DAIRIESINDEVELOPINGCOMMUNITIES.ORG - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Founder
- President
- President of Milk Specialties Company
Dr Trevor Tomkins is President and Founder of venture | dairy. During the last twelve years Trevor has worked in Nicaragua, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Haiti, Malaysia and India where he has been involved in a diversity of dairy industries.
Trevor was born and educated in the UK and completed his Ph.D. in Animal Sciences at the University of Reading. He joined a Dutch multi-national company and for four years lived and worked in southern Africa in a livestock research and technical advisory role, primarily focused on the dairy industry. He spent a period in Europe as an international advisor working in many countries round the world before being transferred to the US. In 1985 he joined Milk Specialties Company as head of research. He was recognized for his contribution to dairy nutrition when invited to become the first non-academic member to serve on a National Research Committee that revised the publication: Nutrient Requirements of the Dairy Cow.
In 1996 Trevor became President of Milk Specialties Company and during the next 16 years took the company from an animal nutrition company to one of the major independent food ingredient companies in the US operating across the dairy value chain. He traveled widely during this time building the company's international reputation as a foremost supplier of high quality milk products.
Trevor has served on the Board of Heifer International and was Chairman of the Heifer International Foundation Board of Trustees. He is a recognized authority on the world-wide dairy industry and is a frequent speaker at international conferences. In 2013 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the American Feed Industry Association.
Elisa was born in Ragusa, Sicily and was educated as forage chemist and milk and cheese quality technician. In her region, she worked with dairy producers to improve milk and cheese quality and also spent several years studying the production, conservation and utilization of forages with particular focus on the quality of the native pasture
Mike Drennan is co-founder of venture | dairy and developed a career in accounting and finance in the UK and Europe before moving to the USA in 1993 to become the CFO of Anchor Hocking Packaging, followed by CFO of APV North America.
Mike now provides his expertise in the dairy industry to support sustainable and economically viable dairy value chains in emerging economies.
He served as CFO for Milk Specialties Global from 2001 to 2011 where he was committed to creating a financially accountable and sustainable organization. During his tenure, Mike was integral to the company's growth and helped the business to become the leading independent dairy products processor in North America over the next decade.
Walter is a consultant and educator on dairy farm management and animal health. After Peace Corps service in West Africa he earned a veterinary education and an MS in parasitology at the University of Illinois. Walter practiced in Southern California in an exclusive dairy practice for ten years, gaining expertise in milk quality, reproduction, mastitis prevention and calf raising. He also did consulting in several Western states and Mexico. In 1989 Walter became a clinical professor at the University of California, Davis, founding the clinical teaching program and doing published research on mastitis treatment and digital dermatitis. He also gained expertise in records analysis and dairy nutrition and was the mentor to several residents.
Dr. Walter Guterbock joined Venture Dairy in 2014 and participated in the development of the prescriptive model for dairy management in Kenya and India.