Advisory Committee

Alejandra Castillo is the President & CEO of the North American Export Grain Association (NAEGA). A senior executive with over 15 years of experience in global trade, she brings expertise in trade execution, stakeholder management, and trade policy. Alejandra worked at the U.S. Grains Council in Washington D.C., Singapore, and India, where she most recently opened the Council’s newest office in India and served as Regional Director for South Asia.

Alejandra also serves as volunteer President of the International Grain Trade Coalition (IGTC). Since 2019, she has supported the IGTC Working Group on Electronic Trading Documentation, serving as co-chair for the Industry Advisory Group (IAG).

Prior to the Council, Alejandra worked in trade execution with Cargill, focused on trade risk management and vessel and container logistics for cotton, grains, and oilseeds. A native of Nicaragua, she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in strategic management and organizational leadership, both from St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Andrew Jordan owns Jordan Associates, a company that helps agricultural organizations meet standards for responsible production. Current clients include the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, Cotton Council International, Cotton Incorporated, and Staplcotn — a producer-owned marketing cooperative. His previous positions include Vice President of Technical Services at the National Cotton Council, co-owner of Secure Foods Solutions, LLC, and Executive Director of the Cotton Growers Warehouse Association.

In addition to his work with these organizations, Jordan has been involved in a variety of initiatives aimed at advancing sustainability and innovation in agriculture, including advisory roles with Field to Market (FTM), AgLaunch, IN2, United Soybean Board, American Peanut Council, Agricenter International, the University of Memphis-ACRE initiative, and Regenagri C.i.C.

He has been actively engaged with Field to Market since its inception and was the recipient of the FTM 2019 Trusted Advisor of the Year Award. In 2024 he was inducted into the Cotton Research and Promotion Hall of Fame. He holds a BS in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Georgia and MS and Ph.D. degrees in engineering from Clemson University.

With 25 years of experience in sustainability and global ESG, Chris is a global executive, advisor, and corporate consultant focused on sustainable systems and ESG strategy. He works with private sector, nonprofit, and multilateral clients on decarbonization, agricultural value chains, nature-based solutions, impact investment, stakeholder engagement, human rights, and equity.

Chris currently serves as Chief Operating Officer at TASA Analytics, advancing scope 3 carbon emissions accounting and reductions for Global 100 corporations. He led the global consultation and development of the Principles for Sustainable Soil Management as a Special Advisor to the United Nations, built international regenerative agriculture programs on three continents as the Managing Director of the Agriculture and Food Security Center at the Earth Institute, Columbia University, and set and achieved ambitious goals in carbon and water management as Senior Director of Sustainability at the Mosaic Company.

Chris has held leadership positions at Target Corporation and Xcel Energy, served as a board member of Grow Africa and the Global Agenda Council on Natural Capital at the World Economic Forum, and is currently a member of the Sustainability Advisory Group at the U.S. Soy Board.

Dr. Marty Matlock is a Professor in the Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department at the University of Arkansas. He served as Senior Advisor to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack at USDA from 2021–2022 focusing on food systems resiliency. Prior to that he was Executive Director of the University of Arkansas Resiliency Center which addresses food, water, and community resiliency in response to climate change.

Matlock was elected to the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s Board of Agricultural and Natural Resources in 2021. He received his Ph.D. in Biosystems Engineering from Oklahoma State University, and is a registered professional engineer, a Board-Certified Environmental Engineer, and a Certified Ecosystem Designer.

Dr. Matlock is the recipient of the 2018 CAST-Borlaug Agriculture Communications Award, the American Ecological Engineering Society 2022 Odom Award for Ecosystem Design, and more than 30 national and international design awards. He is a member of the Cherokee Nation, where he served as Chairman of the Cherokee Nation Environmental Protection Commission for 16 years. He is a sustainability science advisor for three environmental conservation organizations and more than a dozen food and agricultural product companies.

Dr. Neoh is the Managing Director of the Soon Soon Group of Companies, an integrated grain, oilseed, feed, and oil processing business based in Malaysia. Established in 1978, the company is the largest soybean crusher and soy oil refinery in Malaysia.

Dr. Neoh has been a member of the SSAP Sustainability Advisory Council since June 2013. He holds a Ph.D. from University College London and conducted post-doctoral research at The University of Chicago.

Wei Peng works as Head of Sustainability for Grains and Oilseeds at Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC), leading the company’s sustainable sourcing of key commodities such as soybean and palm oil. Wei is also the Group’s focal point for land use change.

Prior to joining LDC, Wei worked with another international agribusiness as the Head of Sustainability. Before her service in the agricultural commodity sector, Wei worked with the United Nations Environment Programme to advance the adoption of sustainability by the global financial sector.

Wei holds a Master’s degree in Development Studies from HIE in Geneva and a Bachelor’s degree in International Economics and Trade from China Foreign Affairs University.

Jaime Piçarra, an Agricultural Engineer specialized in Agricultural Economics, began his professional career in 1985 at the Ministry of Agriculture in the Agricultural Market Information Service (SIMA). He was a member of the Portuguese delegation in the negotiations of the second stage of the integration process into the EEC, now the EU, and has followed all reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy since 1992.

Jaime Piçarra is Secretary-General of IACA, the Portuguese Association of the Animal Feed Industry. He is Vice-President of the Industrial Compound Feed Production Committee of FEFAC (European Feed Manufacturers’ Federation), coordinator of the FEFAC Task Force on the CAP, and its representative in the Civil Dialogue Groups on Arable Crops, Horizontal CAP Issues, and International Aspects of Agriculture at DG AGRI (European Commission). He is also involved in sustainability topics, particularly the FEFAC strategy on sustainable soy.

In 2022, he received the CESFAC “Personality of the Year” Medal for his service and dedication to the animal feed sector in the Iberian Peninsula and worldwide. As of June 2024, he represents Portugal as a national expert in NATO within the Food and Agriculture Planning Group (FAPG). He has been an Honorary Member of FEFAC since April 2016.

Born in Cuba and raised in Arkansas, Jose Villalon received his Master of Science degree in Fish Nutrition at the University of Washington. He went on to 27 years farming tropical white shrimp in the Virgin Islands, Ecuador, and Mexico, gaining hands-on experience across all phases of the primary production chain including hatcheries, feedmills, farms, processing, and export/sales. In 1991, he authored a practical manual for shrimp farming.

In 2007 he joined the World Wildlife Fund (WWF-US) and led its Aquaculture Program for six years, managing an initiative involving over 2,200 global stakeholders that created environmental and social standards for 12 species of aquaculture commodity products including salmon, tilapia, and shrimp. Along with WWF and IDH, he co-founded the independent Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) in 2010, where he served as Chairman of the Board for its initial four years and remained on the ASC Board for 10 years. Today, the ASC is the premier environmental and social farmed seafood standard in the world.

Between 2013 and 2023, Jose served as Corporate Sustainability Director for Nutreco, a global animal nutrition company based in The Netherlands. In 2023, he published a children’s book entitled “When Gabi and Santi go for Sustainable Seafood.” Jose is an outspoken advocate and public speaker on food sustainability.

Dave White has over 40 years of professional leadership experience in natural resource conservation with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and in the private sector. He served as Chief of the NRCS from January 2009 to December 2012, leading the largest private lands natural resource conservation organization in the United States — managing 12,000 employees across 2,800 offices with an annual budget of over $4 billion.

Under his leadership, NRCS created and implemented landscape-level conservation initiatives focused on water quality and wildlife. Prior to serving as Chief, he was the NRCS State Conservationist in Montana. Dave spent significant time on Capitol Hill, helping write the conservation titles of both the 2002 and 2008 Farm Bills, and was detailed to the Clinton White House where he worked on the Building Livable Communities Initiative.

Dave is the Founder of United Policy, a consulting firm focused on sustainable agriculture and the environment. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri.

With over a decade of experience in the global food and agriculture sector, Ana helps drive sustainable transformation by building partnerships across the supply chain to deliver measurable environmental and social impact.

She has extensive knowledge of sustainable agriculture, ESG strategy, responsible sourcing, and stakeholder engagement across complex value chains. Ana is recognized for connecting business priorities with sustainability goals to create long-term value and resilience.

She holds a Master’s degree in International Economics from Sorbonne Nouvelle University (Paris, France), a Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Value Chains, and a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Science and Rural Development from the National University of Asunción (Paraguay).