U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA), a leader in consumer engagement for food and agriculture, has selected Erin Fitzgerald from Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy as its next CEO.
USFRA’s new Chief Executive Officer
Erin Fitzgerald
In its ongoing mission to earn consumer trust in American agriculture, the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance has selected Erin Fitzgerald to lead the organization as its next chief executive officer. Erin Fitzgerald formerly served as Senior Vice President, Global Sustainability for the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy®, a part of Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), which is a forum for the dairy community to address the needs and expectations of consumers.
“The USFRA Board of Directors is pleased to hire Erin Fitzgerald as our new CEO,” said Chip Bowling, USFRA Vice Chair and Chair of the CEO Search Committee. “With an outstanding number of qualified candidates for the CEO position, Erin was the obvious choice to lead our organization through the next chapter of its history, and it was a unanimous decision by the board.”
Under Fitzgerald’s leadership at the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy®, she enhanced dairy’s contributions to a more sustainable food system by advancing the intersection of nutrition, health, hunger, food waste and impact. In her role, she conducted an environmental impact assessment that led to an industry-wide voluntary carbon reduction goal of 25 percent by 2020. Fitzgerald is recognized as a White House Champion of Change for Sustainable and Climate-Smart Agriculture, an Aspen Institute First Movers Fellow, and a Crain’s Chicago 40 under 40 recipient. She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame.
“American farmers and ranchers have an incredible legacy and will define the sustainable food systems of the future – I am grateful for the privilege to continue to work for the farmers across the United States who are committed to stewardship and inspire a sustainable future,” said Erin Fitzgerald. “By creating a shared dialogue, from our farms to our consumers, we have a tremendous opportunity to advance the food systems of our future.”
Fitzgerald will lead USFRA as it approaches its eighth year as an organization. Since its launch in October 2010, USFRA has held 30+ groundbreaking Food Dialogues which initiated important conversations, conducted cutting-edge research into consumer perceptions of agriculture, and produced the award-winning film FARMLAND. The U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance and its 100 affiliates and industry partners look forward to working with Fitzgerald to engage with consumers and stakeholders to advance the dialogue about today’s agriculture.
Jon Leafstedt, and Jim Gerardot, principals with the global executive search firm Kincannon & Reed, assisted the USFRA farmer-led search committee for the recruitment of Erin Fitzgerald as Chief Executive Officer. Fitzgerald will begin full time employment with USFRA on July 16, 2018.