The IFDC board of directors unanimously elected Sameer Goel, Rejane Souza, and Dr. Leigh Ann Winowiecki to join its number during its 49th annual meeting held at IFDC headquarters in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, October 16-19, 2023.
Sameer Goel is an agriculturalist, economist, and management professional with 36 years of experience. At the time of his retirement, Sameer served as Managing Director for Coromandel International. Sameer was formerly a board member of the International Fertilizer Association (IFA) and the Fertilizer Association of India (FAI). He has also been the Chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry, Telangana State. Additionally, he spent 26 years at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer. His last position with GSK was Vice President, heading consumer business for the African continent and serving as a member of the GSK Consumer International Leadership Team.
Rejane Souza serves as Senior Vice President of Global Innovation at Yara International. Souza’s passions include agriculture and food production. Souza holds a degree in Agronomy by education and is a farmer by heart. Her strong belief in a more sustainable food production system transformation for the future is what drives her actions and projects in her current position, heading up Yara’s Innovation strategy and roadmap to develop new farming solutions for Yara’s customers. As a DEI advocate, she believes that having all hands on deck to include diverse perspectives is a key element to foster innovation and co-create answers for critical problems the food system faces today.
Dr. Leigh Ann Winowiecki serves as a founding Board Member of the International Union of Agroforestry (IUAF) and is the Global Research Lead for Soil and Land Health at CIFOR-ICRAF, based in Nairobi, Kenya. Dr. Winowiecki co-founded the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH), which aims to catalyze investments in soil health for human well-being and climate. She serves on the Scientific Task Force and the Monitoring Task Force for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration as well as the Scientific Steering Committee for the Global Soil Health Programme, in addition to co-leading the Landscape Restoration Transformative Partnership Platform.
The board tentatively plans to hold its landmark 50th anniversary meeting this November in the Netherlands.
