77 CEO of Land O’Lakes About Beth Ford Beth Ford serves as President and CEO of Land O’Lakes, Inc., a Fortune 200 food production and agribusiness company that is also a 100-year-old farmer-owned cooperative. Beth’s 35-year career spans six industries at seven companies. Since joining Land O’Lakes in 2011, she has held a variety of roles leading the farmer-to-fork business offerings. Today, she is a passionate advocate on behalf of farmers and rural America with the goal of connecting people, particularly in urban areas, to the farmers and rural communities who grow their food. In addition, she is the convener of The American Connection Project to help bridge the digital divide. A native of Sioux City, Iowa, Beth holds a bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University and a master’s degree in business from Columbia University Business School. She sits on the Boards of Directors for the Business Roundtable; BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager; Fortune 150 company PACCAR, Inc. and numerous other industry, non-profit and university boards. Beth has been recognized by Fortune as one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders and Most Powerful Women and named to Fast Company’s Best Leaders list, among other honors. She was featured in the New York Times’ Corner Office column and profiled in the “60 Minutes” segment entitled “The Farmers Advocate.” Education BBA, Iowa State University MBA, Columbia Business School Experience International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF) Hachette Scholastic Corporation PepsiCo/Pepsi Bottling Group Perseco Mobil Oil Corporate boards Board of directors, PACCAR Board of directors, BlackRock Industry leadership Board of Directors, Business Roundtable Board member, United States Global Leadership Campaign (USGLC) Board member, National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) Board member, Consumer Brands Association Board member, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) Advisory board member, Deming Center at Columbia University Executive advisory board member, Iowa State University About Land O’ Lakes FEEDING HUMAN PROGRESS In 1921, 320 dairy farmers met in St. Paul, Minnesota, to form the Minnesota Cooperative Creameries Association. Their idea was simple: Join together to effectively market and distribute members’ dairy production across the country. Today, our four businesses (spanning the whole agricultural system!) give us a farmer-to-fork view of agriculture. Beth Ford MINNESOTA
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