Speakers




Craig Regelbrugge  is the American Nursery & Landscape Association's Senior Director of Government Relations. In that capacity, he oversees ANLA's entire government relations program and relationships with national, regional, and state green industry groups. Craig serves in a leadership capacity on several national committees and coalitions including the Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform (ACIR), a coalition of over 300 agricultural groups focused solely on immigration reform. Before working with ANLA, Craig was an Agricultural Extension Agent for Fairfax County, Virginia, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He received a Bachelor of Science in Horticulture (Cum Laude) from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, in Blacksburg, Virginia, in 1986.



                                             

  Frank Gasperini is the Executive Vice President of the National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE) located in Washington, DC. NCAE focuses on agricultural labor issues from the employer perspective and is active in broad coalitions to promote positive immigration reform and labor enforcement at the federal level. Prior to joining NCAE Frank held a varity of sales, marketing, and professional association staff positions in agricultural industries. Frank’s background includes both specialty and production agricultural marketing, issues-management, and lobbying legislators and regulators at the state and federal levels. A native of Ohio, Frank received Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Agriculture from The Ohio State University and his MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management, Chicago. Frank earned his Certified Association Executive (CAE) credentials in 2006. Frank is a frequent speaker on government affairs issues important to agricultural and specialty crop communities around the country. He and his wife Sandy live in Leesburg, Virginia.


 Paul Baker, Executive Director
                                                                              New York State Horticultural Society, Geneva, NY

  Alison DeMarree, Production Economist,
                                   Lake Ontario Fruit Program, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Newark, NY


  Angela Adams is a Director in the Immigration Practice Group at Lewis & Kappes, P.C. in Indianapolis, Indiana. She earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Public Affairs from Indiana University (1997) and her J.D. from the Indiana University School of Law in 2004.  Angela serves on the Steering Committee for the Indiana Alliance for Immigration Reform which created the "Indiana Compact", a declaration of five principles to guide immigration reform.  In 2011 she was recognized as a "Woman of Influence" by the Indianapolis Business Journal.  A frequent speaker on immigration issues, she recently helped organize the Midwest Summit on Immigration: Forging a New Consensus on Immigrants and America. Ms. Adams has lived in both Spain and Mexico where she studied Spanish and                                                     taught English.



     Monte Lake is a member of the law firm CJ Lake, LLC. For over 30 years, his national practice has encompassed employment and business immigration law. He has successfully litigated a wide range of matters in federal court throughout the United States involving individual and class claims. He also has written numerous amicus curiae briefs on behalf of employer
organizations in significant employment and immigration litigation before the federal courts, and
the California and United States Supreme Courts.
Mr. Lake also is involved in the development of public policy before the Congress and federal
agencies, where he has obtained successful legislative and regulatory results on immigration and
employment issues. He has testified before Congress on employment-related immigration
issues. Clients value his capacity to combine knowledge of legal issues with a deep
understanding of the practical operation of the Congress and government agencies that interpret
and enforce the law.
Mr. Lake serves as counsel to several national and regional associations of agricultural
employers. Prior to joining the firm, he was a senior partner in the prominent Washington, DC
labor and employment law firm, McGuiness Norris & Williams for over 20 years. He previously
served as a Deputy District Attorney and Deputy Attorney General in Sacramento, California.
He is a member of the District of Columbia and California bars, and has been admitted to
practice before numerous federal district and appellate courts throughout the U.S., as well as the
U.S. Supreme Court.

In the 1980’s, Mr. Lake was appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture to serve as a
representative on the USDA’s Users Advisory Committee and has served as a co-chair of the
District of Columbia Bar’s EEO Subcommittee. He regularly teaches continuing legal education
courses on government relations and the law for the DC Bar. He is a member of the American
Immigration Lawyers Association.



  Tom Maloney  is a Senior Extension Associate in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University.  He received his Bachelors and Masters in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University.  He began his career as a Cooperative Extension Agent working in Cortland County New York.  In 1985 he joined Cornell University and has been responsible for Extension programs in human resource management and agricultural labor policy.  He has conducted applied research and educational programs in a variety of human resource related areas including employee recruitment, compensation, employee performance and motivation.  In the past 10 years, Tom’s work has focused on Latino workforce and immigration reform issues.  In 2005 and 2007 he led groups of farm managers to Mexico to visit the communities that New York farm workers migrate from.  In 2007 he received the Cornell Cooperative Extension Diversity and Inclusion Award for his work relating to the Latino workforce.  He has recently co-authored several research publications relating to Latino workforce and immigration issues.





   Bob Milligan is Senior Consultant with Dairy Strategies, LLC – a business, leadership and human resource consulting business focused on the ag sector.  Bob is also Professor Emeritus in the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University.  At Cornell he was an award-winning instructor in the 3rd ranked undergraduate business program (2012 Businessweek ranking).  Bob is best known in extension for developing and leading the PRO-DAIRY Program – a program that developed and taught leadership and management principles and concepts.  These ideas and materials have been used throughout the country.  Bob’s vision is to provide insight to managers by presenting complex human resource and business concepts in formats that are understandable and useable. Bob is a pioneer in creating blended learning experiences (face to face, webcast, individual coaching) that maximize learner implementation.  Bob currently a) teaches and coaches leaders and managers of 12-15 farms and agribusinesses, b) speaks and teaches at numerous executive education programs and conferences, c) collaborates on Dairy Strategy projects, and d) continues his own professional development.  Dr. Milligan has received numerous teaching and extension awards including being named
a J. Thomas Clark Professor of Entrepreneurship and Personal Enterprise and the National Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Teaching Award of Merit.  Bob lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.