b'AFTER 15 YEARS with the Canadian Seed Growers Association (CSGA), including the last five as executive director, Doug Miller is stepping downand leaving behind an organization that looks meaningfully different than the one he joined.Miller describes the decision as deeply personal. When you spend 15 years with any organization, it speaks to how great of a place it is, he says, pointing to the staff, board, and members as the reason the job felt like home.That loyalty is telling. In the seed world, tenure isnt just a rsum lineits a signal that you stayed long enough to earn trust, absorb complexity, and still have the energy to push change through a system that doesnt always welcome it.A Leader Who Made the Organization MoveCSGA President Glenn Logan remembers the moment Miller stepped into the executive director role as a pivot point. Doug Miller with CSGA Past-President Dale Connell.I pushed pretty hard to get Doug to come on as our executive director, Logan says. And when he did, it was like a breath of fresh air.Logan is quick to clarify that the executive directors before Miller werent inferior. Its just that Miller brought a different kind of leadership engine.Doug has a technical mind, an innovative bent to him, Logan says.Its not a small statement coming from the associations president, and it gets at something thats often missed when people talk about agricultural leadership: the best leaders arent always the most political. Sometimes theyre the ones who can translate complexity into momentum.The Misunderstood Role at the Heart of Canadas Seed SystemOne of Millers consistent priorities has been correcting a per-sistent misconception about what CSGA is.To many, its easy to lump CSGA into the category of lobby or grower groups. But Miller has repeatedly emphasized that CSGA is, at its core, a certification body that co-regulates with the Government of Canada to deliver seed certificationa critical public-good service.That distinction matters more now than ever, because Millers tenure has coincided with some of the most consequen-tial seed policy shifts in decades, most notably seed regulatory modernization (SRM).Stepping away before SRM is fully complete, Miller admits, isnt easy. But he expresses confidence in the organizations direction and leadership.The vision doesnt change, Miller says. Its the same mes-sage, just a different person delivering it.Innovation That Wasnt Shinyit was Difficult, But Critical Doug Miller is seen here with Canadian Seed Growers Association Innovation is a word that gets thrown around casually. In agri- Chief Operating Officer Caroline Lafontaine and board members culture, it often gets reduced to a new product, a new platform,Glenn Logan and Carl Bolton at the recent Governance Professionals of Canada awards night. CSGA picked up the 2025 Organizational or a new acronym. Governance Award.MARCH 2026SEEDWORLD.COM/CANADA 23'