GDST names Greg Brown inaugural executive director

The Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability (GDST) has announced that Greg Brown will become GDST’s inaugural executive director.

Brown will begin in his new position 1 February, taking the helm of an organization that has seen steady growth since the release of the GDST standard in March 2020, with more than 100 companies now committed to implementing GDST traceability standards in their practices.

“The GDST is already making great contributions to the future of seafood, and it is poised to do a lot more. I am honored and fully energized to be taking on this role,” Brown said.

Brown comes to the role with experience in the food, beverage, seafood, and seafood certification sectors. Since 2017, Brown has occupied several senior roles within the Global Seafood Alliance (GSA), including managing certification and CSR functions associated with Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP). Other seafood experience includes work for NSF International to manage global seafood operations and all certification activities in China. Brown also brings experience in the food and beverage industry with Caesars Entertainment, Flying Food Group, U.S. Foodservice/Monarch Food, and Darden Restaurants.

“We are delighted that Greg Brown has stepped up to take the reins as the GDST enters an exciting period of growth and institutional solidification,” Culinary Collaborations LLC CEO Michael McNicholas, who led the hiring process on behalf of the GDST’s industry-based steering committee, said in a press release. “He has the combination of strategic vision and operational know-how that the GDST needs going into its next phase.”

The GDST has the goal of bringing together companies from around the globe and across different parts of the seafood supply chain to implement an international, business-to-business platform to develop a framework for interoperable and verifiable seafood traceability, and the hiring of Brown as executive director will advance that mission, according to David Schorr, who co-chairs the GDST Steering Committee on behalf of the global conservation organization WWF.

“Greg Brown brings both deep business experience and a strong commitment to the GDST’s mission. We look forward to his leadership as he works with industry and a broad range of stakeholders to help transform how seafood traceability supports sustainable seafood,” Schorr said.

Photo courtesy of GDST