Ontario Federation of Agriculture appoints first female general manager

The Ontario Federation of Agriculture has appointed Cathy Lennon as their new general manager, marking the first time a woman has held the position in the organization's 80-year history. 

For some, her appointment marks a significant step toward greater gender equality in a historically male-dominated industry. 

Jennifer Christie is the founder of the AG Women's Network. Her non-profit connects women working in agriculture with each other, encouraging mentorship and empowering women to take on leadership positions.

"One of my favourite quotes is, 'You can't be what you can't see,' and I think it's really important for young women coming into the industry to see women in those leadership roles and know that it's something that's possible and attainable," she said.

'The landscape has changed'

But Lennon says she hasn't given her status as the first female GM much consideration. She has worked alongside lots of women throughout her career in agriculture and notes the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) has female board members. 

"But if you look back a number of years ago that wouldn't have been so prevalent, so the landscape has changed for sure," she added.

In her experience, Christie says the leaders she knew of within the industry were all male. At the start of her career, she sought a mentor, but had difficulty finding someone who faced the same challenges as her.

One of my favourite quotes is, 'You can't be what you can't see,' and I think it's really important for young women coming into the industry to see women in those leadership roles and know that it's something that's possible and attainable.- Jennifer Christie

"I was looking at what my career path might look like, and how I might navigate that upward momentum within my career and also manage to have a family," she said.

She says this has also been the case for other members of AG Women's Network.

"For me, personally to see women such as Cathy being selected and promoted into these leadership roles is really encouraging and really exciting."

Getting back to her roots

Lennon has two decades of experience in agriculture policy, getting her start when she was still a university student in a co-op position with the Agricultural Adaptation Council in Guelph.

"The diversity of agricultural production in Ontario was very eye-opening," Lennon said.

"To see what was going on with fruit and berries and other kinds of livestock and vegetables, there's something new to learn and do every day."

Now, she's coming back to the city where her career began. In her role, she will be representing organizations in 52 counties across Ontario which fall under the banner of the OFA.

Attracting investors to rural Ontario

Lennon will start her new position at the end of August. She says she is particularly passionate about attracting investors, such as food processing plants, to rural Ontario.

"One of the things I've seen in my recent position with the Processing Vegetable Growers is the impact that location of some of these businesses in rural Ontario can have," she said.

She hopes investment opportunities will bring jobs and families into small Ontario towns and encourage infrastructure development in the form of rural schools and access to energy.

Christie said supporting the entire farm family should be a priority for the OFA. She also hopes that more attention will be placed on issues of sexism in agriculture.

"We need to say as an industry, that's not acceptable and take action to change that from happening," she said.