Jessi-Ryah Cordova joined NMPF as its FARM Program Communications Coordinator in April, where she manages FARM Program projects related to stakeholder communications and outreach. She also supports broader communications initiatives supporting FARM’s mission of serving farmers and informing the broader community of dairy consumers.
The 2023 graduate of California Polytechnic State University- San Luis Obispo holds a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Business. During her time at Cal Poly she worked at its Dairy Unit as a Business Assistant, milking cows and managing communication and administrative efforts. She also has worked as a sales representative for Farmers Business Network, connecting with farmers across the U.S. & Canada.
Gregg Doud is NMPF’s President and Chief Executive Officer. Before arriving at NMPF he served as the Chief Agricultural Negotiator in the Office of the United States Trade Representative from 2018 until 2021; before that, he served as the president of the Commodity Markets Council, representing commodities exchanges before Congress and federal agencies. He also has served as a staff member for the United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, where he helped draft the 2012 Farm Bill, and as chief economist for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Most recently, he worked at Aimpoint Research as its Vice President of Global Situational Awareness and Chief Economist.
A native of Mankato, Kansas, where he grew up raising cattle, Doud earned a Bachelor of Science degree in animal science and a Master of Science in agricultural economics from Kansas State University. He was awarded the Outstanding Young Alumnus of the Kansas State University Agriculture Alumni Association in 2012 and also received the Outstanding Alumnus award from the Department of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State in 2017. He currently lives with his family on their horse farm in Lothian, MD.
David serves as the Chief Administrative Officer for the Federation and its related organizations. He is responsible for overseeing all finance and accounting, human resources, information technology, contract management, and other administrative matters. He serves as the advisor to the senior leadership team on financial planning, reporting, budgeting, and operations and ensures organizational legal and regulatory compliance. In carrying out these responsibilities, David supervises a team of in-house administrative personnel and outsourced accounting, human resources, and legal services professionals.
Prior to joining the Federation in 2023, David served as the Director of Finance and Administration at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, a non-profit with 650 employees, generating $70 million in revenue and $200 million in investments. During his tenure, he led the organization’s efforts, in the areas of budgeting, finance, compliance, payroll, and system administration. Before that, David worked in public accounting at Tate & Tryon, where he oversaw non-profit financial preparation for a variety of non-profit organizations.
A native of Northern Virginia, David resides in Springfield, VA and is a graduate of High Point University in North Carolina.
Allison Wilton joined NMPF as the Coordinator for Economic Policy and Global Analysis in October 2022. In her role, she helps oversee the Cooperatives Working Together export assistance program and provides economic analysis of domestic and global dairy production and trade.
A joint employee of NMPF and USDEC, Wilton has a degree in Agribusiness from Oklahoma State University, and recently received her Master’s in Agricultural Economics from Texas A&M University, where she worked as a research assistant for the Agricultural and Food Policy Center. She grew up on her family ranch in New Mexico and still helps as a ranch hand, including feeding cattle and building fence, when she visits home.
Rachel Ravencraft is a director on the communications team, focusing on regulatory communications. She started at NMPF in 2022 as communications manager for the FARM Program, leading its media strategy, overseeing its publications, and managing vendor relationships in communications and marketing. Before joining the FARM Program, She was a manager at Purple Strategies, a DC-based communications agency, where she executed campaigns in many communications areas, including crisis and reputation management, brand awareness, regulatory compliance and litigation.
Prior to her work at Purple, Ravencraft led change management efforts in Global Operations at Marriott International. The Reston, VA native is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of South Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications.
Patricia Koch is the Manager, Finance and Administration of NMPF. She is primarily responsible for vendor management and accounts payable for NMPF, CWT, ABI, the REAL® Seal program and contract administration for NMPF’s service contracts with DMI and USDEC. She joined NMPF in 2022 after relocating from Dairyland Wisconsin, where she was Administrative Project Coordinator for M3 Insurance.
Prior to that, Koch lived and worked in California. Her other business experiences include being the Lead Production Accountant for Pixar (A Bug’s Life), Financial Analyst for Disney and owning her own dog bathing and grooming business, Rub-A-Dub Dog Bath.
Will serves as the Senior Vice President of Global Economic Affairs for NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council. In this role, he leads the two organizations’ joint economics team, which provides forward-looking analysis and insight into U.S. and international dairy markets. Will and his team are frequent speakers at various U.S. and global dairy conferences and engage closely with stakeholders from around the world to forecast market dynamics and their effects on the U.S. dairy industry. Loux first joined USDEC in 2018 and worked closely with NMPF before fully becoming a joint employee in 2022.
Prior to his work with NMPF and USDEC, Will was the Government Affairs Manager for the International Dairy Foods Association in Washington, D.C. He also holds a master’s degree from London School of Economics and maintains close ties to his farming roots back home in Iowa.
Abdullah Ibrahimzada joined the NMPF staff in June 2022 as the FARM Program’s information system analyst. In this role, he manages the ongoing relationship with the program’s technology provider and oversees software development activities including design, development, implementation, and support.
Ibrahimzada joined NMPF after five years of program management experience with USAID, World Bank, and The Borgen Project, which addresses issues related to global poverty. He is a Fulbright and Campus France scholar and holds master’s degrees in Agricultural Economics from the University of Arkansas and in Marketing and Management from Lille Catholic University, France. Ibrahimzada speaks five languages and loves soccer.
Scott Sanborn handles front desk operations, mailroom and office support, and assists with day-to-day administrative responsibilities and work on special projects. He is a veritable “Swiss Army Knife,” poised to assist when needed, no matter the task. His time is shared between NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council.
Sanborn joined NMPF in 2022 after retiring early from a 37-year career working with the United States Senate as part of the Secretary of the Senate’s legislative team. He most recently served as only the 20th Journal Clerk in history, witnessing history as it happened from his unique vantage point at the Senate Chamber rostrum. Originally from Connecticut, he lives in Ashburn, Virginia, with his wife. They have two grown children and two dogs.
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Beverly Hampton Phifer currently manages the day-to-day operations of the National Dairy FARM Animal Care program. She joined NMPF in 2016. Her responsibilities include overseeing the Animal Care evaluator certification process, program participant relations, farmer resource development and outreach with the internal dairy industry.
Her experience in livestock production and risk management is life-long. Prior to joining National Milk, her professional resume includes providing technical support and project management for animal care, environmental and worker safety matters for a variety of animal agriculture trade associations. These include the Animal Agriculture Alliance, U.S. Poultry & Egg Association and the Wild Alaska Pollock Association among others.
Sage Saffran currently serves as Manager of Sustainability Initiatives at NMPF. She works on the National Dairy FARM Program’s Environmental Stewardship and Workforce Development pillars. During her tenure at NMPF, Saffran has managed FARM Program implementation, resource development and stakeholder engagement for both program areas.
Prior to joining NMPF in February 2021, Saffran was the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture Policy Intern, covering food systems, plant agriculture and natural resources policy. She also worked as the Food Export Northeast Intern at the Connecticut Department of Agriculture to implement USDA MAP funding, promoting small businesses, farmers markets and state fairs. Saffran graduated the University of Connecticut in May 2020. She grew up in a small town in Connecticut and currently resides in Arlington, VA.
Stephen Cain serves as the senior director of economic research and analysis with NMPF and supports the federation through the analysis of both domestic and international dairy markets. He regularly publishes reports on dairy market dynamics and provides ad-hoc analysis on a wide range of dairy and related areas.
Prior to joining NMPF, Cain worked as an agribusiness consultant with IHS Markit, where he covered a number of commodities and specialized in economic impact analysis. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Agribusiness and a master’s degree in Agricultural Economics, both from Texas A&M University.
