MINNEAPOLIS — Suzanne McCarty, a longtime leader at Cargill responsible for coordinating the company’s efforts to bring healthy, nutritious and safe food to K-12 schools and colleges and universities, retired Jan. 3.

A 24-year veteran at Cargill, Ms. McCarty spent the past eight years as business development manager-education for Cargill Foodservice, where she served as a member of Cargill’s Foodservice Sales team to develop strategic directions for the government segment focusing on K-12 schools and colleges and universities. She had responsibility for key markets within top states for the K-12 category, working to promote participation in the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs by identifying distinctive solutions to help drive participation. She also worked with school specialists to promote Cargill’s value-added services. Earlier in her career at Cargill she was senior director of community engagement, where she worked to build relationships and enhance Cargill’s local and global brand.

Prior to Cargill she was director of development at St. David’s Child Development and Family Services and director development at the United Way.

“I am grateful for the wide variety of experiences, friendships that have been formed and leaders I have learned from,” Ms. McCarty noted in a Jan. 3 posting on LinkedIn. “But mostly I am grateful for the amazing efforts of the customers that I have worked with along the way. Whether it’s feeding children at K-12 schools, engaging community leaders and youth or promoting environmental sustainability — these organizations and people give me a sense of hope. I am excited for the future and plan to stay engaged in many ways (including on the ski slopes!).”