Fernandez-Fenaroli to step down as CPS executive director

After 16 years leading the Center for Produce Safety (CPS), Bonnie Fernandez-Fenaroli will step down as executive director in mid-2025.

Since 2008, she has guided the nonprofit, which has invested more than $46 million to fund produce-specific food safety research.

“The CPS mission is to fund research, find solutions and fuel change in fresh produce food safety,” Fernandez-Fenaroli said in a news release. “For me, the underlying strength that makes that possible is the world-class group of volunteers who have offered their time and expertise to make CPS the success it is today. I will miss working with these amazing people. They are the reason I know CPS will continue to advance its all-important work.”

Joe Pezzini, CPS board chair and senior director of agricultural operations at Taylor Farms, said details about the executive director search will be forthcoming.

“Bonnie has been the backbone of CPS for nearly two decades,” Pezzini said. “All of the rest of us have our day jobs while we’re volunteering with CPS, but her sole focus has been on this vital work to enhance produce safety.

“ … The enabling factor in the growth of CPS has been Bonnie’s incredible respect that she has built over the past 16 years for the produce industry. Her most powerful skills are her diplomacy and connecting the right folks to each other at the right time to accomplish big tasks.”

Fernandez-Fenaroli thinks the next five years will be an exciting time for CPS.

“I look forward to seeing how the board, the technical committee, and the new executive director accelerate the work of CPS,” she said. “I’m not much for looking in the rearview mirror, but when I do look back at how much CPS has accomplished since 2008, I’m beyond confident that the future will bring more ground-breaking research and practical solutions that will fuel the change needed to enhance produce safety even further.”