received numerous government awards, including the USDA Plow Honor Award in 2011 and the National Association of Government Communicators Blue Pencil Award in 1995, as well “unsung hero” awards from industry and nonprofit groups. USDA publications include U.S. Organic Farming Emerges in the 1990s and Beyond Nutrition and Organic Labels—30 Years of Experience with Intervening in Food Labels. Catherine has an M.S. degree in Agricultural Economics and B.S. degree in Sociology from Virginia Tech.

Director of Advocacy & Sustainability, Organically Grown Company

Mike Dill oversees organic trade advocacy and sustainability for Organically Grown Company, the Northwest’s largest organic produce distributor. He is the lead coordinator for the Organic Produce Wholesalers Coalition, representing organic wholesalers and growers to the National Organic Program, National Organic Standards Board and Legislators. Mike is also Vice-Chair of the Organic Trade Association’s Produce Sector Council and hold seats on the boards of the Oregon Organic Coalition (OOC), Washington’s Coalition for Organic and Regenerative Agriculture (CORA) and the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF).

Mike’s 16 years of experience in the organic trade includes eight years managing food safety, compliance and policy and two years managing stakeholder engagement and advocacy for OGC, along with five years working as an organic inspector, Fair Trade inspector and certification officer for Oregon Tilth. Mike received his Food Science and Technology degree with minors in Horticulture and Chemistry from Oregon State University in 2007.