Graciela Montgomery has joined Santa Paula, California-based Calavo Growers Inc., a leader in the avocado and value-added fresh food industries, as its first chief human resources officer, effective Oct. 11.
In this role, Montgomery will oversee human resources, training, talent development and recruitment for Calavo, which has nearly 4,000 employees across the U.S. and in Mexico. Montgomery brings extensive knowledge of national and multinational companies in the human resources arena. 
“With a career that spans over 30 years, Graciela brings exceptional experience across all facets of human resources strategy and development on a global scale. She is a very capable human resources leader with the strategic know-how to build our HR organization to support a growing enterprise like Calavo,” said Steven Hollister, interim CEO of Calavo Growers.
“In her seven-year tenure at Deckers Brands, Graciela spearheaded HR efforts that helped support that company’s revenue increase from $250 million to $2 billion. As we set the stage for our next major phase of growth, having Graciela at the head of our HR function, as well as on our executive leadership team, will ensure that we continue to build a world-class organization. We are delighted to welcome her aboard,” he said.
Prior to joining Calavo, Montgomery led a consultancy specializing in the areas of leadership, organizational design, cultural transformation and change management. Prior to that role, she held senior human resources positions with National Public Radio, Deckers Brands, AECOM, Nortel Networks and Citibank, where she led initiatives in human resources development, recruiting, performance management and total rewards.
Montgomery has a bachelor’s degree in communications and media from California State University, Los Angeles.
Calavo Growers Inc. is a global avocado-industry leader and provider of value-added fresh food serving retail grocery, foodservice, club stores, mass merchandisers, food distributors and wholesalers worldwide.
