ICYMI: Five Women Pioneers in Ag
- rrussell544
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
By Michelle Pelletier Marshall, Women in Agribusiness Media (January 6, 2025)
Happy New Year! We are grateful for your readership and continuing support of Women in Agribusiness. We have a jam-packed year planned for 2026 – like our 15th anniversary Summit in New Orleans, September 22-24 – so stay tuned. For today, we look back to 2025 to celebrate women making a difference in agribusiness.
Throughout the year, WIA Today seeks to highlight the latest stories along the ag value chain with a particular focus on women crushing it in the sector. From defining the moments in the commodity cycle that shift the global trajectory (see Karen Braun), to refusing to stop until innovative solutions and pathways are discovered to improve the science of ag (think Pam Marrone), to forging ahead with teamwork to bring a stronger voice to women in ag abroad (see Luciana Bortolozzo profile below), we present women moving the needle.
Olga Polumina, IPA
With the global agribusiness market valued at $3.4 trillion in 2024, and the global agtech market set to grow at a CAGR of 12.2 percent and be worth $74 billion by 2034, the opportunity for investment is huge and multi-faceted, and Olga Polumina, managing director with Independence Point Advisors, a women-owned investment bank headquartered in New York City, is in the thick of it! Polumina, who specializes in sustainability-focused investment banking, spoke to WIA Today about evolving trade relationships, particularly with China, and ongoing geopolitical tensions – which have added volatility to commodity flows. She noted that while resulting pressure on commodity prices has depressed farm incomes, it has also heightened focus on domestic production and security of supply chains, increasing investor appetites for assets and enabling technologies, evidenced by the S&P 500 up 16% YTD — about 70% better than its 70-year average. Learn more.
With a mission to “transform carbon we waste into carbon we need”, female-founded, San Francisco-based startup Hyfé transforms plant waste into high-value specialty chemicals, ingredients and materials by fractionating biomass into its core building blocks using green chemistry and catalysis. CEO and founder Michele Ruiz explained that by extracting antioxidants, fibers, specialty oils and commodity chemicals like dextrose, the company amplifies the value of low-cost biomass by over 100x, which creates enough value to support competitive price points. Hear more from Ruiz about agtech innovation and Hyfé’s $9 million fundraise in this interview.
Lucia Helena Bueno Bortolozzo has been making a difference in Brazilian agriculture for more than 35 years. Among many other responsibilities, she is vice-president of the Agricultural Women’s Committee of the state of Piauí, and also coordinator of the Rural Women's Committee for Sociedade Rural Brasileira (SRB). In this capacity, she advocates for women in agricultural roles, with the aim towards gender parity and advancement in leadership roles, as well as increased communication about the accomplishments of women in ag. Aiding in that communication is her work as an ambassador for A Protagonista with Canal Rural, a media outlet focused on the agribusiness industry in Latin America that provides communication, information and entertainment content related to agriculture and farming. Bortolozzo is committed to the mission of “Together We are Stronger” to inspire other women to take on leadership roles. Read more on women in ag in Brazil in this profile.
The power and strength of a united sisterhood is a force to be reckoned with, and sisters Raquel Gottsch Koehler and Gatsby Gottsch Solheim have proven this as the next generation owners and executives at Rural Media Group (RMG) – the parent company of RFD-TV, Rural Radio on Sirius XM, and a multi-platform network that spans linear television, satellite radio, digital, and on-demand streaming. After years of working alongside their father Patrick Gottsch, the sisters seamlessly stepped into executive leadership roles at the ag media giant following his passing in 2024. Gottsch Koehler talks about their goals here.
Marianne Radley, SmithField Foods
Marianne Radley, managing director of marketing for Smithfield Foods, is leading the charge in redefining how consumers connect with pork. With a focus on brand strategy and consumer engagement, Radley is steering the Smithfield brand into a fresh, flavorful era – one that speaks directly to new and younger audiences. Learn more about how next gen marketing is implemented and why it’s essential to build resilience, stay calm under pressure and collaborate effectively if you want to succeed in marketing. The details are here.
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