Long-Thompson to speak at M.C. Soil & Water Conservation Dist. Annual Meeting

  12/31/13 The Marshall County Soil and Water Conservation District will host their annual meeting on Tuesday, January 28^th. 

The guest speaker for the evening will be Dr. Jill Long Thompson, chair of the Board and CEO of the Farm Credit Administration.  Dr. Long Thompson was appointed to the FCA Board by President Barack Obama in March 2010 and was designated Chair and CEO on November 27, 2012. Her term expires in May 2014.

Long Thompson also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Farm Credit System Insurance Corporation, which is responsible for ensuring the timely payment of principal and interest on obligations issued on behalf of Farm Credit System banks.

As head of FCA, Long Thompson also oversees the Agency’s ethics program. Her goal is to ensure that the Agency adheres to the highest ethical standards in carrying out its mission as the arm’s-length regulator of the Farm Credit System. For more information, see Ethics and Arm’s-Length Role.

Long Thompson has many years of leadership experience. From 1989 to 1995, she represented northeast Indiana as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, serving on the Committee on Agriculture, the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and the Select Committee on Hunger. She also served as Chair of the Rural Caucus.

Long Thompson has been dedicated to integrity in Government for many years. As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, she introduced one of the nation’s first pieces of legislation banning members of Congress from accepting gifts; this legislation also expanded disclosure requirements for lobbying activities.

From 1995 to 2001, she served as Under Secretary for Rural Development in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where she oversaw an annual budget of $10 billion and a staff of 7,000 employees. In this position, she managed programs that provide services to the underserved areas of rural America.

In addition, Long Thompson served as chief executive officer and senior fellow at the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy, a nonprofit research and policy organization in Washington, D.C.

The first and only woman nominated by a major party to run for Governor of Indiana, Long Thompson is also the first and only Hoosier woman to be nominated by a major party to run for the U.S. Senate.

Long Thompson also has many years of experience as an educator, having taught at Indiana University, Valparaiso University, and Manchester College. She is also a former fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. She holds an M.B.A. and Ph.D. in Business from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and a B.S. in Business Administration from Valparaiso University.

Long Thompson grew up on a family farm outside of Larwill, Indiana; today she resides with her husband, Don Thompson, on a farm near Argos, Indiana.

The Marshall County Soil and Water Conservation District’s annual meeting on January 28^th will be held at the Pretty Lake Trinity United Methodist Church on State Road 17.  The event begins at 6:30 p.m. with a meal being catered by the Mary and Martha Circle.  Tickets are $8 each and reservations are required by January 21^st.  Call the Marshall County Soil & Water Conservation District at 936-2024 ext 3 to make your reservations.