Vic Smith, others join Brighter Bites board

Brighter Bites, Houston, recently elected three new board members.

The new members are Faiyaz Bhojani, health leader for Shell’s North & South American business; Joel Grade, Sysco Corp.’s executive vice president and chief financial officer; and Vic Smith, CEO of the JV Smith Cos., according to a news release.

Bhojani, who is certified in internal medicine and preventive medicine, has responsibilities at Shell that include strategic planning and advocacy in collaboration with human resources and other areas, according to the release.

Grade joined Sysco in 1996 as a staff auditor and has had a variety of roles, including chief financial officer of Sysco Chicago and then Sysco Canada, and was senior vice president of finance and chief accounting officer before he started his latest role in 2015, according to the release.

Smith’s companies grow, cool and distribute fresh produce in Arizona, California, Colorado and Mexico. He is a board member of Western Growers and the Center for Produce Safety, and served on the Produce Marketing Association and United Fresh Produce Association boards.

Brighter Bites CEO Rich Dachman, said the new members have unique backgrounds and diverse experiences that will add value to the nonprofit’s board.

"Their membership will allow us to continue our strong momentum to expand the Brighter Bites program in our current cities and into new ones, improving the health of the families we serve through increased access to fresh produce and nutrition education,” Dachman said in the release.

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