Leadership

Steve Baxley is the Sr. Vice President of Operations for United Dairymen of Arizona, a milk marketing cooperative based in Tempe, AZ. As a child, Mr. Baxley grew up in Tempe just one mile down the road from his future employer. He started at UDA in May of 1984, as a powder bagger, and over the course of 7 years had the opportunity to work in every area of the plant. In 1991, he was promoted to a supervisor role and has had the opportunity to manage many different departments throughout the plant. In his current role as SVP of Operations he provides oversight to plant, maintenance, purchasing, quality, warehousing/logistics, transportation, and environmental operations related to the plant and related facilities.

Bio coming soon …

Mark Hocking is the CFO of United Dairymen of Arizona (UDA) in Tempe, AZ. Mark joined UDA in 1992, is a Certified Public Accountant and has a BS in Accounting from Arizona State University. He also is member of the National Society of Accountants for Cooperatives and the Arizona Society of CPA’s. He has served as the QCS Captive Insurance Board Member in various roles and as a Board Member in several UDA’s joint ventures. 

During the last 20 years, Stephen Jaffe has been a ground up partner to dozens of industries and verticals including manufacturing to cloud-based healthcare technology. With core strengths in teambuilding, process improvement, executive partnership and technology strategy, Stephen has successfully built technology-focused programs designed to drive cost savings and efficiencies. Using technology to drive innovation, identify opportunities for process efficiencies, and build deep-dive data dashboards and reporting, he has been responsible for a diverse portfolio of successes in Desktop Support, Customer service, infrastructure management, Managed IT
services, and Cybersecurity.

Since 2006, Stephen has held leadership roles in Information Technology, Process Improvement, Operations Management, Cybersecurity, and most recently as Vice President of Information Technology with United Dairymen of Arizona spearheading initiatives around Operational Technology, Cybersecurity, and Data Architecture. Prior to joining UDA, Stephen worked in ISO certified healthcare SaaS, contract manufacturing, and Managed Services IT.

Stephen has bolstered a Bachelors of Interdisciplinary Studies – Asian Studies from Carlton University in Ottawa, Ontario, and an Associate’s Degree in Computer Networking Technology from Eastern Idaho Technical College. He has also attained several additional industry leading technology certifications such as Amazon AWS, Microsoft Server technology, and Cisco Networking. Combined with engaging teams and developing great partnerships, Stephen is comfortable in the Data Center as well as the boardroom providing business changing results.

After 21 years of happy marriage, Stephen and his wife are empty nesters now supporting an uncomfortable amount of cats and technology. Stephen fills his free time learning new technologies, mentoring other members of the technology community, and participating in Phoenix’s rich technology culture as a servant leader.

Ashley Ellixson is the Chief Business Operations Officer at United Dairymen of Arizona. In her role, Ashley oversees UDA’s Communications, Information Technology, Human Resources, Safety, Legal Operations, and Logistics Departments. Additionally, she is responsible for government relations, all legal issues that may arise, as well as the coop’s sustainability efforts.

After completing a B.S. in Business Finance at Arizona State University, she attended Texas Tech University School of Law where she received a J.D. with a certificate of Science, Engineering, and Technology Law before moving on to receive an LL.M. in Agricultural and Food Law from University of Arkansas School of Law.

Ashley currently serves on committees and task forces for the Innovation Center for U.S Dairy, National Milk Producers Federation as well as the International Dairy Foods Association. Ashley’s love and passion for the dairy industry stems from being born and raised on her family’s dairy in Gilbert, Arizona.

With 20 years of experience in Human Resources across a variety of industries, Kristen McCarthy is a versatile leader with proven success designing and delivering strategic, targeted people programs aligned to support corporate business objectives and drive profitable results. Her expertise as an HR Business Partner includes cultural transformation, communications, organizational design, M&A, HR Due Diligence & Integration, Compensation & Benefits Administration, and HR Operations.

Since 2017, Kristen has held top HR leadership roles in the dairy manufacturing industry. As Chief Administrative Officer at Valley Milk in Turlock, CA, Kristen was charged with building and scaling the people and administrative functions of a fully integrated dairy processing start-up before joining United Dairymen of Arizona in Tempe, AZ as Vice President of Human Resources & Risk in January 2021. In this capacity, Kristen is accountable for all people-related services and programs of a $1B full-service dairy cooperative with over 300 employees. Prior to entering the dairy industry, Kristen’s experience included roles of progressive responsibility in commercial real estate, food ingredients, medical device manufacturing, and financial services.

Kristen earned a Bachelor of Science in Social Sciences from Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS and a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in HR Management from the Brennan School of Business at Dominican University in River Forest, IL. She has been certified as a Professional in Human Resources (PHR) through the Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI) since 2007 and is a 360 Degree Feedback Advanced Coach through DecisionWise.

As a full-time working mother, Kristen is a passionate advocate for equality in the workplace. She considers herself a servant leader who believes that empowerment, appreciation, and accountability foster a strong and collaborative organizational culture that will always drive strong bottom-line business results.

Heidi Myers is a Director of Food Safety & Quality who establishes and maintains food safety and quality policies and programs to ensure compliance with regulatory and customer expectations.  She also directs the management of the onsite laboratory that performs testing on incoming, in process, and finished products.  

Heidi believes that food safety and quality are crucial elements in food manufacturing.  During her 14 year tenure at UDA, she has helped the facility achieve SQF certification and the lab become accredited against ISO 17025.  She serves as the HACCP Coordinator and is certified as a SQF Practitioner and PCQI.  Heidi holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Agronomy and Master’s degree in Agriculture, both from Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas.

Dave earned a BS in Biology from University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire and an MBA from Liberty University. He is a twice published co-author and is an active committee member/chair/SME on several national dairy organizations including IDFA, National Milk Producers Federation, and Dairy Innovation Center. His deep understanding of our industry, our products, and the criticality of food safety, combined with his successful track record, make Dave an ideal leader to help take our Food Safety & Quality to the next level in support UDA’s scalable growth and promising future.

With 29 years of experience in Dairy Industry across a variety of industries, Doug Hubby is a versatile leader with proven success delivering strategic programs at the corporate and farm levels. With farm facing programs he has aligned to support corporate business objectives and drive profitable results. His expertise as a Dairy Specialist includes farm cultural transformation, communications, organizational design, P & L, Due Diligence & Integration, product evaluations, and Dairy Operations.

Since 20O8, Doug has held top Dairy leadership roles in the dairy industry. As a National technical manager for DSM. Doug was charged with building new innovations thru products designed to forward reproduction in dairy cattle across many categories. Doug also served Elanco as National Key Account Manager working with the largest dairy accounts across the nation driving nutritional and vaccine knowledge. Thru his roles he has been invited to many Universities and Dairy events Nationally and Internationally to speak on a variety of dairy industry topics. Doug Joined United Dairymen of Arizona April 2021 as Director of Dairy Services and Compliance. Doug is accountable for all farm-related services and programs of a $1B full-service dairy cooperative with over 67 farms.

Doug and his wife Lora live in Phoenix Arizona and have four children (Natalie, Emily, Stephanie and Sophie). Doug is a passionate leader in the workplace. He  considers himself a servant leader to the dairymen he represents. He believes that empowerment, appreciation, and accountability foster a strong and collaborative organizational culture that will always drive strong bottom-line business results.