As noted in the Bylaws, eligible Individual Cereals & Grains Association members will receive an electronic ballot. The officer election will open mid May and close June 17, 2022 (midnight CDT). Please contact our membership department if you did not receive your electronic ballot from Survey Monkey.
Meet the Candidates
President-Elect
Jennifer Robinson graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with degrees in Chemistry and Earth Science. Following graduation in 1993, I joined Cargill North American Sweeteners in Eddyville, IA as a QA Technician. I held QA Manager roles at Cargill facilities in Wahpeton, ND and Memphis, TN before transferring to Horizon Milling, Cargill’s flour milling division in 2007, as Regional Product Integrity Manager. In 2011, I joined Bay State Milling Company as V.P. Corporate Quality Assurance responsible for quality, food safety, and regulatory compliance.
I am a member of the Executive Leadership Team at Bay State Milling Company, recently assuming responsibility as Executive Sponsor for Personal Safety in addition to my current responsibilities. Having previously obtained my Six Sigma Yellow Belt and Green Belt, I am currently pursuing my Six Sigma Black Belt through Florida Atlantic University, completing a project focused on building a Model Safety Organization. Passionate about technology to advance consistency in quality measurements, I collaborated with others at Bay State Milling Company and Perten Instruments on patent Measuring Properties of Flour, Dough, and other Solids filed March 28, 2019 (No. 16/368,017).
Experience in leadership and professional service, including your volunteer work with Cereals & Grains Association:
I joined the organization in 2007 when I attended my first Milling & Baking Spring Technical Conference and Annual Meeting. I served as Chair of the Milling & Baking Division in 2015, hosting the Spring Technical Conference in Savannah, GA. I promoted initiation of the Student / Early Career Professional Leadership Program on behalf of the association to encourage early involvement in the association through method development research objectives.
In collaboration with Barbara Heidolph, I assisted in founding the Food Safety, Quality and Regulatory Division. The Division has hosted symposium, collaborated with other Associations on food safety initiatives, and published a number of white papers including “General Measurement Uncertainty and Specification Implications for Farinograph-Based Rheological Measurements of Wheat Flour”. Following a 3-year term as a Director on the Board of Directors, I served as Chair of the Division Leadership Council. Having prior involvement in the Industrial Executive Forum, I am currently engaged in re-initiation of the group to ensure Cereals & Grains is tuned to the needs of industry. I also recently joined the International Association of Operative Millers as a member of the Food Protection Committee.
Vision for Cereals & Grains Association:
I am writing to express my interest in being President of Cereals & Grains Association. As an Association member with 15 years of experience, I have served in a number of capacities, including: Division member, Division Chair, Industry Executive Forum, Director to Board of Directors, and Student / Early Career Professional Leadership Program sponsor. These experiences have provided me with a solid understanding of the organization’s framework.
In this manner, I feel equipped to continue to build upon Cereal & Grains rich history as a resource of technical information and a pipeline for presenting breakthrough research. In support of Cereals & Grains vision to deliver the science behind 75% of the world’s diet, I will ensure continued focus on the following objectives:
- Ensuring stakeholders trust the science behind Cereals & Grains
- Grain Scientists Rely on the Association
- Global Transfer of Knowledge to Promote Innovation Across all Aspects of the Cereal-based Diet
In my role as V.P. Corporate Quality Assurance, I am an executive with a proven record of driving strategic initiatives. Throughout my career, I have focused on developing business acumen, recognizing the importance of balancing risk management with financial results. Further, my education in Six Sigma has equipped me with tools to drive continuous improvement.
These responsibilities have prepared me to work collaboratively with the Board of Directors to ensure focus on initiatives identified during our strategic revisioning:
- Subject Matter Communities (formerly known as the Divisions)
- Analytical Products (e.g. Methods, Check Samples)
- Industry Executive Forum
- Academic Forum (formerly the Science Advisory Panel)
- Research Council (new endeavor that will fund small proposals that advance cereal science)
With 30 years of food industry experience as a Quality Assurance professional, I have a deep appreciation for the importance of standard methods, which were the foundational genesis of the Association. As a Quality leader, I have required successful participation in the Association's Pioneer and Cincinnati cross-check programs, as appropriate to ensure individual analysts are accurate and precise compared to their industry counterparts. Thus, I support the drive to update existing methods, seek out what is needed by the community, and pursue development of new methods.
I understand the value of collaboration and partnerships, working with instrumentation vendors towards improvements in analytical analysis, with academia on research studies and with early career professionals on method development as an integration into the association. To this end, it is imperative our science community platforms must inform, engage our members in discussion, and solicit input. The needs of the Cereals & Grains industry must direct our research and advocacy. Increased focus must be placed on engaging early career professionals and training leaders.
Director-at-Large
Nicole Rees started baking at age 8, and by the age of 11 was modifying recipes from the Joy of Cooking to suit her own tastes and/or overcome lack of proper ingredients. It did not occur to her that her career would be in baking. Not even when she catered her own lectures and programs as the Coordinator of Education for the Oberlin Museum of Art, nor when she was asked to recreate quaresimale biscotti from Brooklyn out of her house in New Jersey. Eventually, she went into food publishing as an editor, writer, and recipe developer. Nicole was a test kitchen director for a weekly women’s magazine, and then left to write two books on baking for beginning pasty chefs.
Nicole started her work in industrial baking when she answered an ad placed by AB Mauri looking for a “research baker.” She had read Pyler’s books on Baking Technology (this is before Laurie Gorton’s editions) and was thrilled to be working with a PhD cereal chemist, Bernie Bruinsma (Cereals & Grains Association president 2008) who introduced her to the Association in 2003, and she's been involved within the Association ever since.
Experience in leadership and professional service, including your volunteer work with Cereals & Grains Association:
I’ve been working in management for AB Mauri (a subsidiary of Associated British Foods--ABF) for over 17 years, as Research Manager, Global Director of Innovation, and currently as Product Director in North America. During this tenure, I’ve had the pleasure of developing and growing employees reporting to me. As I’ve become part of the management structure, I’ve strived to give back to the company by helping younger employees negotiate their career path. While working in Europe, I was invited to join the ABF Women’s Business Forum. Now that I’m back in North America, I was invited to help initiate a similar forum for North American ABF businesses.
My service with Cereals & Grains Association started over a decade ago, when I was asked to serve on the Milling & Baking Advisory Board and then was elected Treasurer for over 2 terms. I am currently the Chair of the Milling & Baking Division. I’ve greatly enjoyed working with younger board members that have a lot of passion for our organization and have new ideas for increasing our membership.
Vision for Cereals & Grains Association:
My vision for Cereals & Grains Association is very similar to my vision for the Milling & Baking Division:
- Put students first by supporting travel and registration to our events. We will continue to use our networks to reach students and make them aware of our organization. (We had several students speak last week at STC—4 graduating students and one undergrad).
- Ensure young professionals in food technology and all cereal related fields know about Cereals & Grains Association. I believe our Association is where the interface between science and industry happens. The organization has been a crucial resource to my career, and I know my fellow Milling & Baking Division members feel the same. This is where you find experts, learn where the research is to support industry, and can weigh in on developing methods.
