(Washington, D.C. – The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) has named Matt Herrick to the new position of senior vice president, executive and strategic communications. In this role, Herrick will be responsible for leading all of IDFA’s communications and reputation management activities, with a particular focus on promoting and extending the IDFA brand to support the growth of dairy in the United States and around the world. Herrick will also integrate a broad range of activities to position the association and its executives as thought leaders in the dairy industry and the broader food and beverage sector. He will report to Michael Dykes, D.V.M., president and CEO of IDFA.
“Matt knows and respects the work of IDFA members, and cares deeply about food and nutrition issues,” said Dykes. “His experience in food and agricultural trade, navigating regulatory and legislative issues here in Washington, and leading brand-building efforts for large global organization puts us in a strong position to continue to make a difference for dairy.”
“I am thrilled to join the International Dairy Foods Association to work on behalf of our members as well as the 3 million individuals who make, package, ship, and market dairy products around the world,” said Herrick. “Dairy is leading in innovation, sustainability, and trade within the food space, and I look forward to telling that story loudly and proudly in partnership with the IDFA team.”
Herrick comes to IDFA from The Rockefeller Foundation, where he served as managing director, communications, leading media relations, digital communications, brand and reputation, issues management, and internal communications for the foundation. Prior to that, he was senior vice president with Story Partners public affairs in Washington, DC, where he founded and managed the agency’s food, nutrition, and trade practice, working with trade associations, food companies, and foundations. He served in the Obama Administration, first as press director and spokesperson for the U.S. Agency for International Development, and then as communications director for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Matt also led communications and media relations for Oxfam America and served as speechwriter and spokesperson for USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
A native of the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts, he resides in Bethesda with his wife and son.
He holds a B.A. from the College of the Holy Cross and an M.A. from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications.
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The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, D.C., represents the nation’s dairy manufacturing and marketing industry, which supports nearly 3 million jobs that generate more than $161 billion in wages and has an overall economic impact of more than $628 billion. IDFA members range from multinational organizations to single-plant companies. Together they represent approximately 90 percent of the milk, cultured products, cheese, ice cream and frozen desserts produced and marketed in the United States and sold throughout the world. The diverse membership includes numerous food retailers, suppliers, cooperatives and companies that offer a wide variety of nutritional dairy products and dairy-derived ingredients. Visit IDFA at www.idfa.org.
