The Almond Alliance of California underwent a leadership change around the beginning of the new year when then-president Kelly Covello announced her resignation effective Dec. 31, 2017. Covello said that while she was proud of the role she played in developing the association over the past seven years, the many long days came at the price of spending time away from her family, and it was time to put her family first.
The Almond Alliance Chair Brad Craven named Andrea York, manager of government affairs at the association, as acting president while a search is underway for a new president.
York began her government affairs role in November 2017 and brings a decade of nonprofit association management to the interim position. For the last decade, York has served as an advocate for communities across diverse policy arenas, including energy, environment, agriculture and workforce development.
Chairman Craven outlined the transition process to find a new President: "A multi-layered search is underway that employs professional search agencies while also tapping into the almond industry for references and inquiries,” Craven explained. “We expect this process to take some time as we conduct a thorough search for the next leader of our association. Additionally, our experienced and capable staff, Ashley Hollis and Annie Romero, will continue in their positions, and all of [the Almond] Alliance’s member-driven programs will continue to function as usual during this transition period."
Since 2013, Almond Board of California and the Almond Alliance have worked together under a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to provide the California Almond industry with expanded opportunities to advocate for industry priorities. The MOA empowers Almond Alliance to pick up where the Almond Board must leave off, advocating policy changes at all levels of government. The result is that grower’s investment in research through the Almond Board is utilized to the fullest extent possible.
Learn more about the Almond Alliance at www.almondalliance.org.
