Organic Valley proudly appoints Shawna Nelson as the farmer-owned cooperative’s new executive vice president of membership (EVP). Growing her experience from intern to vice president over the span of 18 years, Nelson has been a key contributor to Organic Valley’s growth and has demonstrated success at every stage. Nelson adds her perspective to the executive leadership team as a woman leading in agriculture focused on the farmers and producers that underpin the American food system. 

Born and raised in the same Driftless area that Organic Valley calls home, Nelson started her career at Organic Valley in 2005, as a human resources intern and then moved to various roles in marketing, sales analysis, recruitment, employee relations, field operations, and dairy pool management. Nelson’s appointment as the EVP of membership began on Oct. 23, as current EVP of Membership Travis Forgues begins his transition to Hidden Springs Creamery and their family farm on Nov. 3.

“After 25 years as a part of Organic Valley/CROPP Cooperative, wearing both farmer and leadership hats, I'm eager to shift focus to my family farm and our artisan sheep dairy and cheeses, Hidden Springs Creamery,” Forgues said. “Shawna Nelson and I have worked closely together for many years, and I'm confident she's become the perfect torchbearer for our community. I'm looking forward to this next chapter and to seeing how she leads our membership into the future.”

"I am honored and elated to take the next step with the cooperative and continue serving its mission to create a stable economic model for organic family farms,” Nelson said. “Since 2005, I’ve known Organic Valley is the place I am meant to be. I look forward to working more closely with CEO Jeff Frank, the rest of our executive leadership team, board members, farmer-members and teams across the cooperative to realize the immense potential for Organic Valley’s continued growth and success.”

Nelson is advancing her role at Organic Valley from her previous position as vice president of dairy pool, where she oversaw membership functions that directly impacted the dairy pool of the cooperative, including hauling, regional pool management, scheduling, forecasting, milk handlers and dairy payroll. 

As EVP of membership, Nelson will be responsible for the cooperative’s farmer-member touchpoints and all the farmer pools within the organization. This new position takes Nelson’s leadership beyond the cooperative’s dairy pool to its egg, meat, produce, and grower pools. Finally, the programs that support all of the cooperative’s pools, including member communication, sustainability and veterinary services will be guided by Nelson’s leadership moving forward.

About Organic Valley  
Organic Valley is the leading organic farmer-owned cooperative on a mission to save, serve and safeguard small organic family farms. The brand’s products are ethically sourced, which we define as food raised on organic farms where families manage the daily care for the animals and the earth while living up to the requirements of the USDA National Organic Program as well as our cooperative’s high standards and practices designed to promote the principles of organic agriculture, including respect for the dignity and interdependence of human, animal, plant, soil and global life. Founded in 1988, today the cooperative is owned by over 1,600 organic family farms.