As Chief Policy Officer, Traci works with organizational leadership, members and partners to identify policy priorities and develop and execute strategies to achieve policy goals. Traci represents the organization in outreach efforts in Washington, DC, engaging with the federal executive branch, state and local government leaders, and other key stakeholders.

Traci hails from rural Nebraska and brings two decades of experience in public policy. Prior to joining the WLA team in 2024, Traci was doing some private policy consulting following her time with Sustainable Agriculture and Food System Funders where she served as the Senior Public Policy Director and focused on engaging philanthropy in public policy.  Traci spent 15 years with the Center for Rural Affairs, leading their federal and state policy efforts around agriculture, conservation, beginning, women and socially disadvantaged farmer and rancher issues. She also worked on state health care and tax policy issues. During her tenure at the Center, Traci served as a member and Chair of the USDA Advisory Committee on Beginning Farmers and Ranchers, which provides recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture on policies and programs that create and foster opportunities for a new generation of farmers and ranchers. Traci also chaired the governance council of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, a national grassroots coalition advocating federal policy reform for the sustainability of food systems, natural resources and rural communities. Traci holds a Bachelor of Science from Wayne State College in Political Science and Sociology.

Traci currently serves on the board of Vilicus Institute, a non-profit based in northern Montana working to promote the agrarian livelihood, stimulate ecological biodiversity, and encourage reciprocity throughout the agricultural supply chain.