As Ellen Sparry looks back on her three-year tenure as president of Seeds Canada, her voice is tinged with nostalgia, but also pride.
“My favorite memory? There are so many, really,” she begins. “But the one that stands out would be the first in-person meeting in Winnipeg. The excitement in the air was palpable, with members finally getting back together. It was the first time our board met in person since the amalgamation in 2021, so that was a big moment. There was a real buzz in the halls, lots of conversations—good memories all around.”
Sparry sat down for an interview at the recent Seeds Canada annual meeting in Edmonton, Alta. Her tenure as president has been marked by a commitment to guiding Seeds Canada through its formative years, ensuring that the organization took confident steps in the right direction.
“No president gets there without the help of staff, members, and the rest of the board,” she reflects. “For me, the goal was to make sure Seeds Canada got off on the right foot and that our members could see the value in the amalgamation. That was really my main focus—getting us headed in the right direction.”
But like any leader, Sparry recognizes that not everything goes exactly as planned. When asked if there was something she wished she could do over, she pauses thoughtfully. “I don’t really view it that way,” she says.
“Sure, there are things we could have approached differently, but for me, it was always about taking each step carefully, rechecking our progress, and then moving forward. It’s like driving in downtown Toronto—you take it one block at a time. If you think about the whole journey, it can get overwhelming. So, I’ve always focused on making sure we’re listening to our members and the industry, ensuring we’re on the right path.”
Looking at the organization’s accomplishments, Sparry is particularly proud of how Seeds Canada hit the ground running. “We started in challenging circumstances—two votes, a redirected business plan, and then navigating through COVID with new staff and members,” she recalls. “But we managed to keep the momentum going. The Seed Summit, where we had 700 people register, really stands out as a success. It shows the industry’s desire to keep moving forward, and the fact that we did it all without meeting in person until later is a testament to our resilience.”
A key topic of discussion during Sparry’s presidency has been the push for an Independent Standards Setting Body (ISSB), an initiative that Seeds Canada is advocating for. “Advisory bodies are crucial for moving the industry forward,” Sparry explains. “Having that link with the government through an advisory group allows us to make changes more efficiently. Do we want to wait another 100 years to make big changes? No. We need to make continuous progress, and the ISSB is a step in that direction.”
