Julie Adams is Vice President, Global Technical and Regulatory Affairs of the Almond Board of California. Julie joined the Board in 2000. Her responsibilities include monitoring and developing strategies to address international trade policy and technical issues such as food safety, market access, Codex standards, phytosanitary requirements, regulatory changes and other areas which impact worldwide production and shipment of California almonds. She oversees the Almond Board’s industry services activities, which is responsible for compliance and food safety programs. Julie has been responsible for coordinating government affairs efforts with State and Federal authorities, including consultations with USDA and global authorities related to import controls and certification programs.

Julie chairs the Nut Processors Working Group of the European Snacks Association, as well as serving as vice chair of the International Tree Nut Council’s (INC) Scientific Committee. She has served for several years on the U.S. Agricultural Trade Advisory Committee for Fruits & Vegetables.   

Prior to joining the Board, Julie spent over 15 years with the American Peanut Council, based in Washington, DC and London. 

Rebecca Bailey joined the Almond Board of California in 2014 as an intern for Industry Relations. Following her summer internship, she was hired on as a full-time member of the Industry Relations team. Today, she is a specialist in Industry Relations. Her efforts are focused on the various industry-related programs and events. Rebecca is responsible for helping to oversee the planning and execution of the annual Almond Conference, as well as other industry events aimed toward growers and processors. She co-leads the Almond Leadership Program and Ag in the Classroom. She also travels throughout the growing regions representing ABC at trade shows and California Almond Sustainability (CASP) workshops. Rebecca graduated from Oklahoma State University (Go Pokes!) with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural communications in 2012, followed by a master’s degree in agricultural communications from OSU in 2014. She was raised on her family’s farm in Turlock, CA, where she resides today. Rebecca enjoys spending time with her family, traveling and live music.

Tim Birmingham joined the Almond Board of California in 2007 as the Associate Director of Industry Relations/Food Quality and Safety. His efforts are focused on actions that will continue to help address emerging and existing food safety issues, as well as ensure the ability to effectively address and identify issues that impact almond quality. Tim serves as the staff liaison for the Almond Quality and Food Safety Committee and is integral in execution of the food quality and safety program. He manages research efforts in these areas helping to ensure confidence in almonds as a safe, healthy, quality food product. He was integral in the implementation of the 2007 program for mandatory pasteurization of almonds and continues to be at the forefront of evaluation of technologies which may be of use for almond pasteurization. His professional career includes over fifteen years of experience in food processing, product and process quality, process validation, food safety and microbiology. Tim is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, having served in Operation Desert Storm.

The grandson of a Modesto farmer, Geoffrey joined the Almond Board in early 2019 after a 15-year career overseas as a diplomat with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration. Geoffrey served at U.S. embassies and consulates in Latin America and the Middle East helping U.S. companies access foreign markets. He speaks fluent Spanish, masters Brazilian Portuguese and has just enough Arabic to hail a cab or order from the menu.

Geoffrey is responsible for tackling global regulatory issues that affect almond exports, assisting handlers and traders in navigating the complexities of exporting and compliance with international regulations and health standards. In his duties he regularly interfaces with foreign public officials and private companies. 

Geoffrey earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Latin American Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz, highlighted by one year of study at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.  He has a master’s degree in Public Administration from American University in Washington, D.C.  

Geoffrey has two sons and two grandchildren. He and his wife have a farm in Colombia where they grow fruits and coffee. Geoffrey spends his free time playing the drums at local establishments in Modesto.

Kimberlee joined the Almond Board of California in September 2017, serving as the Corporate Website and Social Media Specialist. She spends her time finding creative opportunities to support each region across the ever-changing digital space.

Her career began in the San Francisco Bay Area in various Accounting and Finance roles. In 2007 she received a unique opportunity from E. & J . Gallo Winery where she worked for ten years. During her time at the winery, she rotated through key areas beginning in sourcing, transitioning to the legal team and more recently digital marketing.

Kim holds a BA in Legal Studies then later graduated from California State University Stanislaus, earning a Master’s in Business Administration. She currently resides in Nevada with her husband and children. In her free time, you will find her at one of her children’s sports activities. She especially enjoys camping, boating and a good book.

Caroline Campana joined the Almond Board of California in September 2019. Her work includes supporting outgoing industry communications efforts such as social media, in-house design, paid advertisements, newsletters, and website updates, while also helping with industry events such as California Almond Sustainability Program workshops, Almond Leadership Program, and The Almond Conference.

Caroline graduated from Boise State University with a bachelor’s degree in communications and public relations. Caroline lives in Modesto and in her free time enjoys traveling and spending time with her family and friends.  

Ashley joined the Almond Board of California in January 2019 to take on the new position of Field Outreach and Education, covering the South Valley. Her position allows her to build relationships with growers and industry members sharing programs and resources, like the California Almond Sustainability Program and Irrigation Continuum. She enjoys working in the almond industry helping grower’s trouble shoot issues in their orchards.

Prior to start at ABC, Ashley worked for the Tulare Agricultural Commissioner’s Office as an Agricultural Inspector II. In this role she would conduct phytosanitary inspections to meet importing country workplans. She also helped create an application to GPS locate the pest detection traps in the county. She made a career change to get back into agriculture after two years in the human resources field.

Ashley graduated from California State University, Fresno in 2013 where she obtained a degree in Agricultural Business. She was born and raised in the small farm town of Lemoore, California. Ashley has two Labrador Retriever’s, Buster and Stella, who keep her on her toes.

Tom has long been one of the industry’s most forward-looking and outspoken advocates for the use of technology in agriculture. Starting off in agriculture as an irrigation designer with growers in the north state, Tom found a passion for field monitoring and ag technologies. For over a decade he worked with farming operations across the country leveraging plant, soil and weather sensing tools enabling growers to monitor and control their irrigations more effectively producing more crop per drop with limited resources.

Tom is driven to provide ongoing education to tackle the challenges of understanding and applying technologies as part of the daily practice in a farming operation. Joining the Almond Board in the summer of 2019 has been a perfect fit, with a community of growers he knows well and is excited to help each day.

Prior to coming on staff he was honored to serve as a mentor to the Almond Board of California's Almond Leadership Program and was a member on the Global Communications Committee.

Emily is the Senior Director Global Marketing at the Almond Board of California, where she leads the strategy and implementation of the Board’s global marketing investment including both consumer and trade activities. She joined the Almond Board of California in 2016, after 12 years in Brand Management at food companies. First, at Kraft Foods working on the Oscar Mayer and Lunchables brands followed by California-based Foster Farms managing the company’s Prepared Foods business.

Prior to her career in marketing, she worked in accounting and finance.  She honed her analytic and general business skills in roles at one of the Big 5 accounting firms and global finance with Nike and InFocus Systems.  

Emily graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University with a BA in Accounting and the University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler School of Business with an MBA in Brand Management. She relocated to California’s Central Valley in 2016 and resides in Turlock, CA along with her husband, son, and daughter.  Emily enjoys spending time with her family and embracing all the beautiful outdoor activities California has to offer.

Jenn is the Director of Marketing for North America where she leads marketing efforts for Canada, Mexico and US. She joined ABC in 2019 after working as a VP of Marketing at Smucker and ConAgra. Jenn has 20 years of brand management experience and started her marketing career at Kraft.

Jenn has her undergraduate degree in accounting from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa and her MBA from Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, Jenn is married with two teenagers.

Ann joined the Almond Board of California in 2017 to support the Global Market Development team along with Karen Montgomery. In addition, she serves as the Staff Coordinator for the Global Market Development Committee and the Global Communications Committee. 

After spending a year as an exchange student in Belgium, Ann earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in International Management at Santa Clara University and Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. She worked in the Bay Area and Portland in market research and product development. She took a career break to raise her five children. As the fourth generation of a California farming family, Ann is excited to be back in the valley, supporting an industry near to her heart. She enjoys cycling, traveling, tasting local craft beers, and grilling pizzas.
 

Sara Geer joined the Almond Board in November 2016 as a Senior Accountant.  Today, she leads the team overseeing the day-to-day accounting, administration and logistics functions at the Almond Board of California as the Senior Manager, Finance and Administration.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from CSU Stanislaus in 2005 in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting.  Sara has received a vast overall accounting experience while working in local governmental and public accounting specializing in political reporting, general and fund accounting, tax and auditing. 

Sara grew up in Escalon among grape vineyards, however, has been a fan of almonds since birth as her grandfather was an almond grower in Ripon.  She now resides in Manteca with her husband, son and daughter who you can find either on the baseball or soccer fields. 

Laura Gutierrez joined the Almond Board of California in 2018 as the Senior Analyst, where she tracks, analyzes and builds predictive models on data pertaining to the almond industry and ABC initiatives. Her role directly falls under the Global Marketing department; however, she supports all departments in the organization with data collection and analysis.

Prior to ABC, Laura obtained her CPA license while she worked for a Big 4 accounting firm on Fortune 500 clients in the tech, governmental and agricultural sectors, as well as large private companies. Laura graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Political Economics and obtained a certificate in Advanced Accounting Proficiency from the Leavey School of Business. She is also fluent in Spanish.

Laura is a 3rd generation almond industry member and lives with her husband and two children on one of the family's almond orchards in Wood Colony (Modesto). She enjoys traveling, going to college football games, and teaching the little ones to check sprinklers in grandma and grandpa's orchards.

Jenny Heap, MS, RDN, joined the Almond Board of California in June 2010. As corporate nutritionist for the Almond Board, she oversees the translation of nutrition research to messages about the health benefits of almonds across ABC’s global markets and is responsible for ensuring regulatory compliance of our almond nutrition messaging with marketing and advertising regulations around the world. A self-proclaimed agriculture enthusiast, Jenny began her career in Washington, D.C. as an intern with the International Food Information Council, after which she spent seven years supporting U.S. egg farmers as Director of Scientific Communications with the American Egg Board. Since then, she has continued to pursue her passion for promoting nutritious, whole foods with the Almond Board of California.

Jenny is originally from Bountiful, Utah. She completed her undergraduate degree at Weber State University and her master’s degree in nutrition at the University of Utah.

Guangwei has worked at the Almond Board of California since 2001 in various roles, most recently as Associate Director, Food Research and Technology. He directs and manages research in almond quality, safety and processing technology, co-product utilization, harvesting technologies, etc., and he conducts trade education events and food professional outreach activities. Guangwei had played an instrumental role in development of the almond mandatory pasteurization rule. The thermal lethality and surrogate microbial challenge validation guidelines that he developed for existing almond processes and new pasteurization processes based on the findings from extensive research are now widely followed by other nut and low moisture food industries. Presently, he is spending more time in finding more value-added options for almond coproducts including almond hulls, shells, and woody biomass, and better solutions to reduce dust during almond harvest.

Before joining ABC in 2001, Guangwei worked for companies in business of dried fruits and nuts, Mexico frozen foods, organic baby foods and almond processing in California. He had also spent about seven years with the China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment to develop national methods and standards for pesticide residues and contaminants in foods before coming to California in 1990. 

Guangwei obtained a B.S. degree in sanitary inspection and technology in 1983 from Sichuan University, and M.S. degree in Food Science from University of California, Davis in 1993.

Guangwei is a member of IFT, IAFP and AACC, an Executive Board of Director for Subcommittee of China Snack Foods. He had also served as a secretary and president for CAFS, and Board of Director for CIFST.

Betty Sue joined the Almond Board in February 2011 as a Senior Accountant. She has advanced through the organization to her current role as Director of Finance and Administration, which she has held since August 2017. As Director,, she is responsible for all fiscal operations of the Almond Board. In her role she leads the annual budget process as well as managing the overall accounting, finance and administrative functions. 

Betty Sue graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Purdue University in 1981 in General Management with an Accounting option. From there, she held several progressive accounting roles at MedicAlert Foundation, Neutrogena Corporation, Alcatel Communications, Mattel Toys and American Can Company. In her varied roles, Betty Sue has worked in the areas of general accounting, cost accounting, budgeting and payroll. 

Betty Sue is originally from Indiana, but having moved to CA in 1985, considers herself a near native.  She lives in Turlock with her husband and has two adult sons who are following in her business footsteps. She enjoys working on puzzles, golfing and time with family. 

Becky Jeffers, Manager, North America Marketing joined the ABC in April 2007. During her time at the ABC, she has managed multiple export-oriented programs in China, South Korea, India, and Japan to build demand for California Almonds in Asia. In August 2016 Becky joined the North America marketing team.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in International and Regional Studies and French Studies from the University of the Pacific, and a Master of Arts degree in French from Middlebury College.  She completed extended study abroad programs in France as part of both her undergraduate and graduate education, as well as an internship program at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.

Dr. Swati Kalgaonkar is Associate Director, Nutrition Research Program and has extensive nutrition clinical research experience. Swati’s primary focus is on oversight of ABC contracted nutrition research, public policy analysis and synthesis, and information dissemination in support of the almond industry’s global strategies. Additional priorities include identifying current and future strategic needs for almond nutrition research, liaising with researchers, analyzing and interpreting results, writing for scientific and review articles, position papers and substantiation documents for USDA and/or FDA, coordinating the Nutrition Research Committee and administering its budget. Swati also travels extensively to represent the Almond Board at US and international nutrition conferences and meetings by networking and giving presentations to health influencers, and other stakeholder audiences.

Murielle Kim has represented the Almond Board of California in Japan and Korea as a market development consultant since 2017. She offers her professional market services including trade program management, communications marketing and advertisement management, consumer campaign development, media outreach management, health professional outreach, digital and social channel management, and nutrition regulatory counsel. 

She has over 10 years of experience in food and nutrition related communications marketing, consumer promotion, and international trade. Prior to joining ABC, she was the food and beverage sector lead of Edelman Korea, a global public relations agency, where she oversaw the ABC’s communications marketing and trade activities; She has an international trade experience from working at CJ CheilJedang as a global B2B raw materials sales and marketing specialist. She earned her expertise in media from working at a PR agency and working as a nutritionist columnist for health and cooking magazines.

Murielle is an USA Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) certified Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, and completed her clinical and community dietetics education and internship from Columbia University, New York City, USA.

She completed her Ph.D courses in Food Marketing at Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea; Earned M.S. degree in Nutrition Education and Public Health from Columbia University, NYC, USA; Double majored in B.A. Behavioral Psychology and Sports Science at Smith College, Northampton, MA, USA. 

Ashley leads communications to the California almond industry through a variety of channels, including print and electronic newsletters, social media, paid advertising and more. She takes information from various Almond Board programs, including production research, global market development, food quality and safety, global technical and regulatory affairs, etc., and shares it with almond growers, processors and other industry stakeholders in order that the California almond industry may continue to make life better by what we grow and how we grow.

Ashley has always had a passion for learning. When she went to Dordt University, she couldn’t decide what to study – so she tried a little of everything. She graduated with two majors – English: Writing and Communications – and two minors – Journalism and Political Science – and today revels in the fact that her position allows her to learn new things about the California almond industry daily. When she’s not editing articles or reading about the latest production research, Ashley enjoys long walks that turn into sprints with Benny the Beagle and weekend trips to anywhere on the map with her husband.

Rahima joined the Almond Board of California in October 2018 to take on the new position of Finance and Administration Specialist. Her position allows to take responsibility for the Unified Export Strategy (UES) program expense claims, credit back reimbursement claims, industry conference revenue management, petty cash management, and accounts receivable management. 

Prior to joining ABC, Rahima worked on various accounting projects for large companies such as Foster Farms, Savemart and Hancock Financial Services.   

Rahima graduated from California State University, Stanislaus with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Master of Business Administration. 

Dr. Josette Lewis has worked in agriculture for more than twenty-five years, spanning government, industry, university and non-governmental organizations. Most recently, she led the Environmental Defense Fund’s collaborations with grower organizations, food companies, and policy makers to promote sustainable agriculture practices. Josette led the launch of the World Food Center at UC Davis, and worked in international business development with Arcadia Biosciences. Prior to that, Josette spent 16 years at the US Agency for International Development. As Director of the Office of Agriculture at USAID, she worked with senior levels of the U.S. government to develop a $1 billion per year global food security initiative. She has served on the US Secretary of Agriculture’s advisory committee on Agricultural Biotechnology in the 21^st Century, the Foundation for Agricultural Research’s Food Systems Innovation Advisory Committee, the James Beard Foundation Impact Program Advisory Committee, and is a member of the board of directors for the International Life Sciences Institute Research Foundation.

Dr. Gabriele Ludwig has been working for the Almond Board of California for more than 10 years. Gabriele combines her passion for agriculture and the environment with research and policy. As Director for Sustainability and Environmental Affairs, she was instrumental in the development of the California Almond Sustainability Program and continues to encourage a diverse range of research on almonds and environmental issues.  

She is currently a participant of the California Roundtable for Ag and the Environment, Board chair for the non-profit Coalition for Urban/Rural Environmental Stewardship and serves on several government agencies’ advisory committees.  Prior to joining the Almond Board, she worked for the consulting firm Schramm, Williams & Associates in Washington, DC.  She received her Ph.D. in plant physiology from the University of California, Davis and her B.A. in Biology from Wellesley College.

Harbinder joined ABC in July 2005 as Manager, Food Service and Industrial Marketing. In her position, she is responsible for developing and implementing the Almond Board’s foodservice and industrial marketing programs, including agency management and tradeshow supervision. Her last position allowed her to spend three years working in the non-profit sector for MedicAlert Foundation in Turlock, California, where, in her role as Marketing Manager, she was responsible for developing and executing targeted disease group marketing campaigns. Prior to arriving in the United States from the United Kingdom, she held management positions in brand marketing and business development for United Business Media, Boo.Com Group, Ltd., and Alfred Dunhill. In addition to an engineering degree from the University of Huddersfield, Harbinder holds an MBA from the University of Cambridge. Harbinder is fluent in Punjabi.

Working alongside Dariela Roffe-Rackind, Kath oversees and manages the delivery of marketing campaigns in the UK, France, Germany and Italy to promote the health and sustainability credentials of almonds to consumers and food manufacturers. Kath joined the ABC team in June 2018, after leading the European PR programmes for ABC since 2015 while working at Porter Novelli, London, where she was Director of Food and Nutrition.

Kath has close to two decades of brand communications experience, with a strong background in  and passion for food and sustainability. She has worked with several global FMCG companies including Nestlé, Unilever and Mars, running consumer-facing and food professional campaigns, and she also has experience in managing complex issues and crises.

Before becoming an almond marketeer, Kath’s most recent work included running PR programs for UK industry bodies, the British Soft Drinks Association and the British Fruit Juice Association, campaigning to set the record straight about the health benefits of sweeteners in soft drinks, and educating consumers, health professionals and retailers about the natural goodness of 100% fruit juices. She also worked with UK grocery store, Sainsbury's on a campaign to increase awareness of the retailer's sustainability credentials, through the launch of its Waste Less, Save More campaign.

Kath has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Modern Languages from the University of Bristol and a Postgraduate Degree in Public & Media Relations from Cardiff School of Journalism. She is a qualified yoga instructor, all round health and wellness enthusiast and cat mother to nine-year-old Persian, (Prince) William.

Sudarshan is responsible for driving the strategy, execution and the growth of the almond industry in India. In this capacity, he is entrusted with the job of drawing out the marketing strategy for India; and leading the advertising, communication and trade stewardship programs.

With over 30 years of experience in strategy, management and brand building, Sudarshan has been working towards establishing the importance of including almonds as an integral part of a healthy diet in India by consistently demonstrating their multiple health benefits through international nutrition research and a network of credible nutritionists, experts and media.

His experience spans across the spectrum of marketing industry, having worked with leading consumer marketing and advertising agencies in the country. He has a deep understanding of consumer research, advertising, Public Relations, trade management. Since 1984, Sudarshan has played key roles in various industries ranging from consumer products, automotive industry and consumer healthcare.

Prior to his association with the Almond Board of California, Sudarshan was the Director for Marketing and Corporate Communications at Fortis Healthcare Ltd. His previous employers also include GlaxoSmithKline, Rasna, J. Walter Thomson (JWT), FCB Ulka and Lowe Lintas. Sudarshan has completed his Masters in Business Administration from Faculty of Management Studies (FMS Delhi), one of the top business schools in India; and also holds a Masters degree in Physics from St. Stephens’ College, University of Delhi.

Karen Montgomery joined the Almond Board of California in 2007 as the department Administrator/Secretary for Global Marketing & Communications. Her responsibilities included accounting and financial-related matters for both North American and International Programs, the compliance side of the Almond Board MAP & EMP programs and serving as the Staff Coordinator for both the International and PR & Advertising committees.

Today, Karen is a Senior Administrator for the Global Marketing and Global Communications departments, supporting 25 staff with a second Senior Administrator, Ann Friedrich. Karen’s responsibilities include accounting and financial-related matters for both Global Marketing and Global Communications departments, logistic support for meetings and events and assisting with travel needs including visas, passports and known traveler programs.

After a year as an AFS exchange student in Germany, she started college and graduated from California State University, Stanislaus with Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, a concentration in Human Resource Management and a minor in German.  Prior to joining the Almond Board, Karen served as Executive Assistant for Trinity United Presbyterian Church in Modesto and previously enjoyed a distinguished career with Bank of America in branch operations and customer service. 

Native born, Karen was raised in Stanislaus County north of Modesto, California, where she resides today on the family land surrounded by a small almond orchard. Karen enjoys spending time with her family and friends, baking, dinner parties and Pokémon.

Jenny Nicolau joined the Almond Board of California in 2008 as a coordinator for Industry Relations. Today, her duties include overseeing industry programs and events, such as The Almond Conference, Ag in the Classroom, the California Almond Sustainability Program, and the Almond Leadership Program. She also oversees all industry communications including the weekly electronic newsletter, In the Orchard, the every-other month printed newsletter, How We Grow, as well as the industry’s social media and website presence.

Jenny attended Turlock High School and began her higher education at Modesto Junior College where she earned an Associate of Science in Poultry Science. She then went on to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and received a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture Communications. She later earned her master’s degree in Ag Leadership from Oklahoma State University.

Jenny resides in Patterson with her husband and two young girls, and any free moment between playing with Play Dough and baby dolls, she enjoys baking.

Dariela joined the Almond Board of California in September 2008. She is responsible for oversight and implementation of market development program activities in the European Region and globally for consumer public relations (PR). Her European responsibilities include planning and managing trade development and marketing programs in Western Europe. 

Dariela also oversees global consumer PR program planning for ABC, cross-region coordination, identification of efficiencies and measurement and reporting standards across all regions.

Before joining ABC, Dariela was the Director of the Food Practice at Talk PR/Saatchi & Saatchi and prior to that the Account Director at Porter Novelli UK for ABC's European consumer, trade and health professional PR programs. 

During her 20+ year career in both London and New York City, she developed and implemented public relations programs for an array of consumer clients including Absolut Vodka, Masterfoods (M&M’s, Uncle Ben’s, Starburst, Skittles), UNICEF, The Dannon Company, Twinings and Kellogg’s. 

Dariela’s work has won a number of awards including the PRCA Evaluation award, O’Dwyers best international campaign and two Scorissimi advertising awards for the Almond Board of California; the ABC European program was also a finalist in the European Excellence Awards. The Global M&M’s campaign she led received a Sabre award for best consumer campaign, and was awarded first prize in the International Galaxy awards for best international public relations campaign, also being named one the "10 product launches you couldn't miss" by PR Week.

Dariela was born in Chile and has lived in Geneva (Switzerland) and New York (USA).  She now lives in St. Albans, UK with her husband and daughter.  She is fluent in English, French and Spanish. 

Jesse is a Policy Analyst in Environmental and Regulatory Affairs and joined ABC in 2016. In his role he touches a wide range of topics and issues, including pesticide use, water supply, water quality and air quality regulations impacting almond production. A primary responsibility is addressing impacts from the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act on the almond industry. He also leads development of GIS projects -such as the annual acreage estimates with Land IQ, a Sacramento-based consulting firm. Other current projects include expanding on-farm groundwater recharge, developing Integrated Pest Management solutions through research, and driving grower adoption of sustainable solutions through incentive programs.

Jesse is the staff liaison for the Ag Regulatory Subcommittee and Pest Management Workgroup, and a staff collaborator for the Technical & Regulatory Affairs Committee.

In his previous position as Project Director for The Nature Conservancy, he managed wildlands, farms and rangeland for wildlife benefits and sustainability, and developed large scale, process based, restoration projects.

He received dual Bachelor’s degrees in Anthropology and Environmental Studies from UC Santa Cruz, and dual Master’s degrees in Landscape Architecture and City Planning from UC Berkeley, with a focus in environmental planning. Living in Modesto, when not in the office, he can often be found playing music locally, or exploring the central valley’s beautiful river systems.

Sebastian Saa joined the Almond Board of California in 2017 as the Senior Manager of Agricultural Research in the Agriculture and Environmental Affairs department. However, Sebastian is not a stranger in our industry and his involvement with ABC goes all the way back to 2009 when he was a PhD student at UC Davis. Thanks in part to Sebastian’s PhD work, the California almond industry developed and updated best nitrogen management practices that allow our growers to be more sustainable, provide adequate nutrients to their trees, and adhere to current California regulations. Sebastian continued to work in almond trees after successfully finishing his PhD and Postdoctoral work in 2013, but he did so from outside of the country. From 2014 through 2017 Sebastian worked in Chile, where he held a tenured position as professor of deciduous fruit trees at the Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso. Working from the other corner of the planet, Sebastian helped ABC to better understand how almond trees work and how we can reach sustainable yields, publishing more than 20 ISI scientific manuscripts, assisting multiple growers, and giving key international talks in countries such as Italy, Spain, Australia, and others.  

Sebastian has been instrumental in developing better management systems as well as strategic research plans to improve the research portfolios that he oversees. Sebastian serves as the staff liaison for the following almond workgroups: Harvest Workgroup, Orchard, Tree & Rootstock Workgroup, and Irrigation, Nutrients & Soil Health Workgroup. Together, with our stakeholders and researchers, Sebastian develops and implements long term strategic research plans that align with the guidance provided by the Strategic Agricultural Innovation Committee and with the overall Board of Director’s recommendations. Sebastian’s unique background, blended with his farming experience (he is a third-generation table grape grower in Chile) and technical expertise, allows ABC to build a natural bridge between the California almond industry’s needs and the talent of our scientific researchers.  

Kiku joined the Almond Board in 2019. Prior to that, Kiku studied at California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, earning a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural and Environmental Plant Science with a concentration in crop and fruit science.

Kiku is a fourth-generation almond farmer, her family farm is in Turlock, CA. Along with her technical education background and her on-farm experience, she brings her passion for the almond community and sustainability to work with her each day.

At the Almond Board, Kiku specializes in sustainability communications with specific attention in honeybee health and water. Her goal at the Almond Board is to communicate the efforts of the almond community’s commitment to grow almonds in a responsible, sustainable manner. 

Katie has been with the Almond Board since 2018. Today she is the Sr. Coordinator of the Finance and Administration department, where she is responsible for various accounting duties primarily involving expenses incurred through staff travel and accounts payable, as well as administrative duties that keep the office running smoothly.

Prior to joining the Almond Board, Katie owned an agricultural transportation business with her husband that served feed stores, supplied hay to dairies and carried millions of bees to and from almond orchards for pollination each year! During this time, Katie received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business Administration, with a concentration in Accounting from California State University, Stanislaus.

Katie has lived most of her life in the Central Valley, growing up in Oakdale and currently residing in Modesto with her husband and two young sons.

Bryce is the Manager of Marketing Order Services at the Almond Board of California and has been with ABC since 2011. His focus is on being an entry point at ABC for industry stakeholders and providing timely service concerning topics which affect California almond handlers/processors. Bryce is responsible for industry compliance with Marketing Order provisions, shipment statistics, handler outreach, and other marketing order operational activities. He also serves as the staff liaison for the Organic Advisory Panel and helps support various other committees and workgroups. 

Bryce is a graduate of the University of California, Davis with a BS in Agricultural Managerial Economics and is proud to have grown up in the Central Valley on an almond farm like many he works with daily. Bryce and his wife have three children and enjoy spending time adventuring across California and seeing new sights with his family. On any given weekend you might find Bryce and his family at the beach, exploring a new city, or on a hike in a National Park.