Joyce A. Watson, the founding CEO & President of the Illinois Agricultural Leadership Foundation (IALF) has announced her retirement after 30 years in the position. Her retirement is effective August 10, 2012.
Under her leadership, the IALF has grown into one of the finest leadership programs in the nation. The organization was formed following an exploratory conference in Spokane, Washington, sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Watson was appointed the organization’s first CEO & President in February of 1982. The program develops knowledgeable and effective leaders to become policy and decision makers for the global agriculture industry.
During her tenure, more than 400 participants have graduated from the program, many of whom have gone on to hold ownership in farming operations and senior management positions in major corporations, government agencies and other industry organizations locally, statewide, nationally and internationally. Many program graduates have achieved exemplary leadership roles both past and present. While all cannot be listed, a few include the Chairman of the U.S. Farm Credit Administration in Washington, DC, U.S. Undersecretary of Agriculture, Chairman of the American Soybean Association, Chairman of the National Corn Growers Association, President of the National Pork Producers, Chairman of the U.S. Grains Council, Illinois Director of Agriculture, members of the Illinois General Assembly, President of the Illinois Farm Bureau, Chairman of the Illinois Soybean Association, Chairman of the Board and President of GROWMARK, Inc., General Manager for Pioneer Hi-Bred in China and the Senior Director of Global Marketing for Harvesting at Case IH.
Working with the IALF Board of Directors, Watson has raised nearly $11.5 million and continues to operate the leadership program without state or federal government funding. Fifteen, two-year classes will be completed before she retires, with each class consisting of 14 seminars. As part of the leadership training, the classes have visited 36 different countries to cultivate and grow trade relationships. The IALF has formed educational partnerships with the finest educational institutions in the state to offer seminars, including the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, the Booth Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago, the College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois, Bradley University, Western Illinois University, Illinois State University, Southern Illinois University and other institutions of higher education.
“Joyce has set a high standard for agricultural leadership programs,” said Dan Kelley, Chairman of GROWMARK and Chairman of the IALF Board of Directors. “Her abilities in directing the educational offerings and fundraising efforts for the organization will be greatly missed. She has left a noticeable legacy on agriculture in the State of Illinois.” Kelley is a 1984 graduate of the leadership program.
Watson is a graduate of Western Illinois University and has been recognized as a Kellogg Executive Scholar from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She has earned the designation of Certified Association Executive (CAE) and Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE). She served on the Illinois Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women, and was given the Outstanding Leader Award by her peers in the International Association of Professionals in Agricultural Leadership. She recently received the 2011 “Service to Agriculture Award” from the Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers.
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. Applications are being accepted until March 31, 2012 for the Class of 2014 that begins in September 2012.
