Don Norton, of Macomb, has been named CEO & President-elect of the Illinois Agricultural Leadership Foundation (IALF) by the IALF Board of Directors. In August Norton will succeed the current IALF CEO/President Joyce Watson, who recently announced her retirement effective August 10.
Norton currently serves as the Education Coordinator of the foundation, working with the CEO/President and Education Committee to develop curriculum for each of the 14 seminars in the two-year leadership training program. The IALF develops knowledgeable and effective leaders to become policy and decision makers for the global agriculture industry. He also assists currently with grant writing and alumni relations for the foundation.
Norton is an accomplished communications and education professional. He has taught broadcasting and new media, public speaking, advertising and public relations at the university and community college level. Prior to joining IALF in November 2010, he taught at South Suburban College in South Holland, Illinois and before that at Western Illinois University where he received teaching and service awards. He received his Master of Arts degree in Communications from Western Illinois University in 1991.
He has held marketing communications positions with Northrop Corporation and Blue Cross in California, and has worked on numerous marketing communications projects for agricultural businesses while with Mediacall, Inc. In addition to marketing and corporate communications, Norton has served as a radio news anchor and reporter. He has earned four Illinois Associated Press awards for his work at stations WGN in Chicago, WJBC in Bloomington, and WJEQ in Macomb.
Norton is a member of the Macomb Centennial Morning Rotary Club, where he was named a Paul Harris Fellow. He also has served on the boards of the United Way, Junior Achievement, Performing Arts Society, and other civic organizations. Don and his wife Kay have two grown sons.
“The Board of Directors is excited that Don will be leading the foundation into a new era,” said Dan Kelley, Chairman of GROWMARK and Chairman of the IALF Board of Directors. “His skills as an educator and communications professional will provide the organization with a high level of visibility while at the same time maintaining the integrity of the leadership training we provide.”
The IALF is a non-profit educational corporation under Illinois law. A board of directors, comprised of recognized leaders in agriculture and business, oversees the program. Candidates for the leadership program include men and women ages 25-49 years of age working full-time in production agriculture or agri-related occupations in Illinois, and are selected during a competitive application process. The sixteenth class in the organization’s history will begin in September 2012.
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