Crissy Fortenberry

Crissy Fortenberry

Vice Chairman

Ms. Fortenberry is a results-driven executive leader accomplished in policy formation and creating focus and workflow efficiency while building both team and constituency support and buy-in for high-level product development goals. She is exceptionally well-versed in policy development, public relations strategy, and marketing, leading governmental policy development and legislation campaigns in support of multi-faceted strategic business objectives. Focused, results-oriented, and strategic, she is extraordinarily talented in creating overarching development plans and delivering data-verified benchmark achievements through multiple workflow channels focused toward tactical goals through thorough and adroit planning. Beginning in 2005, Ms. Fortenberry built a direct-sales career into a Vice President position in the company within two years, intensively developing her staff and broader team through focused mentorship and individualized motivation to achieve targets and long-term sales goals. She created margin efficiencies and explosive sales strategies through exhaustive analysis of business trends and financial reports, clearly communicating innovative approaches to the team through presentations and online trainings. Prior to this, beginning in 2002, Ms. Fortenberry served as the legislative liaison for the Arkansas Department of Rural Services, developing relationships across multiple issues and political channels with a wide range of governmental actors, donors, and strategic community partners. She aggressively bridged state and federal agency partnerships while focusing a large staff team on process-oriented tasks to leverage overall agency goals. With an Ivy League certification in plant-based nutrition, she has researched and analyzed how federal policy impacts consumer food choices, import and export markets, and the environmental issues facing agriculture. Ms. Fortenberry is the first woman to receive the Riceland In depth Program certification, a natural outgrowth of her broad knowledge of agricultural marketing programs and policy, rooted in early experience in the rice industry and political expertise in state and federal agricultural policy.