Cornie Thiessen is the General Manager for Adama Canada. In his 5 years in the role, Cornie has invested in building a great team committed to advancing Canadian agriculture by being a hardworking, high integrity partner to distribution and retail. These investments have driven strong growth and set the stage for an ambitious future. Cornie is also a CropLife Canada board member.

Prior to joining Adama, Cornie worked for 20 years at Monsanto and Bayer in a wide variety of sales, marketing and global strategy management roles. Cornie holds an honours degree in political science from the University of Manitoba and an MBA from the University of Guelph.

Away from work, Cornie enjoys coaching youth sports. He also enjoys spending time with his wife and three kids at the lake.

Alanna Koch is a farmer, industry leader, long-time agriculture champion, former senior government executive and experienced corporate director from Edenwold, Saskatchewan. She’s the Board Chair of the Global Institute for Food Security and CN Agricultural Advisory Council, sits on the board of SeedMaster Manufacturing and the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame, chairs the Field of STARS Fundraising Committee and is an active member of the Global Farmer Network. She works with farmers and the agriculture industry through her consulting company, KoHert Agri Inc. Before this, she served as Deputy Minister to Premier Brad Wall and Cabinet Secretary and was the Saskatchewan Deputy Minister of Agriculture for nine years. Prior to joining government, she was President of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance and was Executive Director of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers. Throughout her career, Alanna’s priority has been to build and maintain public trust in agriculture by focusing on science-based decision making and communicating the benefits of innovation and modern tools and technology. Alanna has been widely recognized for her contributions to the agricultural industry and community. She farms with her husband Gerry Hertz.

Crystal is recognized as a speaker, trainer and leader in communications and earning public trust in food and farming in Canada.  She served as the founding CEO of Farm & Food Care, the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity, and now her own company, LOFT32 and UTENSIL.CA.

Crystal is a dynamic presenter and engaging trainer who has delivered over 1000 presentations and 500 media interviews around the globe. She can share a vision, encourage others to get on board, and get to work to make it happen – all with a smile!

Crystal is a Board member for the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, former Chair of the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef communications committee, Board Member of the Poultry Industry Council, the Ontario 4-H Foundation and past president of the OAC Alumni Association at the University of Guelph, where she graduated with her degree in Animal Science. Crystal is a graduate of the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program and several other executive business management training programs.  Crystal is proud of her farm girl roots in the Ottawa Valley.   She enjoys travelling, spending time with her family and playing hockey whenever she gets a chance!

Jennifer grew up working in her family’s farm equipment dealership and helping on the farm in southwestern Ontario. She has worked in the field of human resource research and development for more than twenty years. Jennifer has worked with several industries, including agriculture, leading initiatives related to inclusion and diversity, attraction and retention, work integrated learning, labour market research, skills development, training and education. In addition to her work experience, she holds a Masters of Business Administration from Royal Roads University. Jennifer worked with the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council as a consultant for more than ten years before joining the staff in 2019 and is currently serving as the Executive Director.

Chris Beaudry is a father, farmer, and public speaker who uses his lived experiences as grist for the mill for personal and spiritual growth.

Growing up in Northern Saskatchewan, Chris remembers the carefree days of his childhood spent working on the family farm, playing sports, going to the lake, the pool, and large family dinners as much as he remembers the dark moments cast over these memories being raised by an abusive mother who struggled with drug addiction.

As a teenager, Chris found himself turning to alcohol to numb the pain caused by the traumatic experiences of his childhood. Years later, two major life events changed Chris’ life – getting sober and being a coach of the 2017/18 Humboldt Broncos who were involved in a tragic bus accident that killed 16 players and staff and injured 13 others.

These life-changing experiences taught Chris that pain is to be felt, embodied, and integrated. Through his speaking work, Chris shares stories from his life and wisdom he carries through spiritual practice to help people see that it’s not an avoidance of pain that allows us to feel safe, connected, and loved but rather the recognition and embrace of our pain that sets us free from our suffering.

Clinton Monchuk grew up on a mixed dairy, beef and grain family farm outside of Lanigan, Saskatchewan.  He received his Bachelors of Science in Agriculture majoring in Agricultural Economics from the University of Saskatchewan and Masters of Business Administration in Agriculture from the University of Guelph.  Clinton has enjoyed numerous roles across Canada, the United States and Mexico as a researcher, educator, manager, economist and director of trade policy.

In 2016 Clinton accepted the role of Executive Director with Farm & Food Care Saskatchewan to promote farming and ranching to consumers.  Clinton understands the value of increasing public trust in agriculture and actively promotes engagement between the agriculture industry and consumers. He also gives back to the agriculture community as a board member, serving on the Agri-Food Council of Saskatchewan and Pound-Maker Agventures Ltd. (a large cattle feedlot and ethanol plant).

Clinton, Laura and their children Jackson and Katelyn, continue to be active partners on their family grain farm in Saskatchewan and cattle ranch in Oklahoma.

Cherilyn Jolly-Nagel along with her husband David and family, are farming in Saskatchewan and are proud parents of 2 young farm girls. As a speaker, moderator, Emcee and as the Host of Farm Show TV, Cherilyn enjoys sharing agriculture related topics to a wide array of audiences. Cherilyn holds her ICD.D designation through the Rotman School of Management and the Institute of Corporate Directors and has served on the board of SaskPower, as President of the Canadian Wheat Growers and as a member of the Canadian National Railway Agriculture Advisory Council. In cooperation with the team at Utensil.ca, Cherilyn launched an online training program titled “So… your client is a farmer?” with the goal to help people build better relationships with farmers and increase the overall level of knowledge about agriculture and food. Having travelled extensively around the world, Cherilyn now represents Canada as an International Director on the board for the Global Farmer Network which seeks to amplify farmers voices on issues related to trade and access to technology. Cherilyn was recently recognized as one of the Top 50 Most Influential People in Canadian Agriculture.

Leanne Koroscil (MSc, P.Ag.) is the Innovation Farms Manager for EMILI. Her grain farming background, coupled with 10 years of academic and industry experience in sectors across the agriculture value chain, brings a well-rounded perspective to how new and innovative technologies are shaping agriculture. Her interest in agriculture began on the family grain farm in Sandy Lake, Manitoba. Early industry experiences with grain elevator operations and small plot trial management led her to obtain BSc (Agronomy) and MSc (Plant Science) degrees from the University of Manitoba before managing field-scale research programs. In her role at EMILI, Leanne oversees the projects and activities taking place on Innovation Farms, a 5500+ acre commercial seed farm located near Grosse Isle, Manitoba – to test, validate, and demonstrate the vast potential and capabilities of digital agriculture technologies. Leanne is also a provincial councillor for Agrologists Manitoba.

He grew up on a community pasture north of Tuffnell, SK and after graduating high school, like many young Saskatchewanians, headed out to the oil patch in Northern Alberta.

After 19 years during a short visit home in 2019 while waiting on a work visa to pursue his oil & gas career into the Australian Moomba Desert, he accidentally created a social media persona named Quick Dick McDick, fell back in love with being home in Saskatchewan and decided to stay.

Now when he’s not busy pulling calves, driving truck or planting crop, he spends his time showing us about farming, fossil fuels, how silly our government can be and a whole bunch of other goofy things we do in our every day life, and how it’s perfectly ok that we do them.

Todd Klink is the Executive Vice-President, Marketing and Public Affairs at Farm Credit Canada (FCC). Todd has spent his entire career working in the agriculture and food sector, including the past 20 years with FCC where he’s held various leadership positions within the organization. In his current role, Todd leads the team responsible for partnerships and government relations, social media, community investment, communications, and brand management. He holds a bachelor of administration degree in marketing from the University of Regina. Growing up in rural Saskatchewan, Todd believes strongly in giving back to the community.

Craig Klemmer is the Manager of Thought Leadership at FCC. His insights guide corporate strategy and identify opportunities where FCC can influence change to help the agriculture and food industry maximize its potential. In addition to acting as an FCC spokesperson on forward-looking opportunities, Craig provides industry commentary through blogs, white papers and social media.

During his more than 15 years at FCC, Craig has led the Economics and Portfolio Risk Management teams. He has been a keynote speaker on trends impacting the agriculture and food industry, led initiatives on forecasting the operating environment, and monitored portfolio health and financial health trends.

Prior to joining FCC, Craig worked with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture. Craig has a master’s degree in agricultural economics from the University of Saskatchewan.

Lisa Bishop-Spencer is a senior leader with over 20 years of cross-functional leadership experience spanning strategic planning, communications, and marketing. She is also a certified crisis and reputation manager. As the Executive Director of the Canadian Centre for Food Integrity (CCFI), Lisa is dedicated to fostering public trust and building strong relationships within Canada’s food system. Her approach is rooted in transparent communication and collaboration, ensuring that the diverse voices of all stakeholders are valued, with a vision to create lasting, positive impacts in the industry through strategic, trust-based partnerships, and innovative program development.