The Organic Trade Association Board of Directors consists of fifteen people, each of whom serves a term of three years. A Board member cannot serve more than three consecutive terms. OTA Board members are elected by OTA trade members each year. The Board is made up of eleven at-large members elected by the general membership and four members who are appointed by elected Board members.
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BOARD PRESIDENT
Tracy Favre has over 30 years in natural resource management working in various positions, now serving as the Vice President of Sustainability for Live Operations at Handsome Brook Farms, LLC. From 2012 – 2017, Ms. Favre served on the National Organic Standards Board, wrapping up her tenure there as board chair. Tracy has worked as an independent organic inspector, and served as the Global Director for Quality Assurance International, setting strategic direction for the organization, including international expansion. She is passionate about the intersection of good, healthy food and sustainable livelihoods.
BOARD VICE PRESIDENT
As Director of Government and Industry Affairs for Organic Valley, Adam oversees the cooperative’s government affairs and engagement with industry trade groups. His duties include cultivating relations with policymakers, engaging administrative agencies, and driving forward-facing public relations with numerous food, farm, and media stakeholders.
TREASURER
Domenic Borrelli is the President of Plant-Based Food & Beverages and Premium Dairy for Danone North America Danone North America, where he balances the company’s commitment to social and environmental progress while generating profitable, sustainable growth. Domenic brings 24 years of food and beverage experience, including work in sustainable meat, refreshment beverages, coffee, cheese, cereal and ready-to-eat meals.
SECRETARY
Britt Lundgren is the Senior Director of Sustainability and Government Affairs at Stonyfield. She has over fifteen years of experience working to advance agricultural sustainability through policy and supply chain initiatives, and is a passionate advocate for organic agriculture with expertise in both policy and supply chain initiatives.
Community Relations Committee, Chair
Matthew Dillon is the founder and owner of Risk to Resilience (R2R) Strategy, an organic consulting company. Most recently, Matt was Chief Sustainability Officer at Farmer Focus. Before his role at Farmer Focus, Matt led Clif Bar's federal and state advocacy engagement. Matthew spearheaded Clif Bar’s organic research investments, endowing four chairs in organic research and funding 17 Ph.D. students, making Clif the largest private funder of organic research in the United States. He has held diverse roles in organic agriculture and policy fields since 1982, including farmer, advocate, and consultant to food companies, government agencies, and non-profits.
GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE, CHAIR
Ann Marie Hourigan is a Quality Standards Principal Advisor for Sourcing Standards at Whole Foods Market. She has worked in the organic and natural foods industry since 2003 in a variety of roles. Prior to working at Whole Foods Market, Ann Marie was the Director of Organic Integrity and Compliance Programs at Earthbound Farm, a dedicated organic producer and handler of packaged salads and other produce. In previous roles Ann Marie has been an organic inspector and technical reviewer for Quality Assurance International (QAI), member of the California Organic Products Advisory Committee (COPAC), and California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) chapter leader.
COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMITTEE, VICE CHAIR
Mike is the Vice President of Food Safety & Technology for True Organic Products. His curiosity about the organic industry and how to affects the biological systems around it continue to be satisfied in his role by helping to find new inputs for use as organic fertilizers.
FINANCE COMMITTEE, VICE CHAIR
Johanna Phillips is a Technical Director of the USDA NOP certification team for Ecocert, where she also works on technical and policy initiatives as part of Ecocert Group. She carries over a decade of regulatory experience in commercial feed, food, and organic certification, and a lifetime of experience in agriculture. Johanna has a passion for agriculture that is closely tied to her belief that we can do so much more to support the sustainability and wellbeing of the planet, as well as lifestyles that ensure healthy and safe food available domestically. She is inspired and driven by a calling to support opportunities for families and businesses to operate sustainably and make a living.
GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE & FARMER SEAT
Doug and his wife Anna own and operate Vilicus Farms, a 5,000-acre certified organic dry-land farm growing 12 to 15 grain, pulse, broadleaf and oilseed crops annually. Having started the farm “from scratch,” they share a passion for beginning farmers. Doug has been an active member of the Farmers Advisory Council and regular participant in OTA’s Policy Conference and Hill Visits.
Heidi grew up on her family farm getting folks excited about all things Diestel. Today, Heidi is President of Sales & Marketing at Diestel Family Ranch, leading the industry one turkey at a time.
Edward Fish is the Vice President and General Manager of Varietal Solutions at Bay State Milling where he works to connect food with agriculture. Prior to joining Bay State Milling, Ed worked across a variety of businesses at Cargill focusing on corporate strategy and business development. He currently chairs the Organic Trade Association’s Grains Council and the Board of Directors of About Fresh, a Boston-based nonprofit that gets healthy foods to vulnerable populations, and serves on the MIT Sloan Sustainability Advisory Board. Ed holds various certificates and degrees from UC Davis, Kansas State, George Washington University and MIT. He resides in Boston where he enjoys spending time outdoors with his family.
GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE
Kellee James is the Founder and CEO of Mercaris, an Argus company, a start-up company that provides a market information service and online trading platform for organic and non-GMO crops and ingredients. Kellee currently serves on the Board of Oregon Tilth. Kellee has an interest and experience in values-driven entrepreneurship, finance, and governance issues.
David Lively and his brother Tom started out with gardening organically on a one-third acre designed to feed a commune of 15. From there, they started to professionally farm and the work that created Organically Grown Cooperative. This evolved to Organically Grown Company, with grower and employee owners. He currently is Pioneer Ermeritus at Organically Grown Company. He is a co-founder of the Sustainable Food Trade Association, Organic Produce Wholesalers Coalition and the Organicology Conference. He has also served on the Boards of Oregon Tilth and the Organic Seed Alliance.
Paul is the President of Amy's, a producer of organic frozen meals and soups. He oversees Amy’s Planet Strategy, which includes integrating sustainability into all aspects of the business, including sourcing and agricultural practices, manufacturing operations, and products. He also leads Amy’s Policy and Advocacy Strategy, and is a member of Amy’s Leadership Group.
Daniella Velazquez de Leon is the general manager of Organics Unlimited, where she's responsible for the success of day-to-day operations across sales and distribution, logistics, and production entities. Daniella is the newest generation of this family business: the fourth generation of organic growers in her family and the third generation of organic banana wholesalers. Organic Unlimited primarily imports top-quality bananas from farms deep in the soil of Mexico.