Beth Ford is President and CEO of Land O’Lakes, Inc. Both a Fortune 200 company and an agricultural cooperative, Land O’Lakes operates in all 50 states and more than 60 countries and touches half the harvested acres in America. She is the first openly gay woman to lead a Fortune 500 company.

Ford, who has held senior positions in seven companies in six industries, leads not only by delivering financial performance, but also by addressing the important global issues and structural changes that can improve areas directly impacted by food and agriculture. During her tenure, Land O’Lakes has focused on its members, the technology that enables them, and on ensuring the vibrance and connection of the communities in which they live and work. Working to close the digital divide, she convened the American Connection Project to address broadband inequity in low-resource communities and contributed to the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which included $65 billion for rural connectivity. She regularly addresses issues around global food security, noting food security is national security.

Ford serves on the President’s Export Council, the Boards of Directors for the Business Roundtable and Starbucks; three additional past public boards; and numerous other industry, non-profit and university boards. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University and a master’s degree in business from Columbia University Business School. She recently was inducted in the Supply Chain Hall of Fame by the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals and received a Doctor of Humane Letters honorary degree from Iowa State University.

Ford has been repeatedly recognized in the media, including having been named to Fortune’s Most Powerful Women and Forbes' 50 Over 50 - Innovation lists. She has been profiled in The New York Times and on “60 Minutes,” and has been named as one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World for being at the forefront of a national effort to invest in America’s rural communities.

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