Cultivating relationships and developing projects to deliver efficient, pragmatic approaches to food safety and sustainability assurance for North American growers and buyers.

Roberta provides staff support for The Declaration of Abu Dhabi for Global Food Security through Good Agricultural Practices. This alignment initiative is an open call for global collaboration to find new approaches that will make it easier, more cost effective, and more attractive for farmers worldwide to adopt safe, responsible and sustainable production practices. The Declaration of Abu Dhabi unites public and private partners committed to developing and adopting three important measures: A common set of good agricultural practices. A system for uniquely identifying every farm that is recognized by all stakeholders. A mechanism for securing the commitment and reporting by supply chain partners.www.declaration-of-abu-dhabi.org

Roberta is contracted half-time to GLOBALG.A.P. with two primary areas of work:1. Strategic partnerships and initiatives for enhancing food safety plus sustainability assurance on farm through collaboration.2. Stakeholder management for improving sustainability aspects of GLOBALG.A.P. products and services

Contracted by GLOBALG.A.P. North America to evaluate and develop its opportunity to be a preferred provider of farm assurance for sustainability. Fostering collaboration with third party and company sustainability certifications to streamline audit processes and offer robust food safety and sustainability solutions to the food industry.

Under contract by Sustainable Conservation to research the motivations of leading fruit and produce buyers to promote or invest in the “greening of the supply chain” and their interest in the use of sustainability reporting with suppliers. Strategic recommendations guided the development of performance metrics and a reporting system for California Central Coast growers to meet industry needs.

Food Alliance is a non-profit organization that defines and promotes sustainable agriculture and food systems in North America. It offers a rigorous and reputable certification for environmentally and socially responsible agriculture, and provides related consulting services.• Responsible for building Food Alliance’s base of certification clients and the associated revenue streams. Doubled client base to a total of 400 farms, processors and food marketers.• Identified and engaged food producers and handlers that have the operational, financial and marketing capacity to be successful certification clients.• Assisted businesses in framing value added by incorporating sustainable practices and authentic marketing supported by third party certification.• Cultivated and managed relationships with farm and food businesses, industry associations and advocacy groups that support Food Alliance’s goals and provide client leads.• Evaluated client satisfaction, gathered feedback and improved services to meet evolving client need.• Assessed needs of consulting clients; designed and managed customized projects.• Publicly represented Food Alliance in meetings, events and presentations; educated on sustainable agriculture and food system issues, green marketing, labeling and sustainable procurement.• Provided training, guidance and support to business development staff in regional offices.• Developed volunteer and internship opportunities and managed interns.• Advised and assisted universities, health care institutions, standard setters and advocacy groups to develop and implement sustainable food procurement policies and plans.

Coastwide is an established regional manufacturer and distributor of sanitation maintenance supplies.• Developed a new corporate vision and marketing strategy around the company’s award-winning environmentally preferable commercial and industrial cleaning products with a small team of PSU MBA students.• Conducted over 50 extensive interviews with Coastwide executives and associates and performed industry research to identify Coastwide’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.• Presented top management with internal and external marketing plans that support the new strategy and leverage Coastwide’s existing resources and strengths.

PSU’s BOP provides mentoring and technical services to small businesses in N/NE Portland.• Assisted BOP’s director and counselors to identify client needs, respond with quality services.• Coordinated an annual client and supporter appreciation event with >100 attendees.• Generated fundraising materials and reports for advisory board and funding sources.