Occidental College

Executive Director at Northwest Cider Association

Portland, Oregon, United States

A native Oregonian, Emily Ritchie loves the people in the cider industry. As a dual citizen with the US and the UK, cider is part of her heritage. She is thrilled to be working in a burgeoning industry as she specializes in supporting new organizations related to food and beverages. More to come!

Northwest Cider Association

Executive Director

Support product sales and marketing activities for new line of shelf-stable, single serve Hummus and Dippers. Direct market development for K-12, college and health care sectors.Bridging the gap between convenience, flavor, and sustainability!

Truitt Family Foods

Sales and Marketing Associate

- Wrote Specialty Crop Grants totaling $856,008  for industry, researching and highlighting branding and marketing opportunities, outlining project to host largest national, expertly judged cider competition, and educational trips●	Managed $54,000 Oregon Specialty Crop grant, developing a definition and standards for cider and perry made in the Pacific Northwest to enhance their marketability, and developed a cider guide wiki-page.●	Managed membership relations: effectively sought membership’s support on the standards development, managing meetings and monitoring progress toward performance indicators. Facilitated decision-making.●	Sought out, wrote, and awarded $50,000 ODA grant; manage project for cider fruit plantings in the Oregon●	National Association of Cider Makers certified

Program Manager

Spoke enthusiastically and knowledgeably about high quality cider, selling it at  farmers marketEvent coordinator and executive assistantCider tasting room manager, coordinating product delivery, scheduling food trucks, and improving systems

Wandering Aengus Ciderworks

Cider Specialist

Fund development, event organizer, public speaker, school garden expertSelected by Slow Food USA as Terra Madre 2014 youth and school garden delegate/panelistPolicy work for Oregon Farm to School funding state wide!

Slow Food Portland

Vice President of Board

As one of only 15 FoodCorps Fellows in the US, I supported, guided, and mentored the Oregon service members for 2 years. Fellows are chosen from the FoodCorps service member alumni for being well equipped to provide essential guidance and support to the service members and the communities in which they live. In addition, we compile and document qualitative and quantitative examples of FoodCorps’ impact. Based at the Oregon Department of Agriculture's Marketing Division, I was uniquely positioned with a state department's viewpoint and learned about the larger access system for good, clean, fair food. In my first year, I catalyzed a project called Boat to School, bringing Oregon seafood and education about Oregon's fisheries into Oregon schools and have spoken about this at both national and international conferences.

FoodCorps

FoodCorps Fellow at the Oregon Department of Agriculture

As a National FoodCorps member, I was part of a team of 50 members that connected kids to real food and helped them grow up healthy. I served at Food Roots, the only rural Oregon FoodCorps site, by building school gardens and teaching children about gardening and nutrition. I taught 6 consistent classes each week for a year, reaching preschoolers to high school aged kids. I also was highly commended for my ability to community organize, recruiting many volunteers to grow our garden-based education program. At the end of the year, we four FoodCorps Oregon service members reached 8,000 students, brought in 300 unique volunteers, and donated 2,000 pounds of food to insecure families. Finally, I raised over $5,000 for Food Roots' farm to school program.

Service Member

Los Angeles Food Policy Council

Member

Geneva, Switzerland							•	Built a research proposal and was 1 of 20 chosen for award•	Spent 6 weeks studying/ observing/ learning and gathering data about traditional cheese-making•	Wrote a research paper and presented findings at annual Richter conference and accepted to present at the Southern California Conference for Undergraduate Research

Traditional Richter Award

Head Researcher

Answered a wide variety of questions from hundreds of customersCollaborated with coworkers to improve weekly store re-stocking

Sur La Table

Sales Associate

Supervised directly by Executive Director and Co-founder Anupama Joshi. I analyzed data from the Farm to School Program. I maintained the program website. Through the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College I also organized and shipped informational materials such as "Bearing Fruit."

National Farm to School Network

Intern under Anupama Joshi

- Grew the team to include 40 members by promoting team in Occidental publications•	Raised over $4,000 for club expenses, working independently and directing team members•	Planned and executed Occidental’s first Annual Quidditch World Cup complete with educational booths and over 200 spectators•	Successfully passed on the team to several generations of leaders.

Intercollegiate Quidditch

Captain and founder of team

For 15 years I was a competitive Scottish Highland dancer, competing around the United States, Canada, and Scotland. I repeatedly represented the Pacific Northwest in the National competition around the country. Through dancing, I learned diligence and developed drive unlike many youth my age.