2024 CDCB Industry Meeting

Lindsey Worden has chaired the CDCB Board of Directors since April 2023. With 17 years of service at Holstein Association USA, Lindsey currently is Chief Operating Officer and will assume the Chief Executive Officer role on January 1, 2025. She also serves the dairy industry as a Director on the National Pedigreed Livestock Council and Councilor for the World Holstein Friesian Federation. Lindsey is a University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate raised on a Registered Holstein farm.

João Dürr is currently in his 10th year of service as CDCB Chief Executive Officer. Before CDCB, João worked as the Executive Director of Interbull based in Sweden, Professor at Universidade de Passo Fundo in Brazil, and President of the Brazilian Council of Milk Quality (CBQL). A native of Brazil, João received his Bachelor’s degree in agriculture at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil; followed by master’s and doctorate degrees from McGill University, Montreal, in animal breeding and genetics.

Amy te Plate-Church has served CDCB with communication expertise and support since 2017, leveraging a variety of digital and media channels. Prior to joining the team of strategic advisors at Look East in 2015, she worked for nearly 20 years for a dairy and beef cattle breeding cooperative in roles including communications, marketing, product management, dairy herd service, and business development. Raised on a family dairy farm, Amy is an Iowa State alum with degrees in Dairy Science and Ag Journalism.

Raised on a dairy farm in central Minnesota, Katie Schmitt began with CDCB in spring 2023 as Outreach Specialist. Previously, Katie worked at World Dairy Expo in various communication and marketing roles including Communications Manager. She received a bachelor’s degree in Animal Science with an emphasis in Industry and Business at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities along with minors in Communication Studies and Agricultural Food Business Management. In 2022, she was recognized as a “35 under 35” by Wisconsin Farm Bureau for her work with The Dairy Show podcast.

Asha Miles joined U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal Genomics and Improvement Laboratory in March 2021 and quickly embraced the role for research and development of genetic applications that can future improve dairy cattle and farm livelihood. Dr. Miles’ research and academic background spans biotechnology, molecular genetics, immunology, epidemiology, and microbiome science. Her goals as a researcher are to apply these skills in an integrated approach to understand animal health and production, and to translate these findings into innovative interventions which can be applied on farm.

John joined CDCB in early 2024, following three years as Senior Vice President, Research and Development, for PEAK Genetics, and 17 years as Research Geneticist and Acting Research Leader at USDA AGIL. John has authored 150+ peer-reviewed articles, mentored many postdoctoral scientists and graduate students, and is a frequent speaker at industry and scientific meetings. He has been awarded the Jay L. Lush Award in Breeding and Genetics from American Dairy Science Association, the Distinguished Service Award from National Dairy Herd Information Association, and the National Association of Animal Breeders Peer Research Award. John holds a PhD in animal breeding and genetics from Louisiana State University.