UnitedAg, a member-owned agricultural trade association representing more than 1,000 organizations in California and Arizona, is pleased to announce the appointment of five new directors and the first female board Chair Veronica Urzua-Alvero, Vice President of HR Operations for Church Brothers/True Leaf Farms. Urzua-Alvero and the board members will serve on the UnitedAg Board of Directors for the 2022-24 term. Bringing diverse and extensive experience, the new board members share UnitedAg’s mission and vision to provide innovative benefits and solutions for the agricultural community.
The Board of Directors appointed the new members last month in Santa Barbara, California.
- Richard Plato, Christopher Ranch
- Debbie Adam, Innovative Produce
- Mike Heisinger, Ippolito International, LP
- Sarah Gargan, Kaweah Pump
- Kevin Vogt, Associated Feed & Supply
“We are excited to have Veronica as our first female board chair. Since her inception as director in 2015, she has been a driver for change,” said Kirti Mutatkar, President, UnitedAg. Her passion, experience, and empathy for our community have been key factors for her success and together we anticipate stronger years ahead.”
With more than 25 years of combined human resources, insurance, risk management, and safety experience, Urzua-Alvero is responsible for establishing the HR structure for Church Brothers / True Leaf. She ensures organizational effectiveness from operations to workforce planning to day-to-day management of all corporate functions while reducing risk and limiting exposure of all affiliated companies in California, Arizona, and Mexico. Outside of work, Urzua-Alvero enjoys spending time with her husband and their children, Omar, A.J., Kathy, Ariel, Dominick, Cristian, Natalie, and Brittany. Her family is her strength, support, foundation, and greatest blessing.
“Thank you for electing me as the first woman to chair the UnitedAg Board of Directors. As a native of Salinas Valley, I pride myself on fostering the next generation of ag leaders and positively impacting the industry. As our community faces ongoing hurdles, my goal as board Chair is to deliver benefits and solutions that will help us build a more equitable, resilient, and inclusive community. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve our membership as Chair for the 2022-2024 term. Lastly, I look forward to working with our members and leadership to continue building a stronger and healthier industry,” said Veronica Urzua-Alvero.
Urzua-Alvero will serve the UnitedAg family and its mission alongside other members of the Board of Directors: Daniel Nelson, Vice President & Chief Business Officer, Plant Sciences, Inc.; Eric Bream, President, Bream Family Farms; Deborah Adam, Owner, Innovative Produce; Loretta Brown, Office Manager, Rijk Zwaan USA Inc.; Sarah Gargan, Vice President, Kaweah Pump; Michael Heisinger, CFO, Ippolito International LP; Richard Plato, HR Director, Christopher Ranch; and Kevin Vogt, Managing Director, Associated Feed & Supply Co.
About UnitedAg
UnitedAg represents more than 1,000 agriculture-affiliated member companies and helps its members meet their employee benefits needs, promotes their interests with lawmakers, helps them comply with health legislation and regulation. Based in Irvine, Calif., UnitedAg has offices in Irvine, Salinas, and wellness centers throughout the Central Valley and Northern California. UnitedAg offers benefits to over 55,000 agricultural workers in California and Arizona.
Visit us at http://www.unitedag.org or find us on Facebook or Twitter.
“It is a great honor to be appointed Chairman of the United Agricultural Benefit Trust. I am incredibly proud of the leadership and our accomplishments over the past four decades. Since 1983, United Agricultural Benefit Trust has provided health benefits to approximately 3 million individuals in rural communities and has paid over $830,000,000 in health, dental, vision, and life claims to plan participants and saved employers millions of dollars in premium cost. I look forward to continuing our efforts in leading the charge in providing premium health plans to an under-served community.” said Miller.
UnitedAg announces the winners of the 2021 AEF Foundation Educational Scholarship Program. Seventy-four students from agricultural communities across California won awards ranging from $250 to $6,000. In total, the Educational Scholarship Program awarded $81,800. The applicants were awarded based on their application, essay, academics, leadership, and extracurricular activities. UnitedAg also announced the top three scholarship winners. Katherine Miller, a veterinary medicine major at the University of Edinburgh, has been awarded the Maurice McMillan Scholarship, Karli Lundberg, an agricultural systems management major at California Polytechnic State University, SLO, the William C. Goodrich Scholarship, and Hanna Scully, an agriculture business major at the California State University, Chico, the Frieda Rapoport Caplan Memorial Award.