EFI expands leadership roles to build capacity
Equitable Food Initiative, the capacity-building and certification organization that partners with growers, farmworkers, retailers and consumer groups, has promoted EFI leaders Kevin Boyle and Kenton Harmer.
In their new roles, both Boyle and Harmer will support the nonprofit’s expanding workforce development strategies and lead implementation of the Ethical Charter on Responsible Labor Practices, according to a news release.
In the new role of director of organizational and workforce development, Boyle will be responsible for working with growers, workers and retailers to define and implement an industrywide framework for skills development and management competencies. Aligning with EFI’s latest strategy updates, his new project will be working with industry, education and community partners to develop a skill-building and credentialing framework that provides transparent career ladders for agricultural workers and managers, the release said.
“Stepping into this new role is an exciting opportunity to innovate, drive meaningful growth and continue shaping the future of our industry for farmworkers and growers,” Boyle said in the release. “Farmworkers are some of the most knowledgeable and skilled in all of agriculture and harnessing that value and developing their skills further is an opportunity that will benefit the entire food supply chain.”
Related news: The Packer, EFI launch Grow the Good award to highlight farmworkers
Boyle came to EFI nearly 15 years ago as a consultant to assist in the organization’s development and to facilitate the multi-stakeholder process that formed the nonprofit and its certification standards. In 2015, he officially joined full time as director of workforce development and then took responsibility for business and new product development, where he was instrumental in designing the certification program and onboarding EFI’s grower partners, according to the release.
Harmer has been named director of market-based impact. In this new role, Harmer will be responsible for bringing scalable, continuous improvement products to supply chains, including and beyond fresh produce. Harmer will engage new populations of workers and organizations in using interactive tools, assessments, worker surveys and data collection, according to the release.
Harmer will also head up development of an assessment tool for the fresh produce industry that aims to increase supply chain engagement in ethical workforce management and strengthen management systems to better align with the Ethical Charter, the release said.
