Three recipients will receive the Demeter Award of Excellence recognizing their outstanding efforts in support of women in agribusiness at this year’s third annual Women in Agribusiness Summit at the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans, Oct. 6-8.
The Demeter Award of Excellence, named for Demeter, the ancient Greek goddess of the harvest, will be given in three categories. The 2014 recipients and categories are:
- Kay Kuenker, vice president of global public affairs and government affairs at Dow AgroSciences, has been chosen as Leader of the Year in recognition of her work to expand and diversify the offerings of women’s initiatives at Dow AgroSciences, in effect furthering the mission of Women in Agribusiness.
- Andrea Mariela Grobocopatel, co-founder, shareholder and vice president of Grupo los Grobo of Buenos Aires, has been selected as Innovator of the Year, an award that acknowledges an individual who has demonstrated innovation in the initiation, development or launch of gender diversity programs and/or who has affected positive change in her company or the industry with regard to women’s advancement.
- Agrium, Inc. has been chosen as Company of the Year in recognition of its efforts in initiating programs to support the professional development, achievements and overall growth of women in the industry.
“We had tremendous positive response for recognizing the exemplary contributions of women in ag when these awards debuted at the 2013 event,” said event director Joy O’Shaughnessy of HighQuest Group, the globally recognized strategic agribusiness consulting, events and media company that hosts the Summit. “This year, we stand even stronger in our mission to nurture women’s advancement and achievement in the sector, and are honored to have such distinguished, accomplished award recipients who share this endeavor.”
Kuenker was recognized for her long track record of mentorship and support of Dow AgroSciences’ Women’s Innovation Network (WIN). “Under Kay’s leadership, the reputation of the Women’s Innovation Network evolved to being a network that seriously impacts the attraction, retention, development and advancement of all employees,” said Kuenker’s nominator Michelle Smith on behalf of the WIN team at Dow AgroSciences. “Kay championed and ensured funding for powerful initiatives and events that accelerated WIN’s development, increased awareness and engagement, and seeded the idea that we could advance women’s development and careers.”
Grobocopatel founded the family business with her father and his brother when she was only 21 years old and helped grow it to become one of the leading companies in South America, a company that consistently leads major image and innovation rankings in Argentina. Grobocopatel has personally mentored and trained more than 110 young women through her work with Vital Voices Global Partnership and the Argentina Catholic University in association with Banco Ciudad. In addition, Grobocopatel created her own Foundation for Responsible Leaderships and Organizations (FLOR; Facebook: fundacionflor) through which she will launch a unique regional program to train women to become members of the board of relevant companies and organizations.
Agrium, Inc. was chosen for its strong women’s leadership group (AWLG), which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. AWLG’s vision is to recognize, develop and enable the potential for women at Agrium. The group now has five chapters, has worked to enable a more than 3 percent increase in the number of salaried women who have received promotions since 2010, provides a variety of mentorship and networking programs, and annually donates $100,000 to local charities that offer education and support to women throughout North America.
More than 500 attendees are expected at this year’s Women in Agribusiness Summit, whose goal is twofold: to make the agriculture and food sectors career destinations for today's talented women, and to provide tools for women to become more informed leaders in the sector. Click here for detailed event information.