Tag: NMPF staff promotions

NMPF Announces Staff Promotions

Posted on by Rachel Ravencraft

NMPF is excited to share several well-deserved promotions that recognize the outstanding contributions and continued growth of key team members:

  • Maria Brockamp has been promoted to Senior Manager, Government Relations. Though relatively new to NMPF, Maria quickly demonstrated impressive capabilities, especially while taking on additional responsibilities during Paul’s absence.
  • Jessi-Ryah Cordova has been promoted to Communications Manager, FARM Program. Since arriving at NMPF as FARM Communications Coordinator in April 2024, Jessi-Ryah Cordova has shown skills and abilities that go well beyond her day-to-day responsibilities, leading FARM Communications initiatives. By effectively harnessing FARM’s disparate pillars into a coherent whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
  • Miquela Hanselman has been promoted to Senior Director, Regulatory Affairs. Miquela has consistently taken on higher-level work and delivered excellent results. She has taken over leadership of NMPF’s engagement with the National Conference of Interstate Milk Shipments (NCIMS) and in 2025 successfully led our efforts on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Beyond her core responsibilities, Miquela championed the creation of a summer internship program and has assumed a leadership role in organizing the Cheese Contest at the Annual Meeting.
  • Tony Rice has been promoted to Senior Director, Trade Policy, in recognition of his expanded leadership and increased scope of responsibility across trade policy and supply chain issues. Over the past few years, Tony has played a vital role in advancing NMPF’s trade priorities on Capitol Hill and strengthening engagement with NMPF’s membership. Tony has earned widespread respect from members and colleagues alike for his leadership in developing practical tools and policy work that directly support members and NMPF–USDEC staff.
  • Bobby Yi has been promoted to Vice President, Information Technology. In his 27 years at NMPF, Bobby has continually expanded his responsibilities and capabilities as our staff at NMPF and USDEC have grown. Most recently, he has orchestrated our transition to a new cloud hosting infrastructure and expanded our security capabilities.
  • Stacey Young has agreed to shift from her temporary assignment to our new NEXT accounting staff. She will oversee the transition of work from our outsourced accounting team to in-house operations and provide additional budgetary support to the contract teams.
  • David West will have the new title of Chief Operating Officer to better reflect his current responsibilities as an absolute integral member of the NMPF senior leadership team.

 

Staff Promotions Recognize Expanded Work

Posted on by Rachel Ravencraft

NMPF announced two promotions within its economics team, taking effect as dairy faces market uncertainty amid trade challenges and cloudy economic forecasts.

Stephen Cain, who began at NMPF in 2020, is now Vice President of Economic Policy and Market Analysis, recognizing both his growing job responsibilities and his increasing position as a public representative of NMPF in industry conferences and other events.

Allison Wilton was promoted to Market Analyst, highlighting her continued growth and strong analytical contributions to NMPF. Wilton joined NMPF in 2022. Both Cain and Wilton also are active in NMPF’s NEXT program, blazing a new path in dairy trade globally.

NMPF Advances Sustainability Leadership, Member Service with Staff Promotions

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

NMPF named Nicole Ayache its first ever chief sustainability officer and Emily Yeiser Stepp the first ever executive director of its National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program, bolstering its sustainability leadership and member service in staff promotions announced Feb. 1.

NMPF also elevated Louise Kamali and Sage Saffran in recognition of their growing and expanding roles with the organization. Kamali is becoming Vice President, Meetings and Office Services, while Saffran has been promoted to Manager, Sustainability Initiatives.

Each staff member brings unique talents to NMPF, Mulhern said.

“As dairy cooperatives continuously improve their own sustainability and develop new opportunities to benefit their members and their communities, NMPF is excited to have Nicole leading our work in the environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainability,” said NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern. “As the leader of the FARM Program’s Environmental Stewardship initiative, Nicole has already shown how dairy leads agriculture in best practices and stewardship principles. By expanding her role, we are ensuring that both FARM and NMPF’s efforts in these areas will grow under energetic leadership.”

Yeiser Stepp’s new position as Executive Director of the FARM Program comes after nearly five years leading FARM’s strategic initiatives for the U.S. dairy industry’s social responsibility program, encompassing animal care, antibiotic stewardship, biosecurity, environmental stewardship, and workforce development. She first joined FARM, a joint initiative of NMPF and Dairy Management Inc., in 2016 and has been integral to its rapid expansion and increasingly central role in U.S. dairy.

“Emily’s new role reflects her success in leading our comprehensive efforts to develop FARM as one that assists farmers and the entire dairy producer community in addressing and communicating its record of success in managing high quality animal care, as well as farm biosecurity and workforce development,” Mulhern said. “Her strong record of achievement in working with a wide range of industry stakeholders, of managing a growing staff, and of staying ahead of rapidly evolving industry challenges positions her well for her new role – and NMPF for continued success benefiting from her leadership.”

Louise Kamali’s promotion to Vice President, Meetings and Office Services recognizes her significant and long-standing contributions to the efficient and effective management of numerous organizational meetings as well as the internal administrative functions for both NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council, with which NMPF shares office resources.

“Louise is a unifying presence within our jointly operated office, dedicated to making sure that NMPF and USDEC staff have the tools, assistance, and resources necessary to achieve their best on-the-job results,” Mulhern said. “Whether working with service providers or meeting facilities — or most importantly, our members — as a frontline representative, her expertise, attention to detail, and thorough knowledge of the many moving parts of our organizations continue to significantly and successfully bolster our efforts in ways large and small.”

Kamali has more than 31 years of association experience. February marks her 21st anniversary with NMPF.

Sage Saffran has been promoted to Manager, Sustainability Initiatives. Her new role reflects her expanded responsibilities in managing internal operations for the FARM Environmental Stewardship (ES) and Workforce Development (WFD) programs. Saffran oversees the evaluator training for both initiatives; she also coordinates efforts with FARM team members and contractors to grow evaluator and farmer resources, improve database functionality, develop communications, and promote stakeholder engagement.

In addition to her work with FARM, Sage contributes to important NMPF initiatives, such as the internship program, the Young Cooperators program, and the annual scholarship raffle.

“Since joining NMPF two years ago, Sage has quickly asserted herself as key to the FARM team’s progress and expansion,” Mulhern said. “Her contributions are highly valued, and we look forward to her continued growth as an essential part of NMPF.”