The National FFA Foundation announced its new chair for the Sponsors’ Board during the 96th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis this fall.
Mary Snapp, vice president of strategic initiatives for Microsoft, was named chair for the upcoming year. Snapp grew up in rural Kansas and joined Microsoft in 1988 as the company’s first female attorney. She currently leads various strategic initiatives in the Office of the Vice Chair and President. She formerly led Microsoft’s legal support for all of its product and engineering teams, as well as Microsoft’s Global Philanthropies team, partnering with nonprofits and communities across the world to use technology to create a lasting positive impact.
“I am honored to serve as chair of FFA’s Corporate Sponsors’ Board, and to continue Microsoft’s partnership with FFA on its mission to grow our next generation of leaders,” said Snapp. “As digital technologies help extend agriculture’s long history of innovation, it is critical that FFA continues to provide its nearly one million members with the tools and skills that they need for the future, and we are proud to support that.”
The National FFA Sponsors’ Board is made up of top corporate executives who wish to support agricultural education and the National FFA Organization. During their service, sponsors’ board members are integral to advising the National FFA on opportunities to improve programs and secure funding for the continued development of the next generation of leaders who will change the world.
In addition to Snapp being named the board chair, six other new board members were announced. Those include Jackie Bailey, senior vice president of transportation for CHS Inc.; John Barton, chief financial officer for Ardent Mills; Mel Halkyard, vice president, global digital transformation for Elanco Animal Health; Jim Krombach, director of quality assurance for Culvers Franchising System, LLC; Clint Mefford, head of U.S. livestock communications and marketing operations for Zoetis; and Joe Michaels, senior director of product portfolio planning for Kubota North America.
These members will serve on the board for three years.
The National FFA Organization is a school-based national youth leadership development organization of more than 945,000 student members as part of 9,163 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
