PMA welcomes six board members

(CORRECTED) The Produce Marketing Association is adding six new members to its board of directors.

The new board meets for the first time on Oct. 22.

“These volunteers are essential to helping PMA reach the goals set in our strategic plan and realizing our vision to grow a healthier world,” PMA CEO Cathy Burns said in a news release. “They provide strategic guidance, thought leadership, and their own unique perspectives to guide the organization’s growth and value to members and industry.”

The new board members are:

• Alan Aguirre Ibarra, CEO of Grupo Alta and Divine Flavor LLC, and founder of Fundación Alta IAP, which helps agricultural workers achieve a healthy and dignified lifestyle. He also is the president of the Hermosillo Food Bank.
• Amelie Aust, co-CEO and second-generation owner of Fall Creek, a blueberry breeder and nursery. She is a board member of Global Women Fresh.
• Nikki Cossio, founder and CEO of Measure to Improve, which helps build sustainability programs for the industry. She is on PMA’s sustainability committee and a member of the Stewardship Index for Specialty Crops Coordinating Council. Cossio founded the Monterey County Sustainability Work Group in 2011.
• Amy Gates, former president of Frontera Produce, Edinburg, Texas. She started her career in the industry at Famous Software and started at Frontera in 2004. She has served on the Produce Traceability Initiative’s Joint Industry Leadership Council since 2009.
• Daniel Mathieson, chief executive of kiwifruit marketer Zespri in New Zealand, which he joined almost 20 years ago. He’s been the president of global sales and marketing and has led Zespri’s sales and marketing operations and offshore markets.
• Jim Richter, president and CEO of Amerifresh, Scottsdale, Ariz., and former CEO of  Wilcox Fresh. Richter spent 25 years in retail, at H.E.B, Marsh, Randalls-Tom Thumb and 7-Eleven, in leadership roles.

Dwight Ferguson, CEO of the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation, is chairman of the PMA board.

“Our vision remains the same — to bring together the global produce and floral communities to grow a healthier world — but we will use some new filters to get there,” Ferguson said in his incoming chairman remarks during the virtual Fresh Summit. “including a stronger focus on building deeper global connections with produce and floral sectors worldwide; a lens of diversity and inclusion to ensure we do all that we can to welcome new talent and new thinking into our community; and exponentially expanding our reach to include everyone who enjoys the joy of fresh produce and floral.” 

Note on correction: The story has been updated to include Dwight Ferguson's correct affiliation.