The New York Apple Association has chosen Julia Stewart to be its spokesperson.

Stewart is based in Washington, D.C. She was vice president of public relations for the U.S. Apple Association from 1993 to 2004 and public relations director for the Produce Marketing Association from 2008 to 2011. In 2004, she started Clarity Communications LLC, a public relations and crisis communications management company, which she still operates.

She has been working with the New York Apple Association since last May. Her responsibilities include planning and carrying out media outreach activities to promote New York apples. Stewart is married to Dennis Courtier, owner of Pepin Heights Orchards in Lake City, Minnesota.