The new members of Seed Your Future’s National Leadership Cabinet are: Michelle Castellano Keeler, vice president of Mellano & Company; Abel Guzman, executive director of College Pathways at The Wonderful Company; Dr. Ronda Hamm, global academic relations leader for Corteva Agriscience; Kerry Meyer, program director for Proven Winners; Kate Penn, CEO of Society of American Florists; and Mark Schermer, head of flowers at Syngenta.
Seed Your Future, an organization that last year became part of the Society of American Florists to promote the horticulture industry and related careers, has brought six new leaders into its fold.
The new leaders join 10 other industry professionals on Seed Your Future’s national leadership cabinet. The new additions include SAF CEO Kate Penn; SAF President Michelle Castellano Keeler, vice president of Mellano & Company; Abel Guzman, executive director of College Pathways at The Wonderful Company; Dr. Ronda Hamm, global academic relations leader for Corteva Agriscience; Kerry Meyer, program director for Proven Winners; and Mark Schermer, head of flowers at Syngenta.
“We are grateful to have these industry leaders bring their knowledge, experience and passion to Seed Your Future,” says Jazmin Albarran, executive director. “They will be a tremendous asset to help us inspire and connect job seekers with job openings throughout the horticulture and floriculture industries.”
Seed Your Future has been working tirelessly to connect students with jobs in the green industries. In addition to partnering with colleges and universities and having a presence at major conventions and conferences, the organization has also called upon industry businesses to cultivate relationships with local organizations.
Online, Seed Your Future’s website provides resources for students, teachers, parents and employers to promote careers. This month, the organization plans to launch a job board aggregator, which will collect job openings from more than 50 sites. It is also conducting a salary survey to display wage ranges throughout the industry. And, it just closed the Plant Mash-Up contest in partnership with Scholastic.
“The work that Seed Your Future is doing is instrumental in raising awareness about the variety of careers in the industry and alleviating the workforce challenges we are experiencing now,” says Penn. “The leadership cabinet is excited to work alongside Jazmin to further Seed Your Future’s mission.”
Amanda Jedlinsky is the managing editor of SAF Now.
