Samantha joined the GPGA staff as Executive Director in February of 2017, following her passion of supporting farmers and being an advocate for agriculture. Prior to GPGA, Samantha worked for Case IH Agriculture for 5 years, first in a Commercial Rotational Development program, then as a Commercial Product Trainer, and finally as the Southeastern Crop Production Sales Specialist representing the manufacturer’s line-up of planters, seeding, and tillage equipment across seven states.

Outside of GPGA, Samantha is happily married to Robert McLeod III and lives just outside of Tifton, GA. Together they have two beautiful boys, Arlan (3) and Curtis (1) and enjoy running their small herd of Registered Black Angus cattle and helping out on the family’s farm.

Originally from Omega, Georgia, Sheila graduated from Tift County High School in 1985 and then went on to graduate from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, located in Tifton, Georgia in 1987. She went back to school to obtain a degree in Accounting from Moultrie Technical College in 2012. Prior to coming onboard with GPGA, Sheila homeschooled her 4 children from 1991 until 2013 from kindergarten through their graduation.

Outside of GPGA Sheila is happily married to Scot Harnage. The two share four children and two step grandchildren. Sheila is actively involved in her church and loves to spend time with family.

A native of Tifton, Amy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism degree and Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Georgia. Prior to joining the GPGA team, Amy worked at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College for 5 years and, prior to that, lived and worked in Atlanta for 8 years in both state government and the private sector.

Outside of GPGA Amy and her husband, Courtney, have three children and are active in their schools, church and community.

Andrew, Tifton, GA native, graduated from Tift County High School in spring of 2018. He is currently a full time staff member here at GPGA where he focuses mainly on our bi-monthly magazine, The Pecan Grower. As well, Andrew is heavily involved in photography, spending much of his time photographing pecans around the state of Georgia. He plans to attend the University of Alabama in the Fall of 2021, furthering his education.

Outside of GPGA Andrew loves to travel. Some of his favorite trips to date are Southern California and New York City, New York. When he isn’t on weekend trips, he loves spending time with his 6 year old niece. Andrew owns a photography business, Andrew E. McBrayer Photography, which he opened in late 2017, where he focuses on families, portraits and landscape photography.

Nicole, a Tifton native, graduated from Tift County Highschool in 2017. She attended Abraham Baldwin Agriculture College for two years before transferring to the University of Georgia. Nicole graduated in December 2019 with a Bachelor's in Agriculture Education and Leadership at the University of Georgia. Nicole joined the GPGA staff in January 2018 to gain experience in agriculture and to share her love for pecans and their importance to Georgia Agriculture.

Outside of GPGA, Nicole is an active alumni member for the University of Georgia College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences. She recently got married on October 10th. Both her and her husband, Tristan, share a love of the outdoors and agriculture. She credits her Dad, Del Taylor, in giving her a passion for agriculture as well as her Mom and sister for helping support all her endeavors.