Krysta Harden currently serves as Executive Vice President of Global Environmental Strategy for Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), which manages the national dairy checkoff on behalf of nearly 37,000 U.S. dairy farmers. In May of 2020 Krysta was named Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Dairy Export Council.

Before DMI, Harden served three years as Senior Vice President, External Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer for Corteva Agriscience, the Agriculture Division of DowDuPont. She also spent three years as DuPont Vice President of Public Policy and Chief Sustainability Officer.

Harden spent seven years at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) where she was deputy secretary for nearly three years and helped shape food and agriculture policy, including leading implementation of the 2014 Farm Bill. She also was chief of staff to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and was assistant secretary for congressional relations.

Preceding her service at USDA, Harden was CEO of the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) for five years, and worked with the American Soybean Association as senior vice president of Gordley Associates. She also spent 12 years on Capitol Hill as staff director for the House subcommittee on peanuts and tobacco, and as chief of staff and press secretary for former Congressman Charles Hatcher.

Leveraging a strong background within agriculture, sustainability and food policy, Harden plays a key leadership role in defining the vision, strategy and plan forward for U.S. dairy’s environmental commitment.

Harden received her B.A. in journalism from the University of Georgia in 1981.

Presentation: Election Results- Where Are We Now?

Phil Karsting is a Senior Policy Advisor at OFW, where he provides legislative and strategic advice across a range of issue areas.

He previously served as Chief of Staff to United States Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI), then Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Related Agencies. His 23 years of Senate service also included several years as Senior Analyst on the Democratic Staff of the Senate Budget Committee.

Immediately prior to joining OFW, Karsting was Vice President of Public Policy, and later the Interim President and CEO, at World Food Program USA. At WFP USA, he helped grow congressional support for key programs that allow WFP to deliver life-saving assistance across the globe.

During the second term of the Obama/Biden administration, Karsting served as Administrator of USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, an agency of 1300 employees across the globe, which facilitates international trade and promotes US agricultural exports.

Presentation: Election Results- Where Are We Now?

On November 3, 1998, Senator Blanche L. Lincoln made history when she became the youngest woman ever elected to the United States Senate at the age of 38 — a milestone that still exists today. She made history again on September 9, 2009 when she became the first female ever to serve as Chair of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee.

During her 16-year career in the U.S. Congress — first as a two-term member of the House of Representatives and then as a two-term member of the U.S. Senate — Lincoln built a reputation as a results-oriented, bipartisan legislator. She served on the several Committees in Congress, including the House Committee on Agriculture, House Energy and Commerce Committee, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the Senate Special Committee on Aging, and the Senate Finance Committee. She was a cofounder of the Senate Caucus for Missing and Exploited Children and chairman of the Congressional Sportsman’s Caucus. She continues to be recognized as a national leader in the areas of agriculture, anti-hunger, aging, healthcare, international trade, taxes, and energy policy.

As one of the Finance Committee’s top-ranking Democrats, Lincoln was named the first woman Democratic Senator to lead a Finance Committee Subcommittee. During her time on the Finance Committee, she went on to Chair two Subcommittees and helped develop and pass legislation reducing taxes, improving healthcare, and expanding trade.

A senior member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senator Lincoln worked to produce bipartisan legislation, improving energy efficiency and enhancing domestic energy supplies — including, nuclear and renewable sources.

In her fight against hunger, she founded the Senate Hunger Caucus and used her Chairmanship of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee to author and enact the largest investment in child nutrition programs in history. The new law was deficit neutral, established nutritional standards for school lunches for the first time, received strong bipartisan support, and was signed into law by President Barack Obama.

Raised in a farm family, she became known as a champion of production agriculture who fought to ensure that producers were able to continue to provide the safest, most abundant, and affordable supply of food to meet the global needs of the 21st century.

Today, she is the Founder and a Principal of Lincoln Policy Group, a consulting firm that assist its clients in successfully navigating the legislative and regulatory bureaucracies of the federal government.

Senator Lincoln is a Helena, Arkansas native. She received a bachelor’s degree from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College in Lynchburg, Virginia. She and her husband, Dr. Steve Lincoln, are the proud parents of twin boys, Reece and Bennett.

Presentation: Election Results- Where Are We Now?

Ambassador Darci Vetter, former Chief Agricultural Negotiator at the US Trade Representative (USTR) and Deputy Under Secretary at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), advises Edelman clients throughout the Agriculture, Food and Beverage Sectors, and clients from all sectors facing global trade and supply chain issues.

Darci works closely with Edelman’s clients to develop business and communication strategies to meet changing consumer expectations while complying with a rapidly-changing policy landscape. Her recent work includes helping clients navigate current trade tension, focus on transparency and traceability in supply chains, and implement sustainability and animal welfare initiatives.

Darci joined Edelman in 2018, and brings deep international trade, agriculture and food policy experience to the team, following a 17-year career in the federal government. After leaving public service in early 2017, Darci was the Diplomat in Residence at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, where she helped launch the Yeutter Institute of International Trade and Finance.

While serving as President Obama’s Chief Agricultural Negotiator, she led the negotiation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agricultural package, as well as bilateral deals with Japan, China, Brazil and other countries.

At USDA, Darci oversaw the Foreign Agricultural Service including trade policy and trade promotion programs, as well as trade capacity building in developing countries and the implementation of USDA’s international hunger and feeding programs. She was also responsible for USDA’s civilian agricultural assistance programs in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Darci served as an International Trade Advisor on the Senate Finance Committee.

Darci is a member of the board of directors of the Neogen Corporation, the Farm Foundation, and the Washington International Trade Association, and is a Member of the CME Group Agricultural Markets Advisory Council. She grew up in Nebraska on her family’s farm and lives in Washington, DC with her husband and two children.

Presentation: Policy Issues Affecting the Meat Industry

Carmen Rottenberg recently departed USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service after thirteen years of service, in order to launch Groundswell Strategy, a new consulting firm focused on customizing strategic approaches for clients that interact with regulatory agencies.

Carmen held several leadership roles at USDA, including Acting Deputy Under Secretary for the Office of Food Safety from August 2017 through January 2019, and FSIS Administrator from May 2018 to March 2020. From April 2016 to August 2017, Carmen served as FSIS Deputy Administrator. In those leadership roles, Carmen executed a budget of over $1 billion, prioritizing resources and resolving disputes, advancing the Agency's vision and goals, and leading innovative solutions to challenges in FSIS

Carmen spearheaded strategic planning at FSIS and implemented numerous initiatives to strategically move the agency forward. She implemented two major reorganizations leading to a more streamlined, efficient Agency better positioned to carry out its food safety mission. Through her leadership and oversight, an early governance process mature into an established systematic approach to agency decision-making, resulting in more deliberative, science-based decisions that consider enterprise-wise risks and benefits.

Carmen is also credited with leading and implementing several key transformative initiatives in recent years including modernizing food safety inspection systems, implementing Siluriformes inspection, and establishing and updating pathogen performance standards. Through her leadership and oversight an unprecedented level of collaboration was achieved with federal, state and municipal agencies, as well as other Stakeholders.

Carmen began her federal career in the Federal Trade Commission's Office of General Counsel, and has experience working in the public and private sector. She holds a Bachelor of Art Degree in Political Science and Philosophy from Hope Collage in Holland, Michigan, and as a Juris Doctor Degree from American University's Washington collage of Law.

Presentation: Regulatory Implications of the Administration

William H. Stallings is an Antitrust & Competition partner in Mayer Brown's Washington DC office. Bill's competition and consumer protection practice covers domestic and global merger reviews, government investigations, cartels, litigation (including class actions), and government procurement matters. He regularly appears before the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission.

Before joining Mayer Brown in 2015, Bill spent 17 years at the US DOJ's Antitrust Division, where he held several key roles, including Chief of the Transportation, Energy, and Agriculture Section. Bill had responsibility for second request merger reviews, civil conduct investigations, and litigating cases in industries such as airlines, oilfield chemicals and services, meatpacking, shipping, agricultural products, energy generation and distribution, and financial services.

For his outstanding service in antitrust enforcement, the DOJ awarded Bill the prestigious Neil E. Roberts Award (2015). Bill is a Chambers-ranked attorney in competition law and, in 2016, the National Law Journal recognized him as an Antitrust Trailblazer.

Since joining Mayer Brown, Bill focuses on M&A and litigation. He is recognized for providing straightforward antitrust advice and creative solutions. His high-profile client matters include:

• securing antitrust clearance for waste hauling company in its $4.6 billion acquisition -the U.S. Dep't of Justice described the deal as "the most significant consolidation" in the industry in over a decade and the successful resolution involved complex consent decree provisions negotiated with DOJ and numerous state attorneys general;
• serving as lead antitrust counsel in a multibillion-dollar airline merger that successfully closed following a DOJ
second request investigation and private litigation;
• defending agricultural companies in multiple major class-action antitrust cases, including securing dismissal of one action on the pleadings;
• representing a complainant in successfully advocating to the government that it should challenge a merger in the technology sector;
• obtaining a favorable resolution (with no indictments) on behalf of a foreign company accused of criminal cartel, civil bid rigging, and government contracts fraud allegations;

Presentation: Policy Issues Affecting the Meat Industry

Christopher DeLacy is the leader of the Political Law Group and a member of the Public Policy & Regulation team at Holland & Knight. For 18 years, he has been representing corporations, trade associations, local governments, coalitions and nonprofits before Congress and the executive branch. Mr. DeLacy has extensive experience with cybersecurity, data breach, privacy, maritime, agriculture and trade issues. He has helped to develop legislation and federal policies in these areas and has represented clients during related hearings.

Mr. DeLacy advises clients on the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, Congressional gift and travel rules, the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, and related state and local laws. Mr. DeLacy has represented clients before the Federal Election Commission, the House and Senate Ethics Committees and Office of Congressional Ethics. He has also represented clients during inspector general and congressional investigations, and advised clients on federal conflict of interest, post-employment and financial disclosure issues. His political law clients include political action committees (PACs), campaigns, corporations, trade associations, nonprofit organizations, ballot question committees, coalitions and officeholders. He serves as general counsel to the Holland & Knight Committee for Effective Government PAC.

Prior to entering private practice, Mr. DeLacy served as counsel to Sen. John Warner of Virginia. In that capacity, Mr. DeLacy advised the senator on transportation issues and served as the Senator's Rules Committee counsel during consideration of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (McCain-Feingold Act) and as his representative to the Senate Republican High Tech Task Force.

Before working for Sen. Warner, Mr. DeLacy served as counsel on the Technology Subcommittee of the House Science Committee where he oversaw technical standards issues and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Presentation: Regulatory Implications of the Administration