M. Stephanie Patrick

BA 1974, Communication

Self Employed, Global Food and Agriculture Consultant
Arlington, VA

M. Stephanie Patrick is a global food and agriculture consultant.   With experience and achievements in government, corporate, and non-profit settings, her career has focused on food and agriculture production and marketing, as well as nutrition, science, and health issues.  She is involved in the design and substance of long-term, global food security approaches, including economic, environmental, investment, trade, research, and development policies.

Previously, Patrick was Vice President for Policy Initiatives and Advocacy for the American Dietetic Association – now known as the American Academy for Nutrition and Dietetics – overseeing Washington operations and the government relations group. She served as a senior manager for the association and as the primary liaison to the Board of Directors of the ADA Political Action Committee.  During her tenure, ADA completed its first strategic evaluation and planning for public policy work in more than two decades, initiated evidence-based practice tools, developed a widely recognized model for evidence grading that has become a model for federal regulatory programs, and established a national nutrition policy initiative focusing on a broad agenda of food, nutrition, and health matters.

Patrick began work in Washington in the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture. There, she received the USDA Merit Award for advancing the effectiveness of department communications on a range of issues as broad as USDA's responsibilities, but with greatest emphasis on farm programs, rural economics, and trade.  She also worked for Cargill, Inc., where she managed issues for worldwide trading, processing, transportation and risk management businesses, as well as government relations work for the company's diverse product lines and services. 

Patrick attended the Universidad de Madrid (Spain) and graduated from Purdue.  She holds the credential for association leadership excellence awarded by the American Society of Association Executives.