Executive Committe

Mary Boote

Chief Executive Officer

Global Farmer Network

IAFN Chair

Mary Boote serves as Chief Executive Officer of the Global Farmer Network.  Raised on a Northwest Iowa dairy, pork, corn and soybean family farm, she had the privilege of serving as agriculture adviser to Iowa Governor Terry E. Branstad from 1997-1999. Named as one of the Worldview 100:  Global  Industry’s top 100 Visionaries and Leaders in Biotechnology by Scientific American Worldview in 2015, Mary has had the opportunity to travel internationally on several agriculture leadership missions that focused on issues as varied as instruction on strategic planning and personal representation for privatized agriculturalists in newly independent countries to learning more about smallholder maize projects to observing the trade negotiation process at the World Trade Organization.

Laurie Goodwin

Vice President, Public Affairs and Communications

CropLife International

IAFN Vice-Chair

Laurie is Vice President, Public Affairs and Communications for CropLife International, the global voice and leading advocate for the plant science industry. She leads a team responsible for the association’s public affairs and communications objectives on a range of global priorities focused on advancing innovation in agriculture for a sustainable future. Prior to joining CropLife International in 2017, Laurie spent almost 15 years with Syngenta where she held roles in both research and development and stakeholder relations and government affairs. Laurie has a degree in Agronomy from the University of Guelph and is currently based in Ottawa, Canada.

Richard White

President & CEO

Canadian Canola Growers Association

Treasurer

Rick first joined CCGA in 2003, as the Director of Policy Development, where he was responsible for national policy development and advocacy activities of the organization. He was promoted to General Manager of the association in February 2008, and Chief Executive Officer in 2014. In his position as CEO, Rick is responsible for the overall management and operations of CCGA. This includes the development and advocacy of agricultural policies at national and international levels, and managing the administration of the Advance Payments Program, which issues cash advance loans to farmers. Rick has considerable experience in agricultural policy development and analysis. Through the course of his career he has served in positions with the University of Saskatchewan, the Canadian Wheat Board, Agricore Cooperative Ltd, and the Association of Manitoba Municipalities. Rick has a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, and a Master of Science degree from the University of Saskatchewan, both majoring in Agricultural Economics. He and his wife continue to own and operate a share of the family grain farm in Southeastern Saskatchewan.