Next month the Animal Agriculture Alliance will be under the leadership of a new president and CEO. 

The Alliance, a decades-old consortium of trade associations, companies and other stakeholder groups in the food animal sector, recently announced the promotion of Hannah Thompson-Weeman, the organization’s current vice president of strategic engagement, following the departure of its longtime president, Kay Johnson Smith. Johnson Smith, who has served as president and CEO across three decades, is joining the executive leadership team at Dairy MAX, a regional dairy council representing farmers in eight states in the southern and southwestern U.S. 

In this episode, we talk with Thompson-Weeman about the mission of the Alliance, how the societal conversation regarding animal welfare has evolved over the past 30 years, and her vision for the future of the organization.