Farm Aid Co-Executive Director Shorlette Ammons Named to Forbes' 2026 50 Over 50: Impact List

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Forbes has named Farm Aid Co-Executive Director and Program Director Shorlette Ammons to its 2026 50 Over 50: Impact list, recognizing her leadership in strengthening family farmers, rural communities and the movement for a more just and resilient food and farm system. Ammons helps lead Farm Aid's work to keep family farmers on the land, amplify their voices and advance a vibrant, family farm-centered system of agriculture.

Now in its sixth year, Forbes' 50 Over 50, produced in partnership with Mika Brzezinski's Know Your Value initiative, celebrates women creating their greatest impact at age 50 and beyond. Ammons' recognition reflects a career rooted in community and addressing barriers facing family farmers — particularly Black, Indigenous and other farmers of color — while building the power of farmers to shape the systems that affect their lives.

"Farm Aid has always understood that family farmers are essential to the health of our communities, our food system and our democracy," Ammons said. "This recognition reflects the company I've been fortunate to keep — farmers, advocates, organizers and culture keepers who are committed to truth-telling and to preserving the shared story of who we are and how we got here. At a time when that history and the institutions that help carry it forward are under threat, our work at Farm Aid is more important than ever. I'm honored by this recognition, but our eyes remain on the larger prize: building a just and equitable food and farm system in which family farmers can thrive and all of us recognize the collective power we hold to create change."

Ammons joined Farm Aid as program director in 2022, bringing decades of experience in community-based food systems, rural advocacy and strengthening historically underserved communities. She became Farm Aid's co-executive director in 2025, sharing leadership with Co-Executive Director and Communications Director Jennifer Fahy.

Before joining Farm Aid, Ammons worked with the Wayne Food Initiative to strengthen local food systems and served as a children's librarian at Wayne County Public Library. A native of Beautancus, North Carolina, she grew up in a family of farmworkers, cooks and storytellers — experiences that continue to shape her commitment to family farmers and rural communities. She currently serves on the board of the Land Loss Prevention Project, which works to preserve Black-owned family farmland in North Carolina.

Ammons will join farmers, artists, advocates and supporters for Farm Aid 2026 in Virginia Beach, Va., on Saturday, Sept. 26. Tickets, priced from $85 to $350, are available at farmaid.org/2026 and the amphitheater box office, open Mondays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Venue and festival information is available at farmaid.org/festival.

The celebration will extend beyond the concert stage this year through Farm Aid's partnership with Virginia Beach's Neptune Festival for the Farm Aid Family Reunion: "We the Farmers" Takeover on Friday, Sept. 25. The free Virginia Beach Oceanfront gathering will feature music, dance and stories from farmers leading into Farm Aid 2026.

Farm Aid's mission is to build a vibrant, family farm-centered system of agriculture in America. Farm Aid artists and board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, Margo Price and Nathaniel Rateliff host an annual festival to raise funds to support Farm Aid's work with family farmers and to inspire people to choose family farm food. Since 1985, Farm Aid, with the support of the artists who contribute their performances each year, has raised more than $90 million to support programs that help farmers thrive, expand the reach of the Good Food Movement, take action to change the dominant system of industrial agriculture and promote food from family farms.

SOURCE Farm Aid