Getting to Know the 2024 WIA Demeter Award of Excellence Recipients
By Michelle Pelletier Marshall, Women in Agribusiness Media (August 20, 2024)
There are so many exceptional women in ag. We collaborate with them, we celebrate them and we learn and work with them. At Women in Agribusiness (WIA), we are honored to recognize three of the standouts each year with our WIA Demeter Award of Excellence. This year’s just-announced recipients of the 2024 Demeter Award are:
Sharon K. K. Beals, Executive Director, Women's Meat Industry Network, Food Safety & Regulatory Executive for beaconpoint labs, and Founder of SKKB-LLC.
Elzandi Oosthuizen, Senior Vice President, Head Crop Technology Corn, Soy & Cotton for Bayer Crop Science
Ebony Webber, CEO of The National Society of Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS).
Now in its 12th year, the Women in Agribusiness Demeter Award of Excellence has been presented to over 30 outstanding women in the sector, and this year’s recipients – who were chosen from nearly 50 nominations – are notable for many reasons.
For Beals, that is being on the front lines in establishing and implementing hallmark pathogen mitigation strategies, such as the beef industry’s ‘N60’, or implementing environmental monitoring programs and ensuring excellence in sanitation and foreign material reduction strategies. She also is recognized for making transformative changes in the ag (meat) industry and being steadfast in her commitment to assisting others in finding their place in ag.
For Oosthuizen, a self-proclaimed “Agriculture Evolution Enthusiast”, it was her commitment to learning and growing – she earned five college degrees in 17 years – as well as her dedication to being an inspiring role model and a “champion of women in ag” that caught WIA’s attention. This, in addition to her advocating for professional development for women and passionately leading improvements in diversity and inclusion.
For Webber, who this year was selected MANRRS first-ever CEO, it was her ability to get things done efficiently and strategically as evidenced by her leading the charge in achieving unheard of results during her 21-year tenure as MANRRS COO. From increasing revenue tenfold to growing membership by 300 percent to doubling the attendance at their annual conference, Webber has worked tirelessly to develop the future leaders in agriculture, consistently growing the pipeline of talented and passionate people.
We congratulate and celebrate the 2024 WIA Demeter Award of Excellence recipients’ achievements in the ag sector.
You can read all the details of the achievements in this press release, but today we also wanted to hear from the recipients about what it means to be selected for the award, and what they are most excited about for the future of ag.
WIA Today: What does being chosen for the WIA Demeter Award of Excellence mean to you?
Beals: Women in Ag cuts across the entire agribusiness space and there are many amazing people making a difference daily, while nourishing people, protecting our resources and advocating for the industry. To be recognized in the same space as Elzandi and Ebony and all the previous winners is humbling. I am grateful to represent the spirit of the award.
Oosthuizen: Being recognized with the WIA Demeter Award of Excellence is an honor and privilege that once again brings me to a pause and reminds me of how blessed I am for having the opportunities I’ve had throughout my career. Being surrounded by brilliant people working together to bring Bayer’s vision of changing the world by combating some of society's greatest challenges is everything I’ve ever wanted for my own career. I also sincerely believe that no individual can achieve greatness, it requires exceptional teams to even get close, and I am therefore deeply appreciative to all my colleagues and friends who have been part of my journey.
Webber: Being chosen for the WIA Demeter Award is an incredible honor. I’m truly humbled by the recognition from my peers in the industry. For most years of my career, it often felt like my work was in vain and no one was recognizing the incredible impact MANRRS was making in the industry. I’m happy to know that was not the case and many people for many years have witnessed our strides. This award signifies that I have led this organization to be a premier organization for agriculture and leadership development if students and professionals.
WIA Today: What are you most excited about in the ag sector?
Beals: The concerted and genuine efforts to take care of the natural resources we have been graced with, to protect the planet for future generations.
Oosthuizen: Agriculture is at a point of transformation that I haven’t seen or experienced very many times in my career. As an average consumer and even in light of challenges including changing climate, we have our lives at the tip of our fingers in almost every facet. Our farmer customers cannot say the same about their lives and farming operations. They face increasing pressure while responding to hotter temperatures, intense rains and other extreme and unpredictable weather events. For me, leveraging digital solutions is key to power the transformation. We have brilliant science with trillions of data points about the inputs that generate farming outcomes and profitability, and I envision in the foreseeable future how companies like Bayer, use this extensive information, know-how and experience to better support our farmer customers to make smart real-time decisions about their crops that will not only optimize their profitability but ultimately protect our environment and optimize nutrition accessibility for the consumers around the world.
Webber: I’m most excited about the NOW Generation I get to work with on a regular basis. The future workforce is eager to tackle some of the toughest challenges facing our world as well as exceed our greatest expectations. I’m excited for the possibility that we are training one of the smartest and most technologically advanced generations.
Join us in Denver next month, September 24-26, for the 13th annual Women in Agribusiness Summit where the Demeter recipients will be recognized on-stage. See you there!
Comments