Risa DeMasi views the grass seed industry much the way a conductor regards a symphony orchestra. She both understands and appreciates all of the seemingly disparate elements and is uniquely adept at bringing them together to perform beautifully. Innovators and traditionalists, vendors and customers, sowers and reapers – Risa works to find novel solutions to all of their growing concerns.
A native Oregonian, Risa grew up on a small beef farm and studied music at Hesston Mennonite College in Kansas. She was drawn back to her agrarian roots in 1988, when she began her career in the seed industry as a shipping assistant for Olsen-Fennell Seeds. Advancing to a sales position, she became the National Customer Service Manager of ABT until the year 2000, when she co-founded Grassland Oregon, now known as GO Seed. Here she has overseen marketing, sales and government affairs and held active senior positions with the Oregon Seed Association, the Southern Seed Association, a charter member of the Oregon Invasive Species Council, and active in the Atlantic Seed Association (where she was named “Seedsman of the Year” in 2007),
In 2013, Risa became the first woman to serve as an officer of the American Seed Trade Association in its 130-year history, and in June 2015 was named Chairman of ASTA. Here, her skills as a “symphony conductor” were particularly valuable for advancing the industry’s interests through national and international policy debates.
Risa resides in Salem, Oregon, with her husband, Michael, who is, not surprisingly, a musician.