Meet the Staff

Mike Joyner

As president, Mike Joyner leads FFVA’s day-to-day operations, overseeing the association’s work in the areas of advocacy, labor, food safety, water and natural resources, crop protection, transportation, trade and more. With more than 35 years of experience in the agriculture industry, Mike has been recognized as one of the most influential business leaders in Florida agriculture for several years in Florida Trend’s Florida 500. Prior to being named president of FFVA in 2018, Mike served as assistant commissioner of agriculture and chief of staff for Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, helping to lead the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for almost eight years.

Mike currently serves on the Agriculture Policy Advisory Committee to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Trade Representative; The Center for Produce Safety Board of Directors, the University of Florida Leadership and Education Foundation, Inc.; and several other state and national industry boards, committees and advisory groups.

Brenda Kotsikas

As executive assistant to the president, Brenda Kotsikas serves as liaison to FFVA’s Executive Committee and Board of Directors. She also serves as the meeting and event manager, overseeing the association’s various functions and helping to coordinate and plan FFVA’s annual convention. 

Mike Aerts

Mike Aerts represents grower interests on critical areas of importance to FFVA members including pest management, crop production practices, food safety and international marketing access related to crop production needs. Mike also serves as president of Third Party Registrations Inc., an FFVA subsidiary that manages the registration process under liability limitation for specific pest management tools that would not otherwise be available to FFVA producer members.

Jamie Fussell

Jamie Fussell's primary responsibility is representing the association in labor related legislative efforts on the federal level. He advises growers on employment records, worker training, housing, OSHA regulations and the Fair Labor Standards Act. Fussell also is responsible for coordinating members’ use of the H-2A guest worker program and assisting with compliance efforts with labor laws affecting agriculture. Fussell also leads the Agricultural Labor Relations Forum held annually in Orlando. Agricultural employers from across the country attend to learn about wage and hour compliance, the Worker Protection Standard, and the H-2A program. Fussell is a licensed attorney and a member of the Florida Bar.

Bryn Fussell

Bryn Fussell serves as the Director of Membership for the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association and Executive Director of the Florida Specialty Crop Foundation. In her dual role, Fussell leads FFVA’s membership recruitment, retention, and administration efforts, while also overseeing the Foundation’s key initiatives, including several scholarship programs and the Emerging Leader Development Program (ELDP). Prior to joining FFVA, Fussell was the Director of the Youth Academy at Orlando Family Stage, one of the largest nonprofit professional theatres for young audiences in the United States and the only one of its kind in Florida.

Peter Chaires

Peter Chaires serves as Executive Vice President of Florida Citrus Packers and Executive Director of New Varieties Development & Management Corp. NVDMC seeks to acquire, evaluate, license, sub-license, protect and manage proprietary citrus varieties on behalf of the Florida grower. NVDMC is funded through a contract with the Florida Department of Citrus with multiple varieties under commercial contract varieties under evaluation contract domestically and internationally. NVDMC supports targeted variety development research at UF and USDA. With the Florida Citrus Packers, Chaires manages business development, market access and food safety projects. Chaires is also manager of the Citrus Administrative Committee.

Mikayla Rogers

In her role as water and natural resources manager, Mikayla Rogers oversees and collaborates with Florida's five regional water management districts, state agencies, and local municipalities. Her responsibilities include advising FFVA members on key regulatory and legislative developments concerning water resources, land use and property rights.

Christina Morton

Christina Morton manages FFVA's communication with its members and the media. She directs a variety of communication channels, including the association's annual report, blog content and member alerts. Morton is responsible for planning and coordinating FFVA's annual convention. Specializing in media relations and crisis communication, she is nationally accredited in public relations. She also serves on the communications committee for the Alliance for Food & Farming and is actively involved in the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) at the local, state and national level.

Veronica Figueroa

As communications manager, Veronica Figueroa is responsible for ensuring members are fully informed on industry issues through a variety of channels, including FFVA.com, our Harvester blog, numerous email newsletters, digests and bulletins, and social media. She serves as a board member on the Public Relations Society of America’s Orlando Chapter.