International Fresh Produce Association

Vice President

• Develop and implement IFPA’s annual U.S. Public Policy Agenda, advancing priority issues with Congress, the Administration, and key federal agencies.
• Serve as liaison to Members of Congress, congressional staff, and executive branch agencies on U.S. policy priorities impacting the fresh produce and floral industry.
• Leverage existing and develop new relationships with high impact policymakers to drive timely, effective advocacy outcomes.
• Identify and elevate emerging U.S. policy issues and opportunities to position IFPA as an early and influential voice in policy debates.
• Execute strategic initiatives to increase member investment in political, advocacy, and grassroots activities, including PAC participation and targeted issue campaigns.
• Serve as Treasurer of IFPA’s political action committee, FreshPAC, ensuring strong governance, compliance, and strategic growth.
• Build and sustain active volunteer leadership networks prepared to engage policymakers and advocates on behalf of IFPA and the industry.
• Organize and lead the IFPA U.S. Council ecosystem, including the U.S. Policy Committee, FreshPAC, and U.S. Grassroots Committee.
• Develop, strategically engage in, and lead, as appropriate, U.S.-focused coalitions to advance IFPA’s priority policy interests and build consensus across industry and allied stakeholders.
• Identify opportunities to modernize IFPA’s political, fundraising, grassroots, and campaign strategies to strengthen advocacy effectiveness.
• Work collaboratively with the Vice President of Food Safety and Regulatory Affairs, the Vice President of Nutrition and Health, and other public policy leaders to advance integrated advocacy strategies.
• Partner across the association—including Communications, Science and Technology, and Events—to ensure visibility of U.S. policy priorities and effective delivery of member advocacy objectives.
• Provide strategic leadership, mentorship, and professional development for the Government Relations, Advocacy, and Political Affairs team.
• Drive clear deliverables aligned with IFPA’s strategic plan and ensure high functioning team performance.

Vice President, Government Relations

Executive Assistant

• Manage the President’s calendar with strong judgment around priorities, sequencing, and time protection
• Anticipate needs and proactively prepare the President for internal and external engagements
• Schedule and coordinate meetings with global partners, board members, donors, and senior stakeholders
• Prepare agendas, briefing materials, background research, and meeting notes as requested
• Track action items and follow-ups related to the President’s commitments
• Support budget-related coordination by entering data, organizing materials, and preparing summaries as provided by finance
• Use modern productivity tools, including AI-enabled tools where appropriate, to support research, briefing preparation, and administrative efficiency while maintaining confidentiality and accuracy
• Flag patterns, risks, or opportunities that support effective leadership and decision-making
• Coordinate logistics for Board of Directors and committee meetings
• Support preparation, organization, and distribution of board materials
• Track board calendars, action items, and follow-ups
• Support administrative communications with board members
• Provide administrative and coordination support to the development function
• Maintain CRM data accuracy through timely data entry, updates, and record hygiene
• Schedule and coordinate donor, funder, and partner meetings
• Track fundraising deadlines, proposal submissions, and reporting calendars
• Support donor stewardship logistics and follow-up tracking
• Assist with preparation and organization of fundraising and briefing materials
• Coordinate internal meetings related to programs, initiatives, and cross-functional work
• Support communication and coordination among program staff, consultants, and shared services
• Maintain document organization, version control, and confidential files
• Serve as a central administrative point of contact for internal coordination tied to the President’s priorities

Communications

• Provide strategic counsel to the corporate communications and marketing teams on the policy issues, implications and recommendations leveraging communications and media
• Work closely with the Government Relations, Food Safety and Regulatory and Science and Technology teams with ongoing issues affecting policy
• Develop and implement a comprehensive public affairs communications and media relations strategy to enhance the association’s awareness, issues and visibility
• Cultivate relationships with journalists, editors and media outlets to secure positive coverage
• Manage external agency resources
• Cultivate relationship to build the IFPA brand within Washington, DC circles
• Manage and measure association’s government and issues communications program
• Create and execute media pitches for government trade and consumer media related to policy issues
• Proactively seek opportunities to drive the association’s positions and narrative
• Ensures appropriate metrics are being measured to capture association’s media and messaging performance
• Monitor policy stories and media landscape for proactive opportunities to leverage company thought leaders and positions
• Ensure media experience and partnership with association is productive and positive
• Collaborate with internal teams to develop and refine key policy messages
• Craft compelling and clear communications including press releases, statements, quotes and talking points
• Serve as lead press handler for IFPA members and Senior management during appearances, including testimony
• Drive communications strategy to amplify the association’s policy priorities and government relations advocacy efforts
• Partner and align with marketing and communications functions to ensure a seamless and cohesive brand narrative; leverage IFPA research and experts to solidify expertise and value

Director, Communications and Public Affairs

Director

• Lead and manage the member services team and deliver best-in-class experience and level of care for our members.
• Manage the setup of system codes and events / products.
• Ensure the accuracy, integrity, and relevance of all member records.
• Devise and monitor data/order entry policies to ensure accurate and consistent entry.
• Manage / maintain membership structure in A/R.
• Manage the processing of new member applications.
• Lead the annual renewal process.
• Lead and supervise the Member Services team in adhering to policies, procedures, budget, controls, and projects for data/order entry and customer service achieving accuracy rates, efficiency improvements, and timelines.
• Develop and manage advance and onsite registration for events as needed.

Director, Member Services

• Provide support to the Food Safety Council by leading assigned subcommittees, technical work groups and taskforces on a variety of activities including the development of practical, science-based “best practice” guidance documents.
• Identify and execute strategies to raise awareness of such resources within the industry as well as other stakeholder communities.
• Serve as a technical ambassador/liaison of the industry and association to government food safety agencies (FDA, FSIS, CDC, SENESECA, EFSA), academia and the media, coalitions, technical committees.
• Provide support to the Vice President Food Safety Regulatory Affairs to evaluate and comment on the scientific and technical aspects of regulatory policies, assist in preparing public comments for regulatory agencies.
• Develop and propose to the Chief Science Officer long-term strategies for the association’s global food safety and quality priorities based on horizon scanning of trends and industry knowledge gaps.
• Provide vision and direction to, and serve as a resources and catalyst to multi-disciplinary teams, ensuring alignment of food safety goals with the IFPA Strategic Plan and execution against annual business plans.
• Lead with adaptability, leveraging digital tools (Wrike, Teams, AI platforms) to plan, track, and communicate progress.
• Model self-awareness, professionalism, and openness to feedback in a feedback-rich environment, building trust and cohesion among diverse teams.
• Mentor, coach, and develop direct reports and high-potential staff to strengthen the food safety leadership pipeline.
• Leverage AI and data-analytics platforms to deliver scalable, timely, and accurate responses to member needs.
• Provide direct responses to individual member inquiries on all technical aspects of fresh produce safety and quality during production, processing, and handling throughout the supply chain.
• Document outcomes to ensure transparency and service consistency.
• Analyze trends in technical requests to inform the development of approaches to meet members’ food safety, quality, and other technical needs in a way that is efficient and scalable, and recommend outputs and projects based on the member inquiries data.
• Connect industry members with practical, science-based services and solutions, either at the commercial or developmental phase.
• Lead global food safety education and outreach partnerships, developing and executing a strategy that ensures training programs remain current with science, regulations, and industry needs.
• Serve as a subject matter expert, providing technical content and review for educational initiatives, with the support of the Manager, Food Safety Programs.
• Deliver training in formats assisted by modern technology and through partnerships on food safety and quality.
• Coordinate the creation and evaluation of technical resources with the education, marketing, and analytics teams to measure impact and inform continuous improvement.
• Translate research outcomes into practical tools, guidance, and communication materials for members within defined timelines.
• Advocate for the produce industry’s research needs by aligning IFPA priorities with public and private funding opportunities and championing projects that advance food safety, quality, and innovation.
• Serve as a liaison between academia, industry, and internal departments to ensure research findings inform policy, education, and advocacy initiatives.
• Leverage digital databases and AI tools for horizon scanning and evidence synthesis.
• Provide technical consultation and insight to research and service providers.
• Other duties as assigned.

Vice President, Government Relations

Executive Assistant

Director, Communications and Public Affairs

Director, Member Services

Vice President – Food Safety, Quality