Blake Anderson
President & CEO of ADPIBlake Anderson is the current President and CEO of the American Dairy Products Institute. Anderson joined ADPI with over 30 years of experience in sales, marketing and business development working for leading ingredient and food manufactures. Prior to coming to ADPI, Anderson held the leadership role of Senior Vice President of New Business Development at California Dairies overseeing the sales, marketing and business development and profit and loss responsibility for their global butter, processed fluids, cream cheese and nutritional powders business across all channels.
Anderson has also held the position of Global Director for Premium Ingredients and Customer Development for Fonterra overseeing its ingredients operations in North America, Europe, North Asia (Japan and Korea), and managing relationships with global food companies. Blake spent 15-plus years in senior leadership positions including sales, marketing, business development, HR, and general management/senior leadership roles for Symrise N.A. (President), Dean Specialty Foods Group (President), and Campbell Soup Company (various).
Kenneth Bailey
Principal at Ken Bailey Consulting LLCKen received a Ph.D. in applied economics from the University of Minnesota in 1988. He started his career in dairy economics while working at a policy think tank FAPRI at the University of Missouri in 1989. It was there that he wrote his first textbook on the economics of milk marketing and testified before Congress. Next, he became a tenured professor of dairy markets and policy at Penn State University. While at Penn State he testified at an International Trade Commission hearing on MPC imports, was an expert witness in Federal District Court in support of Pennsylvania’s state milk order, and testified at Federal Milk Marketing Order hearings. Ken got his Series 3 license in 2008 and worked in Chicago for a Futures Commission Merchant INTL-FCStone as a consultant and broker. From there he worked 10 years at Darigold, a dairy processor and cooperative in the Pacific Northwest. Ken worked on risk management, strategy and optimization, federal milk marketing orders, policy issues, and free trade agreements and global trade.
Ken has a keen interest in global trade and dairy policy issues. Ken also loves building economic forecasting models. He started “modeling” on mainframe computers using card readers in the 1980s. His most recent policy/modeling effort was a publication on the economics of the EU intervention program and its impact on the US. More recently he has become interested in sustainability, especial when viewing dairy products from a cost/benefit approach.
Mindy Berrey
Sr. Director of Sales at Land O' Lakes, Inc.Mindy Berrey is the Senior Director of Sales for Land O’Lakes Dairy Foods, where she leads the Milk Powders, Natural Cheese, and Whey businesses as well as the Sales Analytics and Business Operations teams for the Global Dairy Ingredients business. Mindy joined Land O’Lakes in 2009.
Prior to joining Land O’Lakes, Mindy worked in customer service and sales at Proteint, Inc., managing the organization's Lactose, Whey Protein Concentrate, and Sweet Whey portfolios.
Mindy holds a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Business and German Language and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.
Mindy resides in Somerset, Wisconsin with her husband Brandon, and their sons Jakob and William.
Tom Berry
Vice President of Quality Assurance at Associated Milk Producers Inc.Tom Berry currently serves as the Vice President of Quality Assurance for Associated Milk Producers Inc.(AMPI), where he has called home for the last 15 years. Tom has over 34 years experience working in the food industry in different roles including plant, quality, food safety and lab management. Tom was born and raised on a dairy and crop farm in Southern Minnesota, near Mankato.
Tom has been actively involved in several dairy industry associations, serving different roles within ADPI, IDFA, NCCIA, NMPF, UMDIA, and NCIMS.
Tom has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology: Microbiology from Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Kimberlee Burrington
VP of Technical Development at American Dairy Products Institute- NEW THIS YEAR! DI360: Mini Course
- Technical Session: Permeate & Lactose
- Technical Session: Nutrition Update on Protein, Milkfat & Dairy Alternatives
- Technical Session: Academia Initiative
Kimberlee (KJ) Burrington is the Director of Training, Education and Technical Development of ADPI. Prior to joining ADPI, KJ served as the Ingredient Applications Program Coordinator for the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research (CDR). She has over 25 years of experience in product development including her past positions at Ridgeview Industries, the Keebler Company, and as a consultant to the baking industry. KJ has served as a member of ADPI’s Center of Excellence since its inception in 2012.
In her previous position at CDR, she provided technical support for U.S. dairy processors and end users on dairy ingredient functionality and applications. She also provided technical expertise for food companies internationally through visits and seminars in conjunction with the U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) to countries such as Mexico, Latin America, China, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and Thailand. KJ has also been an instructor/presenter in various ADPI events and activities.
KJ Burrington holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science degree in Food Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is also an IFT Certified Food Scientist.
Sara Dorland
Managing Partner at Ceres Dairy Risk Management LLC- Cybersecurity: Why it Matters
- Commercial Session: Ingredients Update on Protein, Fat & Carbohydrates
Sara Dorland, is the managing partner at Ceres, a company specializing in providing risk management, market research and financial consulting services to agriculture and food-based businesses. Sara works throughout the dairy supply chain including dairy producers, cooperatives, manufacturers and consumer products companies. Her interactions have involved a broad array of hedging activities, go to market techniques, as well as education, analysis and consulting on a wide variety of dairy industry topics.
Sara lives with her husband and two daughters in Hailey, Idaho.
Catherine Fox
VP of Brand and Dairy Foods Marketing at Land O' Lakes, Inc.Catherine is the Vice President of Corporate Marketing for Land O’Lakes where she leads all marketing and brand communications for Land O'Lakes enterprise brand and brands across all the business units including Winfield, Truterra, Purina and Dairy Foods. She is responsible for creating and implementing the vision, strategy, and purpose for our brands in partnership with our agencies and business unit marketing. She has oversight of Brand and Engagement Strategy, Marketing Operations, Design Studio, plus the Brand Marketing discipline.
Prior to joining Land O’Lakes, Catherine had 14 years in food marketing with 9 years on the consumer products side with Pillsbury and General Mills working on brands like Toaster Strudel, Fiber One and Toaster Scrambles and 5 years in Foodservice at General Mills working on sweet goods, baking mixes and cereal under the Pillsbury, Gold Medal and General Mills brands. Previous to food marketing, Catherine worked at Honeywell, Inc in operations, sales and business development.
Catherine holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from the University of Dayton and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas.
Christopher Galen
Executive Director of American Butter InstituteChris Galen is the Executive Director of the American Butter Institute, a position he
assumed in 2022. As the staff executive for ABI, Galen oversees the management of the
115 year-old association representing the policy and economic interests of America’s butter
makers and marketers.
He also serves as Senior Vice President of Member Services and Strategic Initiatives for
the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) in Arlington, VA. In his role for NMPF,
Galen is responsible for ensuring that NMPF’s members derive value from their involvement
with the association, and that NMPF is effective in its engagement with other dairy,
agricultural and food organizations. This includes overseeing the delivery of a range of
member services, while also creating and strengthening relationships in Washington and
across the country between the organization association and other stakeholders.
Prior to being named SVP of Member Services in 2018, Galen served in the lead
communications role at NMPF from 1997 to 2018. Chris’s professional background includes
work as a television anchor and reporter in the Midwest and as press secretary for two
members of Congress, as well as work in Washington for another food sector trade
association and a leading public relations firm.
Chris attended college at the University of Nebraska, where he majored in journalism.
Mary Ledman
Global Dairy Strategist at Rabobank InternationalMs. Ledman has more than 20 years of experience in the dairy industry that includes production, processing and policy. She grew up on a dairy farm in southern Wisconsin and has worked on farms in Germany, Japan and New Zealand. Her past work experience includes the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Kraft and Stella Foods. In 1995, she founded Keough Ledman Associates, a dairy economic consulting firm that provides monthly dairy product and milk price forecasting, economic and policy analysis, dairy product and milk sourcing strategies and domestic and international dairy market information. In 2012, she acquired the Daily Dairy Report. She received a master’s of science degree in agricultural economics from Texas A&M University and also received a Fulbright Fellowship to study the European Community’s dairy policy in Germany.
Mike McCully
President at McCully ConsultingMike McCully is currently the president and owner of McCully Consulting, a strategic consulting firm focusing on dairy and food companies. He has experience in business analysis, long-term strategic planning, purchasing strategies, risk management policies/procedures, Mergers & Acquisitions, and supply chain issues/opportunities.
His past experience includes over 15 years with Kraft Foods where he held management roles in dairy, meat and grain purchasing. His responsibilities included sourcing dairy commodities as well as commodity risk management, dairy policy and industry relations. While in the Oscar Mayer division of Kraft, he was also responsible for meat commodity risk management and corn purchasing. His knowledge base also reaches into dairy policy and price volatility issues.
Mike holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture from Western Illinois University and a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Illinois.
Mike has been a member of ADPI’s Center of Excellence for several years, and is actively engaged in the Institutes events and activities including Dairy Ingredient Training Courses.
Phil Plourd
President at Ever.AgPhil Plourd is President of Ever.Ag Insights. He has been involved in dairy, commodity market, and macroeconomic analysis, research, forecasting, consulting, and risk management activities for more than 25 years. Phil draws on that experience to lead an expert team helping clients find better ways to do business – across supply chains and around the world. He is a popular speaker who engages audiences on a variety of topics.
Andy Powers
VP - Technical Services at ADPI- NEW THIS YEAR! DI360: Mini Course
- Dairy Industry & Sustainability
- Technical Session: Global Regulatory
Andy brings over 30 years of commercial, scientific, and technical (QA/Regulatory/Food Safety) experience to ADPI where he is Vice President of Technical Services. Prior to ADPI, Andy most recently worked for Newton Enterprises as VP & Senior Consultant. He has also held positions at Hoogwegt U.S./Lone Star Dairy, Archer Daniels Midland Company, Akorn Pharmaceuticals, and Biosys Biotech, Inc. It should be noted that during his tenure at Hoogwegt US/Lone Star Dairies, Andy served on ADPI’s Technical and Standards Committees.
Andy is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and holds both a Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular Biology, and a Master of Business Administration. He is a current member of the American Chemical Society, and the American Society for Quality. In addition, he is a Certified Lead Auditor & Practitioner – Safe Quality Food(SQF) Institute; Certified Lead Auditor – HACCP & ISO 9000; and a member of Beta Gamma Sigma International Business Honor Society.
Andy and his family reside in Queen Creek, Arizona.
Kevin Quinn
Vice President Sales & Marketing at Idaho Milk ProductsKevin Quinn joined Idaho Milk Products (IMP) in early December 2022. Having grown up overseas (In Japan) and with a strong background in international business over his 33 year career, Kevin is working with the IMP team to grow their business globally with the MPC’s and MPI’s they manufacture. Prior to IMP, Kevin spent 4 years at Darigold, 8 years at Leprino, 5 years at White Wave, 8 years at Sara Lee and 8 years at Nestle. Kevin believes he has worked with nearly all ingredients that are derived from Dairy over the past 3 decades.
Mark Russo
Chief Science Officer at Everstream AnalyticsMark is the Chief Science Officer at Everstream Analytics, who sets the global supply chain standard by delivering predictive insights and risk analytics. Based in Chicago, he co-leads the Applied Meteorology team to ensure weather/climate data quality and accuracy and customer-focused impacts for supply chains, logistics, business operations, and commodity hedging/trading. He also is an American Meteorological Society Certified Consulting Meteorologist.
After graduating from Northern Illinois University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Meteorology, Russo has spent the past two decades applying global weather and climate to supply chains, agriculture, and energy. Prior to joining Riskpulse in 2013 which later became Everstream, Russo worked for Chesapeake Energy and Citigroup/Smith Barney where he provided accurate and timely weather forecasts and noted climate trends directly to high stakes commodity hedgers, traders, brokers, and analysts. He also has appeared on CNBC, the Today Show, and CNN and currently is a weekly guest on Illinois Public Radio’s Closing Market Report.
Throughout his professional career, Russo has been active in the American Meteorological Society. Not only has he served in the private sector mentorship program and on the energy committee but also as President of the local Chicago Chapter. Additionally, he has advised the National Academies of Science/National Research Council regarding NOAA weather and climate data and has presented to numerous agriculture and energy associations. Outside of work, Mark is a huge sports fan, especially baseball, and resides in the western suburbs of Chicago with his wife and three children.
Patti Smith
CEO of DairyAmericaPatti Smith is a business leader with 30 years of progressive leadership experience in the food ingredient and dairy industries. In June 2020, she became the CEO of DairyAmerica. Prior to DairyAmerica, she was CEO of Valley Milk, LLC, as well as, having held several executive level positions within global organizations including Fonterra and Roquette America.
As a business leader, she is active in industry and national organizations. In addition to industry organizations, Patti is an active member in local organizations within California’s Central Valley. Her educational background includes a Bachelor of Science in Food Technology from Iowa State University. Patti has been married for 33 years, has one daughter, and two grandchildren. She loves spending time outdoors and most of all, spending time with the grandkids.
Chris Thompson
International Standards Director of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA/AMS)Chris Thompson serves as the International Standards Director of the Dairy Program within the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service. He has over 30 years of experience in implementing and managing dairy industry service and regulatory programs. In addition to working with domestic standards activities, Chris provides USDA leadership in putting forth U.S. positions relating to international standards and he regularly participates in export certificate negotiations and interagency market access activities on behalf of the U.S. dairy industry. Chris has B.S. and M.S. in Agriculture from Western Kentucky University.