Connect With Agricultural Associations Candidates

Skilled manager who focuses on staff development, empowering employees, building coalitions, and fostering dialog and delivering measurable results. Leader who embraces the education philosophy and is passionate about identifying actions that drive results. Critical thinker who utilizes strategic planning and analytics to identify root causes, responsibilities, and actions steps that will further organizational and business successes. Transformational leader who uses the organization’s vision to tap into employees’ and members’ emotions to build motivation and drive change. Courageously willing to take calculated risks to achieve goals, while also possessing the humility to admit mistakes and take responsibility to learn from them.

President and Chief Executive Officer

State Association for Professionals

3 Years – Current Employer

• Manage overall operations and resources for the association and service corporation

• Implementing the association’s and service corporation’s vision and mission

• Communicating to internal and external stakeholders, the public, and government entities on behalf of both organizations

• Leading the development of both organization’s long and short-term strategies for increasing member value

• Assessing risks to both organizations and working to monitor and minimize those risks

• Maintain awareness of the market, expansion opportunities, and industry developments

• Direct, educate, evaluate, and motivate the work of team members and association leaders

Manager, Membership Development and Training

Farm Bureau

6 Years

• Recruit, manage, coach, and train new regional representative staff

• Analyze the membership market and build a plan to train volunteers and staff to fulfill organizational needs

• Maintain an organizational approach to monitor, pinpoint weaknesses, and provide training for county driven membership campaigns

• Develop and host leadership development workshops and conferences to strengthen the leadership pipeline for county Farm Bureaus

• Facilitate county Farm Bureau’s abilities to increase member involvement and elevate the value proposition of the membership

Regional Representative

Farm Bureau

5 Years

• Motivate volunteers to be successful leaders in the organization and on their own operations

• Implement the personal development plan

• Implemented changes in the county Farm Bureaus to enhance leadership effectiveness, development and training

• Manage people, time and opportunities for organizational growth

• Increased participation in volunteer activities by an average of 10%

• Work collaboratively with other organizations and businesses to build workshops, conferences, and meetings with outcomes that serve the purpose of all involved

Operations Administrator

Metropolitan Authority

2 Years

• Hire, train, schedule and manage employees for three departments and supervise a staff of 105 persons and 30 volunteers

• Responsible for the proper accounting of total park revenue, prepare daily deposits, food service reconciliations and report discrepancies to the Authority auditor

• Plan, coordinate and manage special events

• Developed a detailed budget ($26.2 million) to be approved by Controller and Board of Commissioners

• Dispatch police department and handle emergency situations and patron concerns in a professional manner

Education

Doctor of Education, Organizational Leadership and Development

Master of Science, Administration and Leadership

Bachelor of Science, Parks, Recreation, and Tourism; Natural Resource Management

25 years of experience working in government agencies and agricultural associations. I have a Master of Public Policy degree. I have strong leadership skills and strive for efficiency, effectiveness, value, and a customer focus.

Chief of Staff

United States Department of Agriculture

3 Years – Current Employer

• Support the Under Secretary with the management of a mission area consisting of 20,000 employees across three agencies, more than 4,100 county offices and a combined budget of nearly $30 billion. Handle day-to-day management of the mission area.

• Work strategically and collaboratively across agencies and within USDA to serve farmers and ranchers. Work to instill a sense of agency in the mission area.

• Mission Area lead for 2018 Farm Bill Implementation. Ensure all components of implementation – policy decisions, regulation drafting, IT development, outreach, staff training and surge staffing capacity – are moving to meet sign-up deadlines.

• Assess inquiries directed to the Under Secretary, determine the proper course of action and delegate to the appropriate person.

• Serve as the liaison between the mission area and the Secretary’s office to ensure we are aligned with the Secretary’s priorities.

Director of Agriculture

State Level Department of Agriculture

6 Years

• Led cabinet level state agency with a $96.6 million budget and 442 employees implementing 20 primary laws and administering 85 mandated programs. Measured 134 outcomes that aligned with four Department key goals that in turn aligned with governor’s goals

• Established a performance excellence culture that relied on accountability, employee engagement, and data driven decisions to improve program results and customer service for our stakeholders.

• Strove for efficiency, effectiveness, value and a customer focus. Some accomplishments included:

  • Worked with 97 food companies to expand exports leading to over $100 million in increased sales.

  • Increased year over year buyer participation by 50%, leading to buyers sourcing more state ingredients and products.

  • Worked to identify and remove credit card skimmers preventing approximately $4.2 million in fraud.

• Proactively secured state funding to implement a federal act to ensure state producers retained market access.

• Brought together a diverse group of stakeholders to focus on improving and maintaining water quality.

State Secretary of Agriculture

State Level Department of Agriculture

4 Years

• Led cabinet level state agency with a $20.4 million budget, 318 employees in 11 program areas implementing 40 major laws. Directly involved in human resources functions including, hiring, complaint investigation and dismissal.

• Protected the reputation of state beef and its position in the marketplace when bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease was discovered in Europe. Enhanced prohibited materials inspections, reinspected all feed mills and rendering plants, strengthened regulations, obtained civil penalty authority, and secured laboratory equipment capable of detecting bovine protein in feed samples.

• Proactively responded to Karnal bunt wheat threat to protect export markets for state wheat. Established a seed testing requirement and required combine cleaning to reduce the risk of infestation.

• Implemented a boll weevil trapping program to assure state USDA was boll weevil free. Boll weevil free status allowed state producers to more freely move their products to states and nations with boll weevil restrictions, eliminated the need for a boll weevil eradication area and the associated costs, and decreased crop insurance rates.

• Led efforts to create an identity for the Department by being consistent in the quality and content of communication tools from our logo to our publications to our presence on the Internet.

Legislative Liaison

4 Years

Vice President, Government Affairs

State Agribusiness Retailers Associations

3 Years

Director

Non-profit Agricultural Association

3 Years

Research Analyst

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

2 Years

Education

Master of Public Policy

Bachelor in General Studies

Experienced, self-starting association professional with emphasis on issues impacting potato production in the United States. Strengths and attributes include, but are not limited to a strong work ethic, established leadership skills, an eye for detail, project management. the ability to build consensus, good judgment, excellent communication skills, and the ability to work with media.

Director,ResearchandAnalysis

Agricultural Cooperative

6 Years

• Establish cooperative as the industry leader on national research funding efforts

• Manage the research committee and three adhoc industry committees

• Help steer more than $10 million in federal research funds to industry-supported projects

• Incorporate existing, external variety development programs into the cooperative

• Manage all aspects of 2 national programs

• Facilitate the transition to new technology in variety development programs, bringing more than 24,000 variety records online

• Develop and manage a $2 million budget, including voluntary processor contributions

• Report on the cooperative’s research activities and initiatives to many different industry audiences

• Produce annual research report in conjunction with the cooperative annual meeting

Senior Director, Legislative & Regulatory Affairs

A Non-profit National Vegetable Council

5 Years

• Be the voice for U.S. growers in Washington, D.C., on legislative and regulatory priorities

• Build strategic alliances in Congress and with national and state industry groups to advance potato policy initiatives

• Manage Trade Affairs, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, and Environmental Affairs Committees

• Report on policy priorities to Executive Committee, Board of Directors, and general membership

• Develop and manage all aspects of annual public policy conference in Washington, D.C., increasing industry reach by 28 percent within a year.

• Manage political action committee and guide a nearly 100 percent increase in membership contributions per election cycle

• Develop more than 50 statements of public comment on policy priorities for regulatory consideration

• Write issue papers, weekly newsletter articles, and op-eds for audiences ranging from farmers to policymakers, to consumers

Deputy Director in a department

U.S. Department of Agriculture

2 Years

• Work with private and public agricultural interests on legislative initiatives

• Support the White House and Secretary on trade-related events and strategic communication

• Manage semi-weekly USDA-wide council meetings for senior personnel

• Plan, coordinate, and execute official Secretary travel

Deputy Liaison

U.S. Department of Agriculture

2 Years

• Work with the White House to recruit qualified candidates for vacancies within the Administration

• Manage personnel files for approximately 100 Presidential appointees in the Agency

• Assist with Senate-confirmed and Senior Executive personnel portfolios

• Manage the interview and placement process of the Agricultural Internship Program

• Continue responsibilities held in previous role as Confidential Assistant (see below)

Confidential Assistant

U.S. Department of Agriculture

1 Year

• Write weekly Cabinet and Sub-Cabinet reports and assist with weekly report to the President

• Provide daily benchmark reports to the White House on the Hurricane Katrina recovery effort

• Draft, proofread, and edit talking points for the Secretary

ExecutiveAssistant

U.S. Senate

1 Year

• Staff the chief security officer

• Maintain orderly atmosphere in the reception area of a demanding, unpredictable office

• Assist Senators and staff with operational needs, including Gallery Passes and room reservations

Education

Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Communication Studies, cum laude

General Education Requirement

Certified Association Executive

Technical Account Manager with 7 years’ experience with precision agriculture. Great communication, organizational, leadership, collaboration, and problem-solving skills.

Technical Account Manager

Precision Ag Company

3 Years – Current Employer

• Developed relationships with dealers.

• Provided customized training for dealer employees.

• Sought out opportunities for dealers to improve and grow.

• Performed field visits for installation and troubleshooting of products.

• Coordinated and facilitated quarterly progress meetings with dealers.

• Documented notes for problem resolution in case management system.

Technical Support Lead

Precision Ag Company

4 Years

• Develop and delivering training content to new dealers.

• Contributed to 6 weekly management team meetings that represent 100% product offerings.

• Deliver new product training to technical support, training, repairs, & international offices.

• Perform weekly coaching and mentoring with international office managers.

• Identify customer support trends through weekly call reports and provide a summary report to business team.

• Administer dealer warranty claims and reimbursements.

• Lead recruiting efforts for intern and full time positions.

• Mentor and train customer support representatives.

• Developed and coordinated OEM crossover training program

• Assisted with selecting processes for Salesforce CRM.

• Created 100+ How To tutorial videos for dealers and end users.
  
  

Machine Guidance Supervisor

1 Year

• Provided leadership and direct supervision of team members.

• Mentored team members in providing high-quality, efficient support in a manner that fosters customer satisfaction.

• Implemented weekly one on one meetings with team members.

• Conducted annual employee reviews.

• Ensured a high level of live answer percentage, prompt voicemail and e-mail return performance.

• Maintained appropriate staffing schedule for evening and weekend hours during peak call periods.

• Created metrics to track and log the performance of the team.

• Facilitated the escalation of complex technical support issues from first contact, to senior team members, support specialists.

• Determined disposition of warranty exceptions for parts, service and shipping charges, service units, and product replacement.

• Assisted marketing department with media content such as newsletter, magazine articles and social media.

Training Supervisor

5 Years

• Designed training facility classrooms, desks, computers, and simulators.

• Created hands on demonstration stands, to replicate in field conditions for training employees, dealers and customers.

• Developed training curriculum containing 15 courses and content for dealers and end users.

• Taught courses and installed precision agriculture equipment on tractors, planters, sprayers, spreaders combines and data management software.

• Supervised full time training and development staff.

• Implemented a learning management software to increase training throughput.

• Implemented online registrations, courses and electronic testing to gauge knowledge retention.

• Generated annual budgets and developed metrics for ROI on trainings.

• Created training schedule for 160 + trainings hosting 1600 + attendees annually.

• Managed 3 million dollar training facility.

• Negotiated contracts for 1.5 million dollars of training equipment annually including tractors, sprayers, spreaders, and combines.

• Coordinated and negotiated pricing meals, transportation, local hotel rates for guests.

Support Specialist

2 Years

• Sales & support of application controllers, guidance products, SMS software, & yield monitors.

• Trained employees, customers, dealers & international distributors on Ag Leader products.

• Developed demonstration stands, documentation, and troubleshooting guides.

• Attended farm shows representing Ag Leader products.
  
  

Education

Bachelor of Science Degree, Agriculture Studies

Minor in Agricultural Systems Technology