Annie’s Project (AP) names joint Chief Executive Officers for the APEFW leadership team, Dr Karisha Devlin and Doris Mold. This new partnership approach brings together the strengths of two recognized leaders to expand the reach of APEFW, which has educated more than 14,000 women in agriculture since 2003.
AP, based in Woodlawn, Illinois, with outreach across the U.S., empowers farm and ranch women and growers to be better business partners through networks and by managing and organizing critical information. Devlin and Mold have a long history of working with women in agriculture. They will work closely with the AP Board of Directors, State Coordinators and facilitators, and Director of Administration on moving the organization forward.
“We are looking forward to the next chapter of growth of Annie’s Project, which will benefit women farmers, ranchers and growers across the United States. The most recent Census of Agriculture recognized that there are substantially more women producers out there than previously thought. Our new Co-CEOs will help us reach women with the necessary information and skill building to empower them to be better managers and leaders in agriculture,” says AP Board President and Annie’s Project Founder Ruth Hambleton.
Meet Our Co-CEOs
Dr. Karisha Devlin
Dr. Karisha Devlin received a B.S. degree in Animal Science and a M.S. degree in Agribusiness Management from Mississippi State University. In 2017, she received a EdD degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis from the University of Missouri. Devlin is passionate about educating women in agriculture and has been involved with Annie’s Project since 2004. She has served as Missouri Annie’s Project Co-Program Coordinator, Annie’s Project National Leadership Team, and the Annie’s Project Board of Directors. In 2019, Devlin, along with Doris Mold, became Co-CEO of Annie’s Project. Her dissertation “Meeting the Educational Needs of Farm Women: A Case Study of Annie’s Project” evaluated the effectiveness of Annie’s Project in Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois. Devlin is an alum of ALOT (Agricultural Leadership of Tomorrow) Class XI. She serves as Chair of the Missouri Agriculture and Small Business Development Authority (MASBDA), Secretary of the Knox County R-1 School District Board, Secretary/Treasurer of the St. Joseph Parish Improvement Foundation, and is a board member of Knox County Rotary Club, Knox County Chamber of Commerce, Knox County Library Board, and University of Missouri Greenley Research Center Advisory Board. Devlin and her husband, Dan, own and operate a grain farm in Knox County, Missouri.
Doris Mold
Doris Mold is the President of Sunrise Agricultural Associates, LLC, an agricultural consulting firm. Mold is an agricultural consultant, agricultural economist, educator and advocate, as well as a farm co-owner/operator. Mold’s consulting practice has included a broad range of work, including: business and risk management, farm stress, coaching, evaluation, marketing, advocacy, leadership, and organizational development. She teaches Farm and Agri-Business
Management at the University of Minnesota (U of MN) for MAST International. Mold served on the Annie’s Project Board of Directors for four years, as well as the American Agri-Women (AAW) Executive Committee for six years, Mold was President of American Agri-Women in 2016 and 2017. Mold has also been co-lead of the Cultivating Resiliency for Women in Agriculture “farm stress” project and co-founded the Women’s Agricultural Leadership Conference, which is entering its 22nd year. In 2015 she served on an expert national Panel on Statistics on Women and Beginning Farmers for the USDA Census of Agriculture that recommended the new demographic questions for the 2017 Census of Agriculture, which resulted in an increase of nearly 27% in women producers. Mold served six years on the USDA Agricultural Statistics Advisory Committee for NASS and chaired the committee for three years. Mold has served as the Upper Midwest Dairy Industry Association General Manager for the past decade. Previously, Mold worked as an Agricultural Economist at the U of MN and continues to work on research/education projects on a project basis. Additionally, Mold is a member of, serves or has served with a number of other agricultural organizations on a local, state, national and international basis. Mold has an M.S. in Agricultural and Applied Economics and a B.S. in Agricultural and Applied Economics, Animal Science and Agricultural Education, all from the U of MN. She did her Masters work on Conflict Resolution in Agriculture – Farmer Lender Mediation in Minnesota.
Click here to read a Garden & Home article about Annie’s Project and our Co-CEOs.