Elanco | Animals Are the Answer

Sara Wyant

Sara Wyant is President of Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc., a communications firm with offices in Washington, D.C., and across the US. As a veteran farm policy reporter, she is recognized on Capitol Hill as well as with farm and commodity associations across the country. In addition, Wyant publishes early morning news summaries Daily Harvest and Daybreak, providing readers with a quick overview of the latest farm, food, and rural policy news each weekday. Wyant formerly served as chairwoman on the Farm Foundation's board of trustees and as past president of the American Agricultural Editor's Association.

She is currently President of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters (NAFB) Foundation. In 2013, Wyant was recognized for outstanding service to agriculture by the Missouri Farm Bureau and in 2015 was named to the Folio: "Top Women in Media" recognition in the Entrepreneurs category.

Dr. Adesogan is a Professor of Animal Nutrition and Director of the University of Florida Food Systems Institute. He is also the Principal Investigator and Director of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems at the University of Florida.

Dr. Jim Barnhart is the Assistant to the Administrator in the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, as well as the Deputy Coordinator for Development for Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative. Dr. Barnhart has previously served as Mission Director for USAID in various countries in Africa and the Middle East between 2010 and 2020.

John Boozman

John Boozman is Arkansas’s senior U.S. Senator and the dean of the state’s Congressional delegation. He graduated from the Southern College of Optometry in 1977 and brings decades of experience as a successful eye care provider and a small business owner. He is committed to advocating for economic policies that help Arkansas’s small businesses continue to grow and add jobs. John will serve as the Ranking Member of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry during the 117th Congress.

Dr. Jewel H. Bronaugh

Dr. Jewel H. Bronaugh was appointed the 16th Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services in 2018. She previously served as the Virginia State Executive Director for the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Dean of the College of Agriculture at Virginia State University (VSU). In 2020, she helped establish the Virginia Food Access Investment Fund and Program, the first statewide program to address food access within historically marginalized communities.

Jason Clay

Jason Clay is Senior Vice President, Markets and Executive Director, Markets Institute at WWF. In his role, he brings people together to improve environmental performance in food and soft commodities and helps companies address sustainability issues in their supply chains. Jason launched the Markets Institute at WWF to identify key issues and trends that will affect food and soft commodities as well as tools and strategies to address them. Jason taught at Harvard and Yale, worked at the US Department of Agriculture, and spent more than 15 years working on human rights before joining WWF in 1993 as a senior fellow. He has written more than 500 articles and 15 books, and is the first National Geographic Fellow for Food and Agriculture.

As global nutrition and food systems thought leader, Ambassador Ertharin Cousin founded and today guides the Food Systems for the Future team as President and CEO. Cousin also serves as a Distinguished Fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and a Visiting Scholar at the Stanford University, Center on Food Security and Environment. From 2012 until 2017, Cousin served as UN World Food Programme Executive Director. In 2009, she was confirmed as the US Ambassador to the UN Agencies for Food & Agriculture in Rome. She has also been listed numerous times, on the Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women List, on Time’s 100 Most Influential People list and others.

Constance Cullman

Constance Cullman is the American Feed Industry Association’s president and CEO. She also serves as the president of AFIA’s public charity the Institute for Feed Education and Research. She represents AFIA on international issues, serving on the International Feed Industry Federation’s board of directors and executive committee, as well as the Global Feed LCA Institute’s board of directors. In 2020, Cullman was appointed to serve on the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service’s Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee. Cullman previously served as the president and CEO of Farm Foundation. Cullman has a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics and a master’s degree in agricultural economics from The Ohio State University.

Mitch Fifield

The Honourable Mitch Fifield is Australia’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations taking up his posting in New York in October 2019. Fifield is a former Australian Senator and Cabinet Minister. During 15 years in the Senate, his appointments included, among others not listed, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate, Manager of Government Business in the Senate and Minister for Communications. Prior to entering Parliament, Fifield served as a Senior Adviser to the Treasurer of Australia and as a reservist in the Australian Army Psychology Corps.

Ambassador Nestor Forster Jr. was the Chargé d’affaires of the Embassy of Brazil in Washington from June 2019 to October 2020. He is the Ambassador of Brazil to the USA since October 2020. As a diplomat, he served in Canada, Costa Rica, and the United States, where he was posted three times to the Embassy in Washington, as well as to the Brazilian consulates in Hartford (CT) and New York (NY). His diplomatic experience covers areas such as trade negotiations, intellectual property, financial policy, political affairs, international law, consular affairs, administration, and information technology. Most recently, he headed the Foreign Ministry’s Information Technology Division and has also appeared as guest speaker at Columbia University, Toronto University, University of Alberta, Université Laval à Montreal, and Instituto Rio Branco.

Erik Jacobsen

Erik Jacobsen is Vice President of the AgReserves cattle division. Erik joined AgReserves in 1987 as a cattle foreman at Deseret Ranches of Florida before leaving in 1995 for Smithfield Foods. In 2006, he returned to AgReserves as General Manager of Deseret Ranches of Florida. Erik has served as president of the Florida Cattlemen’s Association and on various committees of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Erik is an Animal Science graduate of the University of Florida and earned an MBA from Brigham Young University.

Dr. Agnes Kalibata

As the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to the 2021 Food Systems Summit, Dr. Kalibata works with the United Nations system and key partners to provide leadership, guidance and strategic direction towards the 2021 Food Systems Summit. She is responsible for outreach and cooperation with key leaders, including governments, to ensure the Summit serves as a catalytic process within the Decade of Action.

Dr. Kalibata has a distinguished track record as an agricultural scientist, policymaker and thought leader. Born in Rwanda in the early 1960s, her family was displaced during the country’s struggle for independence and she grew up at a refugee camp in Uganda. Kalibata started her career as a research scientist at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), before returning to Rwanda to become the Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) from 2008 to 2014. Since 2014, she has also served as President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

Dr. Kim Stackhouse-Lawson is a professor in the department of Animal Sciences at Colorado State University and the Director of AgNext. AgNext utilizes a multidisciplinary approach to advance sustainable solutions for animal agriculture. Prior to leading AgNext, Kim was the Director of Sustainability for JBS USA where she was responsible for coordinating the company’s corporate sustainability program and strategy. Kim also served as the Executive Director of Global Sustainability at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association where she developed the industry’s sustainability program. Kim received her PhD in Animal Science from the University of California, Davis and was a postdoctoral fellow at Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine Beef Cattle Institute.

More Bios Coming Soon!

Ted McKinney

Ted McKinney served as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs. In 2014, McKinney was appointed to serve as Director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture. His career also included 19 years with Dow AgroSciences and 14 years with Elanco Animal Health. McKinney graduated from Purdue University with a B.S. degree in Agricultural Economics in 1981.

Dr. Sara Place is the Chief Sustainability Officer at Elanco where she provides technical expertise on sustainability issues to customers and supports Elanco’s Healthy Purpose.

Jeff Simmons serves as president and chief executive officer of Elanco Animal Health.

Sara Wyant

Sara Wyant is President of Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc., a communications firm with offices in Washington, D.C., and across the US. As a veteran farm policy reporter, she is recognized on Capitol Hill as well as with farm and commodity associations across the country. In addition, Wyant publishes early morning news summaries Daily Harvest and Daybreak, providing readers with a quick overview of the latest farm, food, and rural policy news each weekday. Wyant formerly served as chairwoman on the Farm Foundation's board of trustees and as past president of the American Agricultural Editor's Association.

She is currently President of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters (NAFB) Foundation. In 2013, Wyant was recognized for outstanding service to agriculture by the Missouri Farm Bureau and in 2015 was named to the Folio: "Top Women in Media" recognition in the Entrepreneurs category.

Dr. Adesogan is a Professor of Animal Nutrition and Director of the University of Florida Food Systems Institute. He is also the Principal Investigator and Director of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems at the University of Florida.

Dr. Jim Barnhart is the Assistant to the Administrator in the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, as well as the Deputy Coordinator for Development for Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative. Dr. Barnhart has previously served as Mission Director for USAID in various countries in Africa and the Middle East between 2010 and 2020.

John Boozman

John Boozman is Arkansas’s senior U.S. Senator and the dean of the state’s Congressional delegation. He graduated from the Southern College of Optometry in 1977 and brings decades of experience as a successful eye care provider and a small business owner. He is committed to advocating for economic policies that help Arkansas’s small businesses continue to grow and add jobs. John will serve as the Ranking Member of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry during the 117th Congress.

Dr. Jewel H. Bronaugh

Dr. Jewel H. Bronaugh was appointed the 16th Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services in 2018. She previously served as the Virginia State Executive Director for the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Dean of the College of Agriculture at Virginia State University (VSU). In 2020, she helped establish the Virginia Food Access Investment Fund and Program, the first statewide program to address food access within historically marginalized communities.

Jason Clay

Jason Clay is Senior Vice President, Markets and Executive Director, Markets Institute at WWF. In his role, he brings people together to improve environmental performance in food and soft commodities and helps companies address sustainability issues in their supply chains. Jason launched the Markets Institute at WWF to identify key issues and trends that will affect food and soft commodities as well as tools and strategies to address them. Jason taught at Harvard and Yale, worked at the US Department of Agriculture, and spent more than 15 years working on human rights before joining WWF in 1993 as a senior fellow. He has written more than 500 articles and 15 books, and is the first National Geographic Fellow for Food and Agriculture.

As global nutrition and food systems thought leader, Ambassador Ertharin Cousin founded and today guides the Food Systems for the Future team as President and CEO. Cousin also serves as a Distinguished Fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and a Visiting Scholar at the Stanford University, Center on Food Security and Environment. From 2012 until 2017, Cousin served as UN World Food Programme Executive Director. In 2009, she was confirmed as the US Ambassador to the UN Agencies for Food & Agriculture in Rome. She has also been listed numerous times, on the Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women List, on Time’s 100 Most Influential People list and others.

Constance Cullman

Constance Cullman is the American Feed Industry Association’s president and CEO. She also serves as the president of AFIA’s public charity the Institute for Feed Education and Research. She represents AFIA on international issues, serving on the International Feed Industry Federation’s board of directors and executive committee, as well as the Global Feed LCA Institute’s board of directors. In 2020, Cullman was appointed to serve on the U.S. Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service’s Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee. Cullman previously served as the president and CEO of Farm Foundation. Cullman has a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics and a master’s degree in agricultural economics from The Ohio State University.

Mitch Fifield

The Honourable Mitch Fifield is Australia’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations taking up his posting in New York in October 2019. Fifield is a former Australian Senator and Cabinet Minister. During 15 years in the Senate, his appointments included, among others not listed, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate, Manager of Government Business in the Senate and Minister for Communications. Prior to entering Parliament, Fifield served as a Senior Adviser to the Treasurer of Australia and as a reservist in the Australian Army Psychology Corps.

Ambassador Nestor Forster Jr. was the Chargé d’affaires of the Embassy of Brazil in Washington from June 2019 to October 2020. He is the Ambassador of Brazil to the USA since October 2020. As a diplomat, he served in Canada, Costa Rica, and the United States, where he was posted three times to the Embassy in Washington, as well as to the Brazilian consulates in Hartford (CT) and New York (NY). His diplomatic experience covers areas such as trade negotiations, intellectual property, financial policy, political affairs, international law, consular affairs, administration, and information technology. Most recently, he headed the Foreign Ministry’s Information Technology Division and has also appeared as guest speaker at Columbia University, Toronto University, University of Alberta, Université Laval à Montreal, and Instituto Rio Branco.

Erik Jacobsen

Erik Jacobsen is Vice President of the AgReserves cattle division. Erik joined AgReserves in 1987 as a cattle foreman at Deseret Ranches of Florida before leaving in 1995 for Smithfield Foods. In 2006, he returned to AgReserves as General Manager of Deseret Ranches of Florida. Erik has served as president of the Florida Cattlemen’s Association and on various committees of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Erik is an Animal Science graduate of the University of Florida and earned an MBA from Brigham Young University.

Dr. Agnes Kalibata

As the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to the 2021 Food Systems Summit, Dr. Kalibata works with the United Nations system and key partners to provide leadership, guidance and strategic direction towards the 2021 Food Systems Summit. She is responsible for outreach and cooperation with key leaders, including governments, to ensure the Summit serves as a catalytic process within the Decade of Action.

Dr. Kalibata has a distinguished track record as an agricultural scientist, policymaker and thought leader. Born in Rwanda in the early 1960s, her family was displaced during the country’s struggle for independence and she grew up at a refugee camp in Uganda. Kalibata started her career as a research scientist at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), before returning to Rwanda to become the Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) from 2008 to 2014. Since 2014, she has also served as President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

Dr. Kim Stackhouse-Lawson is a professor in the department of Animal Sciences at Colorado State University and the Director of AgNext. AgNext utilizes a multidisciplinary approach to advance sustainable solutions for animal agriculture. Prior to leading AgNext, Kim was the Director of Sustainability for JBS USA where she was responsible for coordinating the company’s corporate sustainability program and strategy. Kim also served as the Executive Director of Global Sustainability at the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association where she developed the industry’s sustainability program. Kim received her PhD in Animal Science from the University of California, Davis and was a postdoctoral fellow at Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine Beef Cattle Institute.

More Bios Coming Soon!

Ted McKinney

Ted McKinney served as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs. In 2014, McKinney was appointed to serve as Director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture. His career also included 19 years with Dow AgroSciences and 14 years with Elanco Animal Health. McKinney graduated from Purdue University with a B.S. degree in Agricultural Economics in 1981.

Dr. Sara Place is the Chief Sustainability Officer at Elanco where she provides technical expertise on sustainability issues to customers and supports Elanco’s Healthy Purpose.

Jeff Simmons serves as president and chief executive officer of Elanco Animal Health.

Sara Wyant

Sara Wyant is President of Agri-Pulse Communications, Inc., a communications firm with offices in Washington, D.C., and across the US. As a veteran farm policy reporter, she is recognized on Capitol Hill as well as with farm and commodity associations across the country. In addition, Wyant publishes early morning news summaries Daily Harvest and Daybreak, providing readers with a quick overview of the latest farm, food, and rural policy news each weekday. Wyant formerly served as chairwoman on the Farm Foundation's board of trustees and as past president of the American Agricultural Editor's Association.

She is currently President of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters (NAFB) Foundation. In 2013, Wyant was recognized for outstanding service to agriculture by the Missouri Farm Bureau and in 2015 was named to the Folio: "Top Women in Media" recognition in the Entrepreneurs category.