STAKEHOLDER ANNOUNCEMENT

USDA Rural Development Announces Selection of Three New Executive Leaders

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20, 2017 – Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Anne Hazlett today 

announced the appointment and selection of three new executive leaders for USDA Rural Development.

Gina Sheets has been selected to serve as the Chief Innovation Officer for Rural Development. 

Sheets has more than 20 years’ experience working in economic development at the local and 

state level, building prosperity in rural communities through small business development and 

economic attraction. A long-time small business owner, she served as a local elected official at 

the start of her career and later as Director of Agriculture under Indiana Governor Mike Pence. 

In addition to her economic development and local leadership experience, Sheets and her 

husband served as missionaries in Liberia, where she was responsible for coordinating a farmerto-farmer capacity building program and extending agriculture education and small business 

development practices. 

As Chief Innovation Officer, Sheets will oversee the creation and management of the Rural 

Development Innovation Center, a team within Rural Development working to streamline, 

modernize and strengthen the delivery of Rural Development tools effectively and efficiently. 

The Innovation Center will focus on improving customer service to rural communities and 

increasing rural prosperity through strategic partnerships, capacity-building, data analytics and 

evaluation, and regulatory reform. The Innovation Center will also inform policy decisions and 

develop creative solutions to rural economic development.

Marie Wheat will serve as Director of External Affairs. Wheat is currently an Industry 

Economist for USDA and oversees delivery of the Department’s BioPreferred Program. In this 

role, Marie is responsible for worldwide interactions with regulators, key stakeholders and 

industry associations to advance the market for chemicals and consumer products made from 

agricultural commodities. Before coming to USDA, Wheat served as Chief of Staff and Chief 

Operating Officer of the United States Peace Corps, overseeing global operations as well as 

Congressional and Public Affairs, for the world’s largest international volunteer service 

organization.

As Director of External Affairs, Wheat will manage Rural Development’s communications and 

stakeholder engagement activities, including community engagement, legislative and public 

affairs.

Mia Jordan will serve as the new Chief Information Officer for Rural Development. Previously 

Jordan was the Director of IT Governance and Chief Architect of the Natural Resources 

Conservation Service. Since 2010, Jordan has overseen a $200M+ annual Information 

Technology budget, delivering business critical systems. Prior to joining NRCS, Mia was the 

Capital Planning Lead with the National Nuclear Security Administration at the Department of 

Energy, where she managed a $1.5B portfolio of IT investments.
These program leadership changes are effective as of Nov. 27, 2017. USDA Rural Development encourages 

partners and stakeholder groups to reach out to these leaders in their new roles to build on existing partnerships 

and facilitate new relationships.

#

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.