Food Safety Leadership Award

IDFA and its members are committed to maintaining and enhancing the high quality and safety of U.S. dairy foods products. The IDFA Food Safety Leadership Award recognizes outstanding leadership and efforts by individuals, groups or organizations within its membership to enhance food safety.

The nomination period for the 2021 award is now open; all nominations are due by Friday, Oct. 30, 2020. The winner will be announced and recognized at Dairy Forum 2021.

Eligible Candidates

In odd years, such as 2021, the winner will be selected from one of these categories:

An IDFA member company that processes, manufactures, markets or distributes dairy products in North America;
A group of employees within the member company; or
An IDFA-organized group of volunteers, such as a committee, task force or working group, where employees of member companies make up a majority of the group.

In even years, the winner will be an employee of an IDFA member company that processes, manufactures, markets or distributes dairy products in North America.

Criteria for Eligibility

General Qualifications for Nominees

The winning team must demonstrate outstanding leadership and contributions to the field of food safety for the dairy foods industry.
Previous recipients are not eligible to be nominated.

Criteria

Groups may nominate themselves or nominations may be prepared and submitted by others. There is no nomination form. Instead, nominees are expected to provide the following package of materials for consideration:
- Nomination cover letter: Submit a cover letter that includes a summary of the achievements, along with the name of the company or group and the names and titles of all individuals who contributed to the overall success of the team.
- Food safety leadership achievements: List specific activities and outcomes achieved during the past two years that would be considered significant food safety leadership achievements or accomplishments, such as developing a process or procedure that increased food safety; initiating and/or participating in the development and/or implementation of new food safety guidance and/or training for the industry; conducting research that made a specific contribution to food safety; and writing or co-authoring papers that were published in recognized peer-reviewed journals or magazines.
- Originality of work: Describe the originality, creativity and quality of the contribution and note the significance and importance of the contribution to the industry. Provide documentation that supports the effectiveness of the effort.
- Peer assessment of nominee: Provide at least two and no more than three letters of support from professional peers.
Nominations should be sent to John Allan at jallan@idfa.org.
There is no fee to enter.

Deadline for Submissions

All nominations are due by Friday, Oct. 30, 2020.

Previous Winners

Edith Wilkin, Staff Vice President and Fellow, Food Safety and Regulatory Compliance, Leprino Foods (2020)

“Edith not only served as chair of the Food Safety Initiative with the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy during its inception, she also led, developed and published traceability standards for dairy processors that have become the gold standard across the industry,” said John Allan, IDFA vice president of regulatory affairs and international standards. “Edith is a unique and influential food safety expert who shares her knowledge and science-based food safety insights with colleagues and mentees across the dairy industry. IDFA is proud to present this year’s Food Safety Leadership Award to Edith Wilkin.”
John Allan, IDFA Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and International Standards

Rich Draper, CEO, and Heather Draper, Director, The Ice Cream Club, Inc. (2019)

Brian Kraus, Director of Food Safety and Regulatory Compliance, Wells Enterprises, Inc. (2018)

Cornell University Dairy Foods Extension team (2017)

For more information, contact John Allan, IDFA vice president of regulatory affairs and international standards, at jallan@idfa.org.

Staff Contact

John Allan

Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and International Standards