ATLANTA, Georgia – Scott J. Montgomery has been named Director of the Flour Fortification Initiative (FFI), a network of partners working to make the addition of vitamins and minerals to flour standard milling practice worldwide. He brings 30 years of cereal grain industry expertise to the leadership position, in addition to experience in working with the FFI Executive Management Team (EMT).
“Scott has demonstrated his leadership skills, his ability to plan strategically, and his passion for improving people’s health by fortifying flour,” said Greg Harvey, Chief Executive of Interflour Group, one of Southeast Asia’s largest flour milling companies, and Chairman of the FFI EMT. “We look forward to strengthening our network of partners under his direction.”
Montgomery received a bachelor’s degree in milling science and management from Kansas State University in 1980, and worked for Cargill Incorporated from 1980 to 2010. He began as a trainee at the company’s oilseeds processing plant in Washington, Iowa. He quickly moved into the wheat flour milling business, holding several supervisory positions across North America. This was followed by global operations responsibility for Cargill’s wheat and maize milling operations and ultimately citrus operations in every region of the world. He retired from Cargill in 2010 as Vice President, Global Procurement Leader.
In 2004, Montgomery joined the FFI EMT as a Cargill representative, and he served as the EMT chairman from 2006-2010. The EMT includes representatives from multiple-sector partners who provide strategic direction to FFI.
“Scott’s clear understanding of industry concerns is a critical component to the FFI approach of partnering between public, private and civic sectors,” said Nick Alipui, Director of UNICEF Programmes and Co-chair of the FFI EMT. “It has been a pleasure to work with Scott on the EMT, and I am delighted that we will continue to benefit from his industry knowledge to affect public health outcomes.”
After retiring from Cargill, Montgomery joined the FFI staff as the Industry Liaison. He will continue to serve in that role in addition to taking on the Director responsibilities. Montgomery will also have primary responsibility for FFI fund-raising efforts.
Creating a global group to promote flour fortification was proposed in 2002 during a meeting of the Industrial Association of Operative Millers (IAOM), and an official FFI Leaders Group was formed in 2004. The FFI founder was Glen Maberly, a professor at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, who resigned in 2009 to become Director of The Centre for Health Innovation and Partnership in Australia. The FFI Global Secretariat remains at Emory University.
Source: Flour Fortification Initiative
