Kay Johnson Smith
President and CEO
"Our duty is to be honest, be truthful, and be factual in the representation of the issues we deal with."
Staff
We’re an industry-united, nonprofit organization that helps bridge the communication gap between farm and fork. We connect key food industry stakeholders to arm them with responses to emerging issues. We engage food chain influencers and promote consumer choice by helping them better understand modern animal agriculture. We protect by exposing those who threaten our nation’s food security with damaging misinformation.
Our motto is simple: Connect, Engage, Protect.
Small but mighty: We’re a nimble, dedicated team championing our mission every day.
If you'd like to have one of us speak at your meeting, check out our speakers bureau for topics each of us can talk about!
Hannah Thompson-Weeman
Vice President of Communications
"I am proud to be working on behalf of farmers and ranchers to communicate their passion for the work they do to care for their livestock and produce high-quality, wholesome food products."
Allyson Jones-Brimmer
Director of Membership
"I'm committed to getting to know our current members and growing our membership so we can do even more to support America's hardworking livestock and poultry farmers."
Casey Whitaker
Communications Manager
"It is an honor to share the stories of farmers and ranchers caring for their animals every day."
Where's the Alliance this Month?
World Pork Expo
June 7 – 9
Des Moines, IA – Kay Johnson Smith and Allyson Jones-Brimmer attending
Visit us in booth AG1004
Livestock Marketing Association Annual Conference
June 14 – 16
Billings, MT – Kay Johnson Smith speaking
Maryland 4-H Conference
June 21
College Park, MD – Hannah Thompson-Weeman speaking
BlogHer Conference
June 22 – 24
Orlando, FL – Hannah Thompson-Weeman attending
Job/Internship Postings
Alliance Jobs: The Alliance is currently accepting applications for an administrative assistant. For requirements, job description and how to apply, please visit our resource library.
Alliance Internships: We are currently accepting applications for an intern for the fall of 2017. Candidates should have a passion for agriculture, willingness to learn, and excellent oral and written communications skills. Interested candidates, please email a cover letter, resume, writing sample and references to info@animalagalliance.org.
Fall application deadline: July 15, 2017
Board
Our board members are the visible embodiment of our commitment to change and improvement. It is through their desire and dedication, to the entire animal agriculture community—and the Animal Agriculture Alliance—that we are able to achieve our goals and effect real change.
Terry Wehrkamp
Chairman of the Board
Cooper Farms
Sarah Novak
Chair-Elect
American Feed Industry Association
Sherrie Webb
Immediate Past Chairman
National Pork Board
Chase Adams
American Sheep Industry Association
Adnan Aydin, Ph.D
American Veal Association
Cliff Becker
Farm Journal Media
Pete Block
Hy-Line North America
Joel Brandenberger
National Turkey Federation
Jeff Cannon
Diamond V
Ashley DeDecker, Ph.D
Smithfield
Jer Geiger, DVM
Genus PIC
Chad Gregory
United Egg Producers
Robert Hagevoort, Ph.D
New Mexico State University
Dallas Hockman
National Pork Producers Council
Christina Lood
Zoetis
Rex Martin
Dairy Management Inc.
Katelyn McCullock
American Farm Bureau Federation
Suniti Mujumdar
Alltech
Ann Nogan
American National CattleWomen, Inc.
Colleen Parr Decker
Elanco Animal Health
Paul Pressley
U.S. Poultry and Egg Association
Adam Proctor
Potash Corp.
Aaron Putze
Iowa Soybean Association
Janet Riley
North American Meat Institute
C.D. Simmons
United Soybean Board
David Sjeklocha
Cattle Empire, LLC
Tom Super
National Chicken Council
Marcy Tessmann
Charleston|Orwig
Judson Vasconcelos, DVM, Ph.D
Merck Animal Health
Kimber Ward
Bayer Animal Health
Josh Winegarner
Texas Cattle Feeders Association
Derek Yancey
Morning Fresh Farms
Members
The Alliance with its members are interested in helping consumers better understand the role animal agriculture plays in providing a safe, abundant food supply to a hungry world. Our membership is comprised of hundreds of individuals, companies and associations who share an enthusiasm, passion and commitment to protecting animal agriculture and preserving consumer choice in the marketplace.
Member Spotlight
The Northeast Dairy Foods Association is a full service trade association established in 1928 with members in New York, New Jersey and New England. Members include milk processors, distributors, cheese manufacturers, ice cream plants and dairy farm producers. The organization monitors legislative affairs, represents the membership as a united manufacturing and distribution industry before legislative bodies and regulatory agencies, and works to safe-guard common business interests. In addition, the association provides communications, networking, public relations and promotion programs that promote the sales of products sold by its members and has cost saving insurance programs and services. The goal of the association is to provide services and information to members that will continually improve their operations and ensure the efficient distribution of the freshest, safest dairy products possible. To learn more, visit nedairyfoods.org.
Are you an Alliance member?
Click here log in to your member portal for access to all Alliance resources!
Events
Our annual Stakeholders Summit connects industry stakeholders to engage about ways to protect the future of animal agriculture! If you are interested in being a Summit sponsor, contact Kay Johnson Smith at kjohnson@animalagalliance.org.
2018 Stakeholders Summit
May 3-4, 2018, Arlington, VA.
Save the date for our Stakeholders Summit! For more updates, click here.
Other Upcoming Events
Click here for a comprehensive listing.
Accomplishments
"The Alliance is about doing the right thing, and doing it right now,"
Kay Johnson Smith, President and CEO
Here are just a few of the Alliance’s most recent accomplishments. For more, view our 2016 annual report or ask any Alliance staff member for more details.
Connect
The Alliance’s 2017 Stakeholders Summit, themed “Connect to Protect Animal Ag,” was the largest Summit yet with more than 260 attendees. The 2018 Summit is set for May 3-4 in Arlington, VA!
We connect industry stakeholders via our Issues Management Committee and Supply Channel Subcommittee to discuss emerging issues in animal agriculture and plan strategic responses.
The Alliance hosted its eigth annual College Aggies Online scholarship competition aimed at helping college students become confident communicators on behalf of agriculture. The 344 participants represented 36 different states and students generated more than 1,880 social media posts reaching 2.3 million people.
Engage
The Alliance was mentioned in more than 700 stories in trade publications and the mainstream media.
Alliance staff has delivered 50 presentations across the United States and Canada so far this fiscal year.
So far in FY 2017, the Alliance has reached 8.6 million people on Facebook and 2 million people on Twitter.
The Animal Ag Engage Blog has reached more than 76,000 views since May 2016.
Protect
The Farm Security Mobile App is being downloaded by Alliance members. The app includes farm security recommendations developed in conjunction with law enforcement and anti-terrorism specialists, as well as crisis management, employer resources, action alerts and much more!
The Alliance gets the inside scoop on animal rights activist group strategies by attending their meetings and monitoring their use of media and social media. We keep our members informed via Member Updates and Action Alerts.
We updated more than 60 activist group profile reports with information about acitivst groups' missions, connections and quotes revealing their true agendas.
The “Truth, Lies and Videotape” database is continually updated with undercover videos from the past 20 years.