National 4-H Council Appoints First Chairwoman and Welcomes Top Executives to Board of Trustees

New youth trustees add fresh perspective

CHEVY CHASE, Md., Nov. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- National 4-H Council is pleased to announce the addition of several leading industry executives in education, agribusiness, food security and healthy living, and two 4-H alumni to the organization's Board of Trustees. During its most recent meeting on Thursday, November 14 when new members were confirmed, National 4-H Council's Board of Trustees appointed its first chairwoman.

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"We are excited to bring aboard incredible leaders whose varied backgrounds will synergize and help advance the mission of National 4-H Council," said Donald T. Floyd, Jr., National 4-H Council president and CEO. "The selection of the first chairwoman to the board represents forward thinking leadership and an organization that values diversity."

Alison Lewis, global chief marketing officer for Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, was selected as the board's first chairwoman. As a member of National 4-H Council's Board of Trustees, Lewis recently served as chair of the CEO Succession Committee. Lewis' appointment marks the second recent historic moment in Council history as it comes on the heels of the organization's appointment of its new president and CEO, Jennifer Sirangelo. Sirangelo will become the first woman to lead the nation's largest youth development organization on January 1, 2014.

Outgoing board member James Borel, executive vice president, DuPont Company, leaves a legacy having served the past five years as chair of National 4-H Council's Board of Trustees. An international fellowship will be established in his honor dedicated to youth who have shown significant commitment to solving global food security challenges, and role models for all youth who are working to find new solutions to global challenges.

National 4-H Council's Board of Trustees is made up of corporate executives and private citizens with varied backgrounds, representatives from USDA, state Cooperative Extension and land-grant universities, and young 4-H alumni. National 4-H Council is governed by the Board of Trustees and members serve three-year terms.

New board members include:

• John F. Amaya is vice president of Global Food Sourcing, Walmart, and is currently leading upstreaming, planning, business integration, supply chain, floral sourcing and the commodity sourcing teams. He has held various management positions with Walmart, The Dole Company, Sara Lee Corporation, Abbott Laboratories, and Deloitte and Touche. Amaya received his Bachelor of Science degree in accountancy from Northern Illinois University and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. He is also a certified public accountant.
  
  
• Jeff Goodwin is the director of 4-H and Youth Development at Colorado State University. Goodwin has many years of experience with the 4-H program from the local to the state level. After graduating college, Goodwin worked as a 4-H county agent in his home state of Texas for 14 years. He continued his career with the 4-H program at the University of Idaho as a 4-H specialist for eight more years. Goodwin is also active in teaching livestock ethics and working with leadership development activities. He received his bachelor's degree in animal science and his master's in plant science at West Texas State, and earned his doctorate in agriculture education from Texas A&M.
  
  
• Cathann Kress is vice president for Extension and Outreach at Iowa State University and facilitates outreach programs that share cutting edge information and technology to educate and innovate; and provides advice and counsel to the provost and university president on extension and outreach issues. Her work in extension and outreach addresses four signature issues: economic development, food and the environment, health and well-being, and K-12 youth outreach. Prior to joining Iowa State University, Kress held senior level positions at the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service. Kress earned her B.S. in social work from Iowa State University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in education from the University of Iowa.
  
  
• Kip Tom is the managing member of Tom Farms LLC and the president of CereServ Inc. In addition to being active in agribusiness operations in Indiana for the past 40 years, Tom also served as a crop production consultant to various companies in Argentina, Brazil and Chile. Currently, Tom leads finance, strategy and production operations for Tom Farms and CereServ in the U.S. and Argentina. Tom earned an associate's degree in agriculture management from Texas A&M and has studied agribusiness programs at Harvard University and Purdue University. He also serves on the board of directors for various organizations including the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, Farm Journal Agriculture Foundation, Indiana Department of Agriculture, and the International Food and Agribusiness Managers Association among others.
  
  
• As a new youth trustee, Caleb Cheng has been an active participant in 4-H for 14 years and is currently a candidate to receive his International Baccalaureate Diploma in the spring. Caleb is a competitive state champion swimmer and national USA champion water polo player. As a United Health Care Ambassador, he played an important role working at the 2012 UnitedHealthcare Youth Health Summit. He has also raised significant funds serving as 2012-2013 Florida 4-H State Treasurer. Caleb is an involved and enthusiastic 4-H'er who is committed to making a positive impact on the world around him.
  
  
• New youth trustee Lazarus Lynch is a graduate of the Food and Finance High School (FFHS) in New York City where he studied culinary arts, financial management and nutrition. He currently attends Buffalo State College where he studies nutrition and dietetics. Lynch credits many of his successes and opportunities to the 4-H Youth Development Program.  As a 2011 World Food Prize Borlaug~Ruan intern, Lynch spent that summer studying at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing, China where he explored food security and nutrition issues, and conducted advanced genetics research with Chinese researchers. Lynch's goal is to one day lead the effort to eradicate global world hunger and promote healthy eating.

About 4-H
4-H is a community of seven million young people around the world learning leadership, citizenship, and life skills. National 4-H Council is the private sector, non-profit partner of the Cooperative Extension System and 4-H National Headquarters located at the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA) within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). In the United States, 4-H programs are implemented by the 109 land-grant universities and Cooperative Extension through more than 3,000 local offices serving every county and parish in the country. Outside the United States, 4-H programs operate through independent, country-led organizations in more than 50 countries.

Learn more about 4-H at www.4-H.org, find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/4-H and Twitter at https://twitter.com/4H.

Contact: Kimberly M. West, National 4-H Council, 301-951-3078, [email protected]

SOURCE National 4-H Council