Meet our Advisory Committee Members
Amanda Austin
Amanda Austin grew up visiting her grandparents’ farms and birthplaces in Arkansas, where she learned to be a steward of the land and developed a lifelong passion for agrarian people and farm work.
For more than fifteen years, Amanda has been devoted to empowering farmers, food producers, and local businesses to succeed. Amanda first began her career in agriculture as a college student, working as a farm hand on vegetable farms in Texas, California, and New York. She went on to own and operate a vegetable and cut flower farm in Texas that served as an educational center, hosting farm-based summer camps, field trips, and workshops along with an internship program for college students. For the last ten years, Amanda has worked as the Executive Director of a Dallas/Ft.Worth farmers market.
From operating the farm and its programs, and a decade of directing a mid-sized, non-profit organization, Amanda gained expertise in organizational leadership, agricultural entrepreneurship, and community engagement. Amanda is committed to being a life-long learner, and especially loves learning from and with women in agriculture.
Colleen Peppler
Colleen Peppler was born and raised on a dry land wheat farm in Washington County,Colorado. She and her husband own and operate 500 irrigated acres along the front range, currently raising alfalfa hay, corn and wheat. Colleen attended Northeastern Junior College and Colorado State University and holds a bachelor’s degree invocational home economics education and a master’s degree in educational leadership. She was a teacher for 21 years and an assistant high school principal for 10 years. Colleen is a current member of the Colorado Department of Agriculture Commission. She also has served for 2 years as the chairperson of this commission. The Colorado Agricultural Commission is a group of nine agricultural leaders appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the State Senate. They are responsible for making recommendations to the Commissioner, the Governor and the General Assembly regarding agricultural issues within the state; developing policies for preparing and enforcing rules and regulations related to agriculture; reviewing and approving all rules and regulations prior to adoption by the Commissioner; developing general policy for managing the agriculture department; and approving and monitoring the agriculture department’s budget. In addition, Colleen is an agriculture spokesperson for Common ground, a group of more than 200 farm women across 20 states, and serves on the Board of Directors for Colorado Foundation for Agriculture. She and her husband have a grown son and daughter who are both managing partners of Peppler Farms, LLC. The Peppler/Muhme Farm is a designated Colorado Centennial Farm.
Andrea Parent-Tibbetts
Andrea is a passionate advocate for rural communities, with over two decades of experience in agriculture, education, and nonprofit leadership. Known for her collaborative approach and commitment to empowering women in agriculture, Andrea has worked extensively at the intersection of community development, resource accessibility, and farm business support.
A retired school administrator with a background in finance and operations, Andrea launched a thriving Agritourism Program on her farm -Clover Brooke Farm, Hyde Park, NY in 2019, now welcoming over 4,000 visitors annually for unique Camelid Experiences. She partners with local colleges and vocational schools to mentor 2–3 interns each season, transforming her farm into a training ground for first-generation farmers. As a certified educator with Fearless Farmers, Andrea supports both youth and adult learners through regenerative farming education, and she leads a nature-based, themed summer camp for children that encourages curiosity, environmental stewardship, and agricultural literacy.
She is a longtime 4-H leader and strong advocate for youth in agriculture, ensuring young people have meaningful access to hands-on learning, leadership opportunities, and personal growth through agricultural experiences. Andrea also engages broader audiences through media features and classroom programs that highlight the importance of agriculture and animal therapy.
Andrea’s dedication to the mission of Annie’s Project stems from her deep agricultural roots and her desire to see rural women grow in confidence and capacity. She is excited to serve on the 2025–2027 Annie’s Project Advisory Committee and contribute to a more resilient, inclusive, and informed farming future.
Kristine Ranger
Kristine is an agri-food systems consultant providing educational services and resources including on-farm coaching in Human Resources, team and leadership development, project management and evaluation, grant writing, facilitation, Parliamentarian, business development, and coaching. She also serves as Co-Director for the NE Michigan Healthy Food Initiative and enjoys camping and traveling in semi-retirement.
Caroline Egbelu
Caroline Egbelu is the Founder and Managing Director of Health Enhanced Foods, a company dedicated to transforming the way we view food—turning everyday meals into powerful tools for wellness. Driven by a passion for nutritious, clean ingredients and a deep commitment to people with chronic health conditions and dietary restrictions, Caroline is leading the charge in health-focused food innovation.
Born in Nigeria, Caroline’s love for agriculture began with her father’s dream of building a commercial farm in the Niger Delta. He believed in educating his daughter to lead that vision—an uncommon privilege that ignited her lifelong dedication to food and farming.
She earned a diploma in Agricultural Economics in Nigeria and later moved to the United States, continuing her studies at Penn State University, where she earned both a B.Sc. in Agricultural Economics and Farm Management and an MBA.
Inspired by a family health crisis, Caroline shifted from a corporate career to create healing food alternatives. Through Health Enhanced Foods, she develops unrefined, additive-free flour blends that support people living with conditions such as diabetes, kidney disease, sickle cell disease and epilepsy. Caroline developed a course that partners with culinary arts programs to train future chefs in using food as first medicine. She serves as a USDA Agricultural Trade Advisor on the Committee for Trade in Processed Foods. Her USDA-FAS and food industry international trade mission work, span Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas. She is a member of the New Jersey Export Promotion Advisory Council and the New Jersey Food Council.
Jeri Tulley – photo coming soon
Jeri Tulley grew up in a small town in rural Texas. Although agricultural was all around her life, in high school she focused on band, sports, and academic competitions and filled her class schedule with all of the college prep classes she could take leaving no room for ag or home economics. After high school, she attended the University of Texas at Austin, earned a BBA in Finance, and went on to be hired by Lockheed Martin as a Proposal Manager for their F-16 program. Over the next few years, she met and married her husband and earned her MBA from Texas Christian University.
When Jeri’s husband suddenly passed away, she was left with two young children and a herd of Wagyu cattle. In a discussion with her father about the family cattle business which her husband had been an integral part of, Jeri’s dad tapped her on the shoulder and said, “You’re it.” Perplexed, Jeri replied, “But Dad, I don’t know anything about cattle. I don’t even know how to drive a tractor!” As a stereotypically wise old rancher who doesn’t mince words, her dad calmly stated, “You’ll learn.”
Regretting not having taken any of those ag and home economics classes, Jeri joined the family business, becoming a rancher and stay-at-home mom, and she learned. Annie’s Project was an integral part of that learning curve, and it also allowed Jeri to find other women in agriculture in her local community. Jeri used her writing skill set and began writing for agricultural magazines. With unlimited freedom from her primary editor, Jeri was able to explore and learn about any topic related to cattle. Being published also had the added benefit of making her be seen as an expert in her field of Wagyu cattle. This led to Jeri serving a 3 year term on the Texas Wagyu Association board of directors. Jeri now co-owns and operates a Fullblood and F-1 Wagyu business with her father where they sell cattle by the truckload lot to meat companies.
Jeri is excited to be a part of the Annie’s Project team so that she can help other women learn about agriculture, just like she was helped when she needed it the most.
Nina Spinelli
Nina brings a unique and vital perspective to Annie’s Project, combining her deep commitment to women’s empowerment with a professional background in self-care, wellness, and resiliency training. With years of experience guiding individuals and communities toward sustainable practices for mental, emotional, and physical well-being, she is passionate about integrating personal resilience into the broader landscape of women-led agriculture.
Nina earned her BA in Political Science from the University of South Carolina – Aiken and her Master of Public Administration from Augusta State University. Nina is an RY-200 Yoga Instructor and ACE Certified Health Coach, with a focus of whole-health wellness — from nutrition to sleep to movement.
Her work has centered on developing tools and strategies that support women in managing stress, cultivating leadership from within, and sustaining themselves while sustaining the land. Nina is particularly committed to advancing practices that recognize the vital connection between self-care and the long-term success of women in farming and agricultural entrepreneurship.
As a board member, she advocates for programming that centers the holistic health of women in agriculture—believing that resilient farmers grow resilient communities. Nina serves as the Chair of the Midlands Citizen Review Panel, board member with Keep Aiken County Beautiful and Outreach Chair for Second Circuit Human Trafficking Task Force. She is also a graduate of the Clemson New and Beginning Farmer program.
Glennis McClure
Glennis McClure has long been passionate about supporting women in agriculture. Early in her career with Nebraska Extension, she helped plan the state’s first Women in Agriculture Conference during the farm crisis of the 1980s, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2025. Today, she serves as a statewide Extension Educator with the University of Nebraska, specializing in livestock and crop enterprise budgets, the farm custom rates survey, and economic analysis for the Department of Agricultural Economics and the Center for Agricultural Profitability. She also helps lead farm stress workshops across Nebraska. In recent years, Glennis has played a key role in developing the award-winning Agricultural Budget Calculator (ABC) program—a valuable tool that helps producers and ag professionals assess production costs and make informed decisions. Alongside her professional work, she is a farmwife and business partner on the family farm near Blue Springs, Nebraska. Her diverse career has included roles as a farm business consultant, small business developer, economic development director, and Senior Community Affairs Advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
Robin Brumfield
Robin Brumfield, PhD, is a recognized expert in agriculture with an emphasis in economics and marketing and was a Professor and Specialist in Farm Management at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey from1988 through 2023. Before joining the Rutgers faculty, she spent five years as Assistant Professor and Floricultural Extension Specialist at Pennsylvania State University. In 1995, Dr. Brumfield was invited by the top horticultural department in Australia, at Burnley College in Melbourne to analyze their greenhouse industry as her sabbatical project. In her last few years at Rutgers University, her research has focused on making the greenhouse and nursery industry more sustainable. She was part of a research team that studied the impact and social acceptance of selected sustainable practices in ornamental crop production systems, and she was also part of a team creating a comprehensive decision-making system to recycle irrigation water at New Jersey nurseries, funded by the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
She assembled the award-winning New Jersey Annie’s Project team in 2011and collaborated with the team to conduct focus groups to adapt this program from the mid-west to conditions in an urban state. She arranged the workshops so that the women completed a business plan as part of the workshop. Robin took the Annie’s Project concept to Antalya, Turkey in late 2011 where she co-founded Suzanne’s Project. She then extended the program to Germany, Spain, and Malta through an EU funded project called Empowering Women Farmers with Agricultural Business Management Training. She also trained small-holder women farmers in Nicaragua and Guyana to better manage their businesses.
She is internationally known for her work in horticultural economics and has given over 200 talks in sixteen countries. She uses tools like workbooks and computerized calculators to help farmers make better management decisions. Her on-line workbook, To Market; To Market was designed to help small beginning farmers decide what to produce and how to market it. Her Greenhouse Cost Accounting Program is the standard in the greenhouse industry. She wrote the marketing and business management chapters for the best-selling textbook, Greenhouse Operations and Management, by Dr. Paul V. Nelson. She was named a Fellow of the American Society for Horticultural Science in 2012, the highest honor the society bestows.
Linda Vernon
We are second generation farmers in rural Ohio with a cow/calf operation, a Red Tunis flock of sheep, laying hens and a variety of crops. Our farming techniques include no til with cover crops, rotational grazing paddocks utilizing the symbiotic relationship of cows and sheep to maximize pasture health. We also raise hogs seasonally each fall. Our retail operation includes marketing and selling our grass-fed and finished beef and lamb at a variety of farmer’s markets as well as to a customer base for freezers and retail outlets along with fresh eggs.
Keith Ohlinger
Keith Ohlinger runs Porch View Farm LLC with his family in Howard County, Maryland. Keith set out to continue his family farming heritage by building a Garden of Eden that was profitable and enhanced the ecosystem. They rotationally graze livestock and raise trees on a 22.3-acre silvopasture that uses keylines for water management and living hedges to increase carbon sequestration and wildlife habitat. Keith is a very active advocate for agriculture of all types. He has served and currently serves on many boards, committees, commissions, councils and taskforces helping the agricultural and forest product industries.
Tonia Denzer
Tonia Denzer retired as Senior Vice President & Chief Lending Officer, for The Cooperative Finance Association, Inc. (“CFA”) in 2025. Tonia joined CFA in 2018 and in her role, she was responsible for developing and implementing innovative financing programs, managing fintech relationships and delivering embedded financing solutions to the cooperative and independent agribusiness marketplace. In addition, Tonia developed and ensured compliance with credit policy and reporting to the board of directors. She was a liaison for strategic financial partners including Farm Credit System entities. Prior to joining CFA, Tonia spent 11 years with CHS Inc. as Chief Lending Officer and Chief Credit Officer where she was instrumental in combining its three finance entities into CHS Capital. Tonia also worked for 10 years within the Farm Credit System holding senior leadership positions in credit and risk management with CoBank/Farm Credit Leasing/St. Paul Bank. Tonia grew up on a farm in northeast South Dakota and began her finance career as an Examiner with the Farm Credit Administration (“FCA”). Tonia worked with FCA for 8 years including a rotational assignment in the Enforcement Division, McLean, VA.