The Animal Agriculture Alliance is pleased to announce the promotion of Emily Meredith to Vice President of Communications and Membership. In this position, Emily will assume a greater management role over the communications and membership outreach strategies for the Alliance, with direct management of the Alliance’s Membership and Marketing Manager, Special Projects Manager and internship program.

Emily joined the Alliance in December 2012 as the Director of Communications and quickly took on the challenge of wearing multiple hats. Given that the primary role of the Animal Agriculture Alliance centers on communications, many of the Alliance’s programs and initiatives require coordination of communications efforts among broader stakeholder groups in order to provide a unified voice for animal agriculture.

“Emily accepted that challenge immediately and has made many valuable contributions advancing the Alliance, as well as the broader animal agriculture community,” said Kay Johnson Smith, Alliance President and CEO. “Emily has demonstrated her leadership skills, the ability to strategically multi-task and provide a passionate and smart voice for animal agriculture over and over in her short tenure with the Alliance.”

Emily has led many coalition efforts, including agriculture’s proactive response to the re-release of the Pew Commission Report. She managed a major overhaul of the Alliance’s website, creating the redesign almost single-handedly. She developed the program and marketing plan for the Alliance’s 2014 Stakeholders Summit “Cracking the Millennial Code,” leading to the Alliance’s best-attended and most successful event to date. Emily has also provided a powerful voice for animal agriculture in national media venues including CNN, NPR and The Daly Show with Jon Stewart. And in addition to the regular blogs she authors for Meatingplace.com, Pork Network, Progressive Cattleman and Progressive Dairyman, Emily is a sought after speaker by industry and government organizations for their various conferences and events.

Last year, Emily was recognized among the inaugural recipients of Vance Publishing’s prestigious “40 Under 40 Award”, and most recently led the way for the Alliance to receive a Merit Award in the “Tactics Division – Collateral/Literature” by the Agricultural Relations Council.

Prior to joining the Alliance, Emily worked in the communications division of USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, and the office of the New York State Attorney General. She earned her J.D., with a concentration in food and drug law, from Seton Hall University in Newark, New Jersey, and her B.A. in International Affairs, Journalism and Mass Communication from The George Washington University in Washington, DC.