HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-22-23 Correspondence - US Dept of Agriculture - STAKEHOLDER ANNOUNCEMENT - USDA Rural Development Announces New Leadership AppointmentsFrom:Rural DevelopmentTo:AgendaSubject:[EXTERNAL]STAKEHOLDER ANNOUNCEMENT - USDA Rural Development Announces New Leadership AppointmentsDate:Wednesday, December 20, 2023 11:33:45 AM
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US Department of Agriculture Rural Development - Together America Prospers
STAKEHOLDER ANNOUNCEMENT
USDA Rural Development Announces New LeadershipAppointments
WASHINGTON, Dec. 20, 2023 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural
Development today announced several leadership appointments including a new Agency
Chief of Staff, Rural Business-Cooperative Service Administrator, Senior Advisor for
Communications and External Engagement, and Senior Advisor.
Sarah Dietch has been appointed Rural Development Chief of Staff. Sarah comes to
USDA from the United States Peace Corps, where she served as Director of Peace Corps
Response. In this role, she led efforts to reimagine Peace Corps service developing
policy, implementing programming and securing resources to provide short-term, high-
impact service opportunities for Americans to serve as Peace Corps Response Volunteers
and Virtual Service Pilot Participants. During her tenure, Sarah also led the second-ever
domestic deployment of Peace Corps Volunteers in support of Community Vaccination
Centers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Before that, Dietch was a Peace Corps
Individual and Organizational Development Volunteer in Telavi, Georgia, where she
developed the Kakheti Media Center’s strategic vision for civic engagement activities.
Dietch has also held senior roles at USDA’s Rural Development, Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) Office of Legislative Affairs, and Department of Homeland Security
(DHS) Office of Legislative Affairs. She has a Bachelor of Arts from Simpson College and
a master’s in public administration from Harvard University.
Betsy Dirksen Londrigan has been appointed as Rural Business-Cooperative Service
Administrator. Betsy previously served as USDA’s Rural Development State Director for
Illinois since January 2022, and will take on this new role in mid-January upon the
departure of Dr. Karama Neal, who is departing USDA and returning to Arkansas. Dirksen
Londrigan has over 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, working with
community, regional, and state leaders to effect positive change. Dirksen Londrigan is the
Lead for the Illinois Basin Rapid Response Team for the Interagency Working Group
(IWG) for Energy Communities. She is a lifelong resident of Springfield, Illinois, and is
proud that her family members still own and operate the Centennial farm in Central Illinois
where her grandmother was raised. Dirksen Londrigan graduated from the University of
Illinois Urbana-Champaign and is a former Director at the University of Illinois Springfield.
Jimmy Dahman has been promoted to a new role as Senior Advisor for
Communications and External Engagement in Rural Development’s Under Secretary’s
Office. Jimmy has been serving as Acting Rural Development Chief of Staff since August
and prior to this role, served as Rural Business-Cooperative Service Chief of Staff. Prior to
that, Jimmy served as Special Assistant in Rural Development’s Under Secretary’s Office.
Bill Menner has been appointed as a Senior Advisor, working primarily with Rural
Development’s State Operations Office. Bill served as the Rural Development State
Director for Iowa from 2009 through 2017. Since then, his career has focused on Rural
Development priorities including renewable energy, community development, and
housing. Bill has been serving as the board president of Partners for Rural America, the
national umbrella group for state rural development councils.
To learn more, read the full STAKEHOLDER ANNOUCEMENT.
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