Board & Staff
NAEGA Board of Directors
-
Matt Hopkins
CHAIRMAN
Archer Daniels Midland Company -
Ryan Caffrey
VICE CHAIR
CHS, Inc. -
Augusto Bassanini
SECRETARY
United Grain Corporation -
Andy Baldwin
MEMBER
Cobank -
Carsten Bredin
MEMBER
Richardson International -
Matt Dvorak
MEMBER
The Andersons -
Kurt Haarmann
MEMBER
Columbia Grain International, LLC -
Jonathan Hobbs
MEMBER
The Russell Marine Group -
Kevin LaGraize Jr.
MEMBER
Southport Agencies -
Dan Leyden
MEMBER
Toyota Tsusho America, Inc. -
Dan McNeil
MEMBER
Louis Dreyfus Company -
Munehide Sato
MEMBER
Mitsui & Co. -
Tyler Shultz
MEMBER
Cargill, Inc. -
Steve Strong
MEMBER
Bunge -
Jeff Wilson
MEMBER
Zen-Noh Grain Corporation
NAEGA Staff
-
Alejandra Castillo
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Alejandra Castillo is the President & CEO of the North American Export Grain Association (NAEGA). A senior executive with over 15 years’ experience in global trade with expertise in trade execution, stakeholder management and trade policy. Alejandra worked at the U.S. Grains Council in D.C., Singapore, and India. Most recently, she opened the Council’s newest office in India, where she served as the Regional Director for South Asia. In that capacity, Alejandra set up the strategy to evaluate and implement the Council’s market development programs in the region which included India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
-
Katy Lee
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT
Katy has more than fifteen years of experience coordinating the voices of farm and agricultural businesses in international policy advocacy environments including the World Trade Organization, the European Union, and the United Nations.
Between 2016-2021, Katy served as Secretariat of the International Grain Trade Coalition (IGTC), a NAEGA-supported non-profit association formed to serve the greater good by promoting the performance of the supply chain for grains, oilseeds, pulses, and derived products. In this role, she led and administered global policy and communication efforts, and conducted outreach with IGTC members in countries such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Eastern Africa, Europe, India, Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa, and US.
Previously Katy was the first representative of the agri-business community permanently based at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Rome via the International Agri-Food Network (IAFN), and Assistant Director of the UK National Farmers’ Unions EU office. Katy is a Nuffield farming scholar.
Senior Advisors
-
Sam Bonilla
CONTRACTS AND COMMERCIAL PRACTICE
Sam Bonilla retired from Cargill in 2009, where he last held the position of CASC Trade Execution Leader for North America. Previously, Sam worked for Continental Grain Company for 31 years. During his time with that company he gained experience in all areas of export administration, including commodity traffic and contracts. Prior to joining Cargill, Sam held the position of Assistant Vice President, Manager of Export Administration, in Continental’s World Grain Division. Until his retirement, Sam was chairman of the NAEGA Contracts Committee and served on NAEGA Grades Sub-Committee for several years.
-
Tom Erickson
CONTRACTS AND COMMERCIAL PRACTICE
Todd Erickson was a lawyer for Cargill for over 32 years, retiring in August 2017. He worked out of its headquarters in Minneapolis and, for 9 years, its trading offices in Geneva, Switzerland. For five of those years in Geneva, he led the Geneva law department and was part of the Cargill Geneva management team. His experience covers a wide range of issues facing agricultural and energy trading businesses, including purchase and sale contract and charter party negotiation and disputes, trade finance, compliance investigations and training, business transactions (M&A and joint ventures), and representing Cargill in arbitration proceedings administered by NAEGA, GAFTA, FOSFA, ICSID and the LMAA, among other organizations. Tom graduated from Carleton College and received his J.D. from Washington University in St. Louis. Todd attended the AAA/ICDR International Symposia on Advanced Case Management Issues in November 2019.
-
Andrew Marting
CONTRACTS AND COMMERCIAL PRACTICE
Andrew Marting retired in April 2018 after 36 years as vessel logistics manager and export administration manager with Bunge North America, Inc. He had been employed with Bunge in St. Louis since 1981, where he handled export logistics, export capacity planning, export contract administration, grain and grain byproducts execution, vessel laytime calculations, settlements, disputes, and interior barge logistics/planning.
Andrew served as Chairman of the NAEGA Contracts Committee from 2009 to 2018, is a member of the NAEGA Strikes Committee, and has extensive experience as a panelist on NAEGA Clause 20 certification panels. He has also been a panelist in multiple NAEGA arbitrations. He received his B.A. from the University of Colorado and his Master of International Management from the American Graduate School of International Management.
-
W. Kirk Miller
NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND TRADE
Kirk Miller has been a Senior Advisor to NAEGA, and a private consultant, since 2009. Before that, he had most recently served as a Senior Staff Aid and General Correspondent for Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE). Prior to that, he was General Sales Manager for the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service from 2002-2009. Kirk was Director of International Programs and Legislative Affairs for NAEGA from 1992-2002, and also served as the Administrator of the Federal Grain Inspection Service of the USDA under President Ronald Reagan. Kirk has a B.Sc. in Agricultural Economics from Ohio State University and an M.A. in International Transactions from George Mason University.
-
Lorraine Idt
CONTRACTS AND COMMERCIAL PRACTICE
Lorraine has over 40 years experience in grain contracts, shipping and logistics and over 20 years experience in grain arbitration. Formerly with Viterra Canada, Lorraine was a member of the NAEGA Contracts Committee. Loraine still serves as an arbitrator for NAEGA, the National Grain and Feed Association, the Grain and Feed Trade Association, the Federation of Oils, Seeds and Fats Association, and Canadian Special Crops Association.