Mohamed named ICFB’s executive director
E TheL CENTRO — Brea Mohamed has always dreamed of being a part of the Imperial County Farm Bureau.
Imperial native grew up with a passion for agriculture and always admired the work of ICFB’s former Executive Director, Linsey Dale.
Mohamed set a personal goal of one day overseeing the bureau — and achieved that goal as she was recently named ICFB’s new Executive Director.
The farm bureau announced on Dec. 8 that Mohamed would take over the position, which was formally held by Dale from January 2009 until December 2017.
“She is now in the position to put her education and training to use by representing and advocating for an industry she truly loves,” expressed Dale, who now serves as the county of Imperial’s Public Information Officer. “I have no doubts Brea will be an exceptional representative of the Valley’s farmers, ranchers and the ag community. I see Brea as the perfect leader for the next generation of farmers and the future of Imperial Valley agriculture.”
As she begins her new role at ICFB on Monday, Mohamed will continue to see Dale as one of her biggest role models.
“I saw some of the great things she was doing here as an executive director at the farm bureau and she’s always inspired me to be able to see how I can push myself to be better and do more,” Mohamed said. “She’s always been someone who inspires me and someone who I saw as making such a great impact for Imperial Valley agriculture and I hope that I could be able to one day do as well as she has. I’m happy to now be in this position right after and be able to work closely with her through this transition as I start to take on some of her old projects and also some of my new ones.”
Mohamed hopes to improve the bureau’s public relations and continue to show the community what agriculturalists are truly doing for the Valley.
As a private, non-profit membership-based advocacy organization, the farm bureau currently services approximately 800 members consisting of local farmers, ranchers, landowners and farm service providers.
“If it wasn’t for the farmers and ranchers who are working to create our food and fiber, we wouldn’t have food on our plates or clothes on our backs,” said Mohamed. “So I really recognize all that agriculture does for the whole broader community and I love the fact that this position tries to stand up for them and I’d be able to do anything in my power to ensure their success.”
Prior to her new position, Mohammed served the Imperial Irrigation District as a Water Operations Analysts for two years and earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Agricultural Business from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo University.
Coincidentally, her father also graduated from Cal Poly with an Agricultural Business degree.
Mohamed was born in San Luis Obispo, until her parents, both Imperial natives, moved back to the Valley.
Her interest in agriculture began at an early age after watching her father work in the Valley’s produce industry.
Growing up, the new ICFB executive director was a member of the Southwest Valley 4-H program and raised pigs for the California Mid-Winter Fair.
It was only until after joining her high school’s FFA program as a sophomore at Imperial High School that Mohamed realized she had more than just a casual interest in agriculture.
Before graduating from Imperial High in 2011, Mohamed became more involved in agriculture advocacy for her school’s FFA program, and even traveled to Sacramento one year for an FFA conference and held different leadership positions in both her chapter and the Imperial section.
“That’s how I figured out that I wanted to make agriculture my career,” recalled Mohamed. “I just loved advocating for agriculturalist. It was a passion of mine to speak up on behalf of agriculture and tell the broader community the great things agriculture does for them.”
After graduating from Cal Poly, Mohamed moved back to the Valley to work for Imperial Irrigation District’s on-farm efficiency conversation program in 2015, during which she assisted farmers and landowners with multiple irrigation-related practices and programs.
“I learned a lot more details than what I would’ve known beforehand because I was able to go out to the field or see their applications and have them explain what they’re doing to conserve water,” reflected Mohamed on her time at IID. “I loved the different interactions I had with the growers during my time there and knew that I wanted to have even more interaction with them, and this job came up. It’s actually been my dream job since I was in high school because I knew I would get to work handin-hand with them to ensure the success of agriculture here.”