November 1, 2023
The Honorable Glenn Youngkin, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia
Governor Glenn Youngkin is a homegrown Virginian who grew up in Richmond and Virginia Beach. As his father changed jobs, Governor Youngkin learned that moving around didn’t equal moving up – nothing was handed to him. From his first job washing dishes and frying eggs at a diner in Virginia Beach, he embraced hard work and responsibility to help his family when his father lost his job. His determination to succeed earned him multiple high school basketball honors in Virginia and an athletic scholarship to college.
After earning an engineering degree at Rice University, and his MBA at Harvard Business School, Governor Youngkin and his wife Suzanne moved to Northern Virginia. He landed a job at The Carlyle Group, where he spent the next 25 years. Working his way to the top of the company, Governor Youngkin played a key role in building Carlyle into one of the leading investment firms in the world. His efforts have helped fund the retirements of teachers, police officers, firefighters and other frontline public servants and supported hundreds of thousands of American jobs.
Married for more than 28 years to his amazing wife Suzanne, Governor Youngkin is a dedicated father of four wonderful children. Their family journey has been and continues to be guided by their faith.
We are pleased to announce that the Governor will be speaking at lunch.
Secretary Matthew Lohr, Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry for the Commonwealth of Virginia
Matthew Lohr was raised on a Virginia century family farm in the Shenandoah Valley. As a fifth-generation farmer, he has spent his entire life working for the betterment of the agricultural industry and rural America.
Matthew developed his passion for public service and agricultural policy while serving as both a state and national FFA officer before graduating from Virginia Tech with a B.S. degree in Agricultural Education. He has more than 30 years of experience as a professional leader and communicator.
Over the past two years, Matthew has served as the Chief of the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, an agency with more than 10,000 employees across 3,000 field offices and an operating budget of over $4.5 billion.
Matthew previously served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2006-2010 before being appointed as the Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. His other career experiences include serving as Director of the Farm Credit Knowledge Center, teaching middle school agriscience, operating his own leadership development company, and serving as President of Valley Pike Farm, Inc., his family’s farming operation.
Dennis Matanda, PhD -- Chief Executive, Morgenthau Stirling, Inc., and Adjunct Professor of American Politics & International Business
Dennis is Chief Executive of Morgenthau Stirling, Inc., a Washington, DC-based public affairs firm that leverages data-driven insights & strategies to promote U.S. direct investment abroad (USDIA) to Africa. He was one of the first African Staff Directors of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Global Human Rights. Before that, he served as an Advisor on Strategic Communication to the Chief Executive of the Trade & Development Bank (TDB) and International Advisor on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, and the Gambia. Before moving back to Africa, Dennis was Head of Government Affairs at Manchester Trade, Inc. and transitioned to support the African Union, African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI), the Common Market for Eastern & Southern Africa (COMESA), USAID, and the Economic Commission for West African States (ECOWAS).
Dr. Matanda has worked extensively on trade & investment policy in 40+ developed and developing countries, and is proficient at designing strategic communication and engagement programs. He facilitated AfCFTA negotiations in Niger, the Gambia and Sierra Leone, designed export promotion strategies for COMESA & ECOWAS, and initiated a 2-year multi-stakeholder campaign to ensure AGOA 2.0. passed in 2015. Before relocating to the United States, Dennis was Director of Business Development at InterSwitch and Group General Manager of the TERP Group where he designed Brand Uganda’s Gifted by Nature campaign. Before his pivot to branding, he sold ICT solutions at Celtel/Airtel and Uganda Telecom.
A prolific reader, writer, publisher, and researcher, Dennis has under-grad, graduate and post-graduate degrees in International Relations, Diplomatic Studies, American Politics, and International Business. He also has an impressive array of broadcast engineering, copy writing, aerial photography, and audio-visual production skills.
Ted McKinney -- Chief Executive Officer, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture; Former Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, USDA
Ted serves as the Chief Executive Officer of NASDA, the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, a position to which he was named in September 2021. Prior to NASDA, he was also the first U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs from 2017-2021. In that role, Under Secretary McKinney led the development and implementation of the Department’s trade policy, oversaw and facilitated foreign market access, and promoted opportunities for U.S. agriculture through various trade programs and high-level government negotiations. He also oversaw the U.S. Codex Alimentarius staff and functions.
After his USDA service, McKinney was engaged in foreign affairs and outreach involving the US food and agriculture industry and its engagement with the United Nations Food Systems Summits.
In 2014, McKinney was appointed by then-Governor Mike Pence to serve as Director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, a position he held until joining USDA in 2017. His career also included 19 years with Dow AgroSciences, where over time he served in nearly all Government & Public Affairs roles, and 14 years with Elanco, at that time a subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company, where he was Director of Global Corporate Affairs. His industry and civic involvement is vast, including service as founder and Co-Chair of the National FFA Convention Local Organizing Committee, membership on the Indiana State Fair Commission, and Purdue College of Agriculture Dean’s Advisory Council, as well as on the boards of directors of the International Food Information Council and the U.S. Meat Export Federation.
McKinney grew up on a family grain and livestock farm in Tipton, Indiana, and was a 10-year 4-H member and an Indiana State FFA Officer. He graduated from Purdue University with a B.S. degree in Agricultural Economics in 1981, at which time he received the G.A. Ross Award as the outstanding University senior male graduate. In 2002, he was named a Purdue Agriculture Distinguished Alumnus and, in 2004, received an FFA Honorary American degree. He has also received the Sagamore of the Wabash Award from Indiana Governors Pence and Holcomb. He and his wife, Julie, have three children and six grandchildren, and reside in Alexandria, Virginia.
Kishan Shenoy -- Vice President, International Merchandising, Perdue AgriBusiness
Kishan Shenoy joined Perdue AgriBusiness in 2014 with more than 20 years of global commodity sales and merchandising experience and is responsible for managing the company’s International Merchandising efforts. In 2006, Kishan began working with Bunge North America in St. Louis as a senior trader and was subsequently transferred in 2011 to Bunge in Geneva, Switzerland, where he was directly responsible for marketing Bunge’s product portfolio in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Prior to Bunge, Kishan worked with The Rice Company in Roseville, CA, and in India with both Louis Dreyfus Inc. and Cargill Inc. in merchandising positions.
Kishan holds a bachelor of engineering degree from the University of Bombay, India, a master’s degree in international business from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade in New Delhi, and a master’s in business administration from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
Kishan enjoys domestic and international travel with his wife, Shruti and children Zoey and Neil. He also despairs over the fortunes of his favorite soccer team, DC United.
Colby Eymann -- Product Group Manager, International Grains and Oilseeds, The Scoular Company
In his current role as Product Group Manager for the International Grain and Oilseed Trading Group at The Scoular Company, Colby Eymann leads a team responsible for creating and sustaining safe and reliable supply chains connecting producers and end users across North America and Asia.
A University of Kanas graduate, Colby began his career with Scoular seventeen years ago. In that time, he has worked across several diverse market segments including merchandising, processing, transportation, specialty food, and facility management.
Over the past 10 years his responsibilities have focused on containerized agricultural product trade, facility development, and expanding international operations for Scoular.
Greg Edwards -- Director of Sales, Strategic Export Accounts, The Port of Virginia
Greg Edwards is a native Virginian and a lifelong resident of Hampton Roads. He joined The Port of Virginia in July 1992, giving him more than 30 years of maritime, and supply chain logistics, experience.
Since 2021, Greg has served with the port sales team, as Director of Strategic Export Accounts. He is focused primarily on two key verticals:
- Agriculture and forest products
- Chemicals and resins
Greg served on the boards of the Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce and “Future of Hampton Roads.” He also served as chair of the Hampton Roads Transportation and Planning Organization’s Citizen Transportation Advisory Committee.
He is a graduate of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, as well as the Virginia State Chamber’s LEAD Virginia program and the regional LEAD 757 initiative. Greg lives in Chesapeake and enjoys spending time with his three adult children and two grandchildren.
Paul Spencer -- Global Trade Policy Advocacy Leader, Corteva Agriscience
Paul Spencer joined Corteva Agriscience in January 2019 and is the Global Trade Policy Advocacy Leader. He provides strategic counsel to the company’s business platforms on a range of trade policy issues, including plant breeding innovations, biotechnology asynchronous approvals, low-level presence, and pesticide maximum residue levels.
Paul represents Corteva externally on the the U.S. Grains Council’s Trade Policy Advisory Team, the National Grain and Feed Association’s Crop Technology Committee and the CropLife America Trade Steering Group. He is currently the Chairman of the BIO Innovation Organization’s Agriculture International Working Group.
Paul was also selected by USTR and the Department of Commerce to serve on the International Trade Advisory Committee (ITAC-3) as a cleared advisor.
Paul was previously a Senior Foreign Service officer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service. His last U.S. Government position was Director of the New Technologies and Production Methods Division based in Washington, DC. This office provides trade policy advocacy and advice on agricultural biotechnology; for example, leading staff-level U.S.-China biotechnology policy discussions and drafting and executing USDA’s genome editing international outreach plan. As a member of USDA’s Biotechnology Task Force, he contributed international policy perspectives to the Department’s work on regulatory reform, interagency regulatory cooperation, and strategic policy planning.
Mr. Spencer began his career with the Department of Agriculture in 1993. From 2010-14, he was Agricultural Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin and was responsible for USDA programs and policies in Austria, Hungary, and Germany. He has also served at U.S. Embassies in Baghdad, Tokyo, and Vienna.
Mr. Spencer holds an MBA in International Business from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and a degree in Economics from Colorado State University. He is married to Sandy MacGregor and they have three children, Grace, Forrest, and John.
Owen Wagner -- Vice President, Grains & Oilseeds Analysis, Rabobank
Owen Wagner joined Rabobank as Vice President of Grains & Oilseeds Analysis in September of 2002. In this capacity he focuses on identifying and discussing broad, thematic trends that will impact Rabo’s rural and wholesale clients in the medium term – identifying these developments through the lens of fundamentals, policy and macroeconomics. While Owen covers all major North American row crops, his early research has put an emphasis on downstream products, particularly biofuels, as well as natural and synthetic fibers.
Prior to Rabobank, Owen spent 4 years as CEO of the North Carolina Soybean Producers Association. There, in addition to overseeing day-to-day operations, Owen was responsible for Market Development activities, with particular focus on supporting containerized exports to promote competition within the states.Before joining the NCSPA, Owen spent ten years with a UK-based agribusiness consultancy covering sugar, oilseeds and biofuel markets. Earlier in his career he worked in the cranberry industry of Massachusetts and spent time as Foreign Ag Service intern in Beijing, China.
Owen holds graduate degrees in Agricultural Engineering from NC State and Agricultural Economics from Virginia Tech. Although he calls North Carolina home today, he’s a proud Virginian by birth.
He resides in Raleigh with his wife Lindsay and three small children. In his free time, he coaches his daughter’s soccer team, does small carpentry projects around the house and pursues bonsai as hobby.
Gregory (Gregg) Doud -- Chief Operating Officer, National Milk Producers Federation
Gregg Doud is NMPF’s Chief Operating Officer. He will become President and CEO of the organization in January 2024 after having been named to the position in June 2023. Before arriving at NMPF he served as the Chief Agricultural Negotiator in the Office of the United States Trade Representative from 2018 until 2021; before that, he served as the president of the Commodity Markets Council, representing commodities exchanges before Congress and federal agencies. He also has served as a staff member for the United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, where he helped draft the 2012 Farm Bill, and as chief economist for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Most recently, he worked at Aimpoint Research as its Vice President of Global Situational Awareness and Chief Economist.
A native of Mankato, Kansas, where he grew up raising cattle, Doud earned a Bachelor of Science degree in animal science and a Master of Science in agricultural
economics from Kansas State University. He was awarded the Outstanding Young Alumnus of the Kansas State University Agriculture Alumni Association in 2012 and also received the Outstanding Alumnus award from the Department of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State in 2017. He currently lives with his family on their horse farm in Lothian, MD.
Jason Hafemeister -- Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs
Jason Hafemeister is the Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs. Prior to his current position, he was the Trade Counsel to the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). In this role, he advised the Secretary and the Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs on agricultural trade policy. He has been involved in agricultural farm and trade policy for over 25 years, including almost 20 at USDA and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Jason grew up on California’s scenic central coast. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley, a master’s degree from the University of California at San Diego, and a law degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He is married with two small children. Before that, he used to enjoy reading and sports.
Brandi Colander -- Senior Vice President, Chief Sustainability Officer and Government Affairs, Enviva
Ms. Colander serves as Senior Vice President, Chief Sustainability Officer and Government Affairs, charged with maintaining and enhancing Enviva’s role as an industry leader in sustainability and environmental stewardship. She brings extensive policy, sustainability, and external affairs experience, most recently leading the enterprise sustainability portfolio at WestRock as Chief Sustainability Officer. Previous roles include Associate Vice President of Natural Resources and Energy at the National Wildlife Federation, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management at the United States Department of the Interior, Deputy General Counsel for the White House Council on Environmental Quality within the Executive Office of the White House, and an attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council. Ms. Colander holds a Bachelor of Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia, a J.D. from Vermont Law School, and a Master of Environmental Management from Yale University.
Zach Connors -- Senior Director, North America Sales, Ocean Network Express (ONE)
Zach Connors shifted to lead North America Sales at Ocean Network Express in 2022. He had previously led the Transpacific Marketing division since the company’s inception in 2017. His first role in the container shipping industry was with ONE parent company, NYK Line, at their USA headquarters in New Jersey. A decade of commercial roles with the company in New Jersey, Los Angeles and Singapore followed before NYK formed ONE.
Zach holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from James Madison University with a minor in writing and rhetoric. While pursuing his studies, he worked as a prep chef and a landscaper; those vocations have evolved into his favorite hobbies.
His greatest passion however is spending time with his wife Yanizy and daughter Luna. Their favorite family activity is strolling around the streets of the Richmond historic district in which they now (very happily) live.