The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol® is overseen by a multi-stakeholder Board of Directors comprised of representatives from brands and retailers, civil society and independent sustainability experts as well as the cotton-growing industry, including growers, ginners, merchants, wholesalers and cooperatives, mills and cottonseed handlers.
Coley, a fourth-generation farmer and agribusiness owner, oversees an operation consisting of 3,500 acres of cotton and 400 acres of peanuts and Coley Gin and Fertilizer. He has served as a board advisor to the National Cotton Council (NCC) and as a director for Southeastern Cotton Ginners Association and currently serves as vice chairman of the Georgia Cotton Commission. He was a member of both the Leadership Georgia Class and the NCC’s Emerging Leaders program. After earning a B.S.A. and a M.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Georgia and before returning to the family farm, Coley served as an agriculture intern for Senator Saxby Cham-bliss (R-GA) and as a staff member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry.
Since 1984, Schneider has been the owner/operator of a 3,600-acre farming operation in north-east Louisiana and southeast Arkansas that is dedicated to sustainable, responsible agricultural production. His Lake Providence, La.-based operation’s primary crops are cotton, corn, soybeans, rice, wheat, and grain sorghum. A former director of the National Cotton Council (NCC), he currently chairs the COTTON USA Sustainability Task Force. He has been a leader in the NCC’s American Cotton Producers, served as president of the NCC’s export promotions arm, Cotton Council International, and is a director of Cotton Incorporated. Schneider earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Louisiana State University.
Kris Johnson is the deputy director of agriculture at The Nature Conservancy, North America. He leads the joint design, implementation and assessment of the region’s two conservation agriculture strategies: Soil Health and Nutrients, and Sustainable Grazing Lands. Kris is also a member of the steering committee for the Ecosystem Services Market Consortium and serves on the Science Advisory Council for Field to Market. Dr. Johnson is an author of 15 peer-reviewed papers. He received his bachelor’s from Bowdoin College and received his master’s and doctorate in conservation biology from the University of Minnesota.
Barcellos is a partner in A-Bar Ag Enterprises-consisting of 7,500 acres of almonds, asparagus, olives, pima cotton, pistachios, pomegranates, processing tomatoes and wheat. Seeking to build a multi-generational farming operation, the family partnership utilizes socially responsible and sustainable farming practices among them drip irrigation, reduced tillage, satellite imagery and solar energy. Barcellos earned an agriculture business degree from Cal Poly and is California Ag Leadership Program graduate. He is a director of multiple organizations among them the National Cotton Council’s export promotions arm, Cotton Council International, and the Central Delta Mendota Groundwater Sustainability Agency.
Blakemore is president of Blakemore Cotton & Grain, LLC, with interests in ginning, grain, fertilizer and trucking. He has served in numerous leadership positions among them as president of the National Cotton Ginners Association, the Southern Cotton Ginners Association and Cotton Producers of Missouri and as a Cotton Incorporated director. He is a director for the National Cotton Council, serves as chairman of its Flow Committee and as a member of its Quality Taskforce. Blakemore also has served in multiple leadership capacities with Ducks Unlimited, a waterfowl and wetlands conservation organization. He holds a BSBA in Accounting with Distinction and an MBA in Finance from Southeast Missouri State University.
Henry N. “Hank” Reichle, Jr., is president and CEO of Greenwood-Miss.-based Staplcotn. He joined the cooperative in 2004 after having served as chief financial officer with the internet-based cotton exchange, The Seam. Reichle currently is a director of both The Seam and AMCOT. He is a National Cotton Council (NCC) director and serves as president of Cotton Council International (CCI), the NCC’s export promotions arm. He also currently serves on the COTTON USA Sustainability Task Force. A Mississippi native, he holds a B.A. degree in Accountancy from the University of Mississippi.
Dyer is the global head of Marketing for the Louis Dreyfus cotton platform and the head administrator and manager of ProCot Cooperative. His 28 plus years in the U.S. cotton industry includes experience in numerous growth origins and destination marketplaces. He is a director of the National Cotton Council’s export promotions arm, Cotton Council International, is a member of the COTTON USA Sustainability Task Force and served on the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol® Organizational Committee. The Memphis native spends most of his time in South Carolina. Dyer earned a B.S. in Business Administration from The Citadel.
As general manager, Cotton, Serven is responsible for commercial teams of ADM’s cotton crush plants in Lubbock, Richmond, Memphis, and Valdosta and for its Southern Cellulose Products, Inc. facility in Chattanooga. He has served in various commercial management positions in ADM’s Grain and Oilseeds units and has experience in soy crush, canola crush, cotton crush, corn processing, grain origination, and export. Serven is currently a member of the National Cotton Council’s Public Relations & International Market Development Committee and its COTTON USA Sustainability Task Force. Raised on a corn, soy, cattle farm in west central Illinois, he earned his M.B.A. from Millikin University after receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Business Administration from Knox College.
At age 56, Dahlen Hancock has been farming for 35 years. His farming operation lies in Lynn, Lubbock and Hockley Counties and consists of cotton, corn and milo crop mix. He is a fourth generation farmer following in the footsteps of his father, grandfather and great-grandfather who also chose farming as their professions. Hancock graduated from New Home High School and then attended Tarleton State University for two years before returning to the farm in 1980. He worked beside his father in a partnership and farmed 320 acres of his own until 1985 when 640 acres came up for rent and he branched off on his own. He married his wife Jody in 1986 and they have two boys who both farm one with him in his operation and one on his own. Dahlen and Jody formed DK & J Farms in 1990 and today their operation covers 6,300 acres, with about 3,000 acres being center pivot irrigated and 3,300 acres non-irrigated row crop production. Hancock serves as Chairman of Hew Home Coop Gin. He serves as a delegate and marketing pool representative at Plains Cotton Cooperative Association in Lubbock. He is currently serving as Secretary for Cotton Incorporated and First Vice President of Cotton Council International. Hancock also served as a delegate to the National Cotton Council of America and participated in the Policy Education Program that helped him learn early on about all the different segments of the cotton industry. Over the years, he has served in many different community and church leadership roles. He has been married to his wife Jody for 28 years. They attend Victory Life Church and reside in Wolfforth, Texas.
Duncan serves as the Agricultural Sustainability Specialist with the University of Tennessee. As a faculty member in the university’s Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science Department, she develops applied research and disseminates educational and outreach programs in sustainable cropping systems with a specific interest in utilization of technologies. From the local to the national scale, Duncan works with growers, consultants, agribusinesses, NGOs, commodity organizations, and regulatory officials to promote sustainable management techniques and practice adoption. A Tennessee native, she was introduced to cotton at a young age with both of her parents working in a textile mill. Duncan holds a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Biosystems Engineering from the University of Tennessee.
Martin is executive vice president, Cotton Operations for Parkdale Mills. He is responsible for cotton purchasing, distribution and risk management. Previously, he served as director of Markets and Finance at Auscott Limited in Sydney Australia. Martin, who resides in Charlotte, N.C., began his career at J G Boswell Company in Los Angeles where he served as market analyst. Martin is a National Cotton Council director and serves on its COTTON USA Sustainability Task Force. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from San Diego State University and an MBA with emphasis in Finance from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.
As senior manager, Global Sustainability Integration, Liza Schillo directs Levi’s climate change and sustainable product strategies. She is actively engaged in keeping Levi’s on track to achieving 100% sustainably sourced cotton for its products by end of 2020. This corporate commitment to sustainable cotton is part of a broader internal initiative to move the company toward a more sustainable and circular product strategy. Schillo previously worked in environmental management and policy in Washington, DC. She holds a Master’s in Business Administration and a Master’s in Environmental Management from Duke University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies from the University of North Carolina.
Joe has worked in the fashion industry for almost 30 years. Originally from Scotland, he has lived in Malaysia, Hong Kong, Turkey as well as the UK. He has worked with Tesco for the last 6 years and thrives on the special challenges that a value supermarket faces when delivering sustainable, affordable quality clothing.
Joe recognises the urgency to deliver transparency and traceability throughout the complete supply chain in our industry. He believes that the winners will be those who embrace transparency and unlock the values of science based targets aligned with UN SDG’s.
He is one of life’s eternal optimists and when it comes to the future of our industry he describes himself as a “measured optimist”.
Joe is also a landscape and seascape artist with a special interest in micro fibres in our oceans.
World Wildlife Fund’s (WWF) senior vice president, Fresh Water and Food, drives initiatives that increase the sustainability of agricultural systems and the conservation of water. Dr. Ho came to WWF from the Millennium Challenge Corporation, where she oversaw a $1.5 billion portfolio of infrastructure investments in West Africa. She also served at USAID overseeing the strategy development and implementation of Feed the Future and developed and implement-ed the agricultural water management strategy and grant portfolio at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She has a BSc in Environmental Systems from Cornell University, an MSc in Soil Science (plant-water relations) from the University of California, Davis and a Ph.D. in Plant Physiology from Pennsylvania State University.
