STAKEHOLDER ANNOUNCEMENT

USDA Rural Development Announces New Leadership Appointments 

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20, 2023 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development today 

announced several leadership appointments including a new Agency Chief of Staff, Rural Business-Cooperative 

Service Administrator, Senior Advisor for Communications and External Engagement, and Senior Advisor.

Sarah Dietch has been appointed Rural Development Chief of Staff. Sarah comes to USDA from the United 

States Peace Corps, where she served as Director of Peace Corps Response. In this role, she led efforts to 

reimagine Peace Corps service developing policy, implementing programming and securing resources to 

provide short-term, high-impact service opportunities for Americans to serve as Peace Corps Response 

Volunteers and Virtual Service Pilot Participants. During her tenure, Sarah also led the second-ever domestic 

deployment of Peace Corps Volunteers in support of Community Vaccination Centers during the COVID-19 

pandemic. Before that, Dietch was a Peace Corps Individual and Organizational Development Volunteer in 

Telavi, Georgia, where she developed the Kakheti Media Center’s strategic vision for civic engagement 

activities. Dietch has also held senior roles at USDA’s Rural Development, Transportation Security 

Administration (TSA) Office of Legislative Affairs, and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of 

Legislative Affairs. She has a Bachelor of Arts from Simpson College and a master’s in public administration 

from Harvard University.

Betsy Dirksen Londrigan has been appointed as Rural Business-Cooperative Service Administrator. Betsy 

previously served as USDA’s Rural Development State Director for Illinois since January 2022, and will take 

on this new role in mid-January upon the departure of Dr. Karama Neal, who is departing USDA and returning 

to Arkansas. Dirksen Londrigan has over 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, working with 

community, regional, and state leaders to effect positive change. Dirksen Londrigan is the Lead for the Illinois 

Basin Rapid Response Team for the Interagency Working Group (IWG) for Energy Communities. She is a 

lifelong resident of Springfield, Illinois, and is proud that her family members still own and operate the 

Centennial farm in Central Illinois where her grandmother was raised. Dirksen Londrigan graduated from the 

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and is a former Director at the University of Illinois Springfield.

Jimmy Dahman has been promoted to a new role as Senior Advisor for Communications and External 

Engagement in Rural Development’s Under Secretary’s Office. Jimmy has been serving as Acting Rural 

Development Chief of Staff since August and prior to this role, served as Rural Business-Cooperative Service

Chief of Staff. Prior to that, Jimmy served as Special Assistant in Rural Development’s Under Secretary’s 

Office.

Bill Menner has been appointed as a Senior Advisor, working primarily with Rural Development’s State 

Operations Office. Bill served as the Rural Development State Director for Iowa from 2009 through 2017. Since 

then, his career has focused on Rural Development priorities including renewable energy, community 

development, and housing. Bill has been serving as the board president of Partners for Rural America, the 

national umbrella group for state rural development councils.

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