Daren joined the Almond Board of California in February 2018 as Senior Director of Global Communications, directing the Board’s Reputation Management, Industry Relations and Communications, and Field Outreach and Education programs. In this role, he oversees communications to almond growers to drive adoption of best practices throughout the industry and, in turn, share the positive story with customers and consumers.
Prior to joining ABC, Daren was senior executive director of communications at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, where he led issues and crisis response, media relations and grassroots advocacy efforts for more than a decade.
A native Kansan, Daren began his career on the 1988 presidential campaign of Senator Bob Dole (R-KS). When that effort fell short of the White House, he joined Agri/Washington, a Washington, D.C.-based agricultural public affairs firm, representing clients in the halls of USDA, FDA, EPA, and Capitol Hill.
After 10 years in the Nation’s Capital, Daren returned to his Midwestern roots to join the Kansas City office of Fleishman Hillard International Communications, where he provided communications counsel for a wide variety of clients in food and agriculture, health care, and consumer products.
Daren holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Ottawa University in Kansas, where he met his wife, Leslie. Daren and Leslie have two grown daughters, Shelby and Haley.