The Organic Trade Association is pleased to announce that carbon management and sustainability expert Lisa Braun is joining the trade association as the Sustainability Technical Services Manager for the trade association’s new Sustainable Food Trade Action Council.
Braun brings to the position a passion for promoting community and corporate sustainability, fueled by a long-standing interest in food system issues. Formerly Sustainability Technical Services Manager for the Sustainable Food Trade Association (SFTA), Braun has gained diverse insights into best practices and innovation in food sector sustainability and climate action planning, and she looks forward to creating, sharing, and scaling solutions with members of the Organic Trade Association.
“I am incredibly honored to work with the Organic Trade Association and the Sustainable Food Trade Action Council to help build the capacity of the organic food trade to transition to regenerative business models,” said Braun. “I’m thrilled the SFTA Council will bring together a larger group of organic leaders to create impactful, scalable solutions to our greatest sustainability challenges, including climate change.”
With a bachelor’s degree in biology Braun first worked as a molecular biology scientist. Her lifelong love of the organic food movement and desire to address climate change led her to earn a master’s degree in environmental science from University of Colorado Boulder, where she specialized in carbon management.
From her time working in the scientific field, Braun brings an analytical approach to sustainability management and particularly enjoys translating technical concepts into approachable, actionable advice. She has additional professional experience performing greenhouse gas accounting and climate action planning for a large research institute, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. She led the SFTA’s member reporting and sustainability consulting programs and developed and delivered a climate action management training module for the natural products industry. She excels at empowering organic food companies with education, tools, and analytics to measure their impact and manage their corporate sustainability strategy and reporting.
“Having Lisa on our team will help our members achieve their goal of building a sustainable food system, and mitigating climate change,” said Laura Batcha, CEO and Executive Director of the Organic Trade Association. “Lisa will enable us maintain the effective sustainability tools SFTA has developed. With Lisa’s expertise, our new council will thrive and grow, and play a key role in moving sustainability forward for organic companies.”
The SFTA consolidated with the Organic Trade Association the first of this year to create the Organic Trade Association Sustainable Food Trade Action Council. All former SFTA members are on the council, and all members of the Organic Trade Association are invited to join. For more information on how to be a part of this new council, contact the Organic Trade Association.
The Organic Trade Association (OTA) is the membership-based business association for organic agriculture and products in North America. OTA is the leading voice for the organic trade in the United States, representing over 9,500 organic businesses across 50 states. Its members include growers, shippers, processors, certifiers, farmers' associations, distributors, importers, exporters, consultants, retailers and others. OTA’s Board of Directors is democratically elected by its members. OTA's mission is to promote and protect ORGANIC with a unifying voice that serves and engages its diverse members from farm to marketplace. The Organic Trade Association does not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, national origin or ancestry, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, marital status, political affiliation or military status. Persons with disabilities who require alternate means for communication of program information can contact us at info@ota.com.