Canada Organic Trade Association appoints Executive Director
COTA Board President Dag Falck said “we’re very pleased to welcome Tia to COTA in her role as Executive Director: a position that is critical to providing leadership for Canada’s rapidly growing organic sector. Organic in Canada continues to have the momentum of strong consumer demand, but faces the challenges of increasing domestic supply, building on our success in international markets, and representing our needs to the new federal government. We are very confident that Tia is the right person to take COTA and organic across Canada into the future.”
Tia Loftsgard, based in Ottawa, is a non-profit manager with leadership experience in the fair trade and cooperative movements in both Canada and the U.S., and co-founder of a pioneering Canadian organic and fair trade food brand.
Loftsgard said: “I’m honoured and excited to take on this new role at COTA. I know the organic sector well, and am really looking forward to meeting more of our diverse members, partners and stakeholders so we can plan the next stage for organic in Canada together. I’m passionate about organic, about the impact our food and farming has on our health and environment, and making sure our sector has a strong professional voice in Ottawa.”
Loftsgard will start at COTA on March 21, 2016. She replaces Matthew Holmes, COTA’s founding Executive Director who left the role in January after nine years with the association; Holmes has been serving as a consultant to COTA’s Board during the hiring process and will continue as an advisor to Loftsgard through the leadership transition.
For more information:
Canada Organic Trade Association
Henry Chen, Campaigns & Marketing Manager
(613) 482-1717
[email protected]