February 3rd, 2020
By Lori Sallet
American Farmland Trust Announces Jamie Mierau Hired as Mid-Atlantic Regional Director
WASHINGTON, D.C. – American Farmland Trust, the organization behind the national movement No Farms No Food®, has hired Jamie Mierau as Mid-Atlantic Region Director. Jamie will lead initiatives in the region with a focus on Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia to advance AFT’s mission to save the land that sustains us by protecting farmland, helping farmers implement environmentally sound farming practices and keeping farmers on the land.
“Jamie has a deep understanding of conservation issues as well as the important role for farmers and working lands in protecting water quality and combatting climate change,” said David Haight, vice president of programs for AFT’s regions. “Her experience leading major conservation initiatives will be critical to AFT having a deeper impact in the Mid-Atlantic Region as we look to engage more women in promoting conservation, encourage regenerative grazing practices, bring a new generation of farmers on to the land and bolster some of the nation’s most accomplished farmland protection programs.”
AFT’s mission is highly relevant and urgent in the Mid-Atlantic region. Farmers are key players in improving the health of the Chesapeake Bay — the largest estuary in North America — and combatting climate change. Climate change is significantly impacting farmers in the region with weather events impacting planting, growing cycles and harvest activities, and in some parts of the region by salt water intrusion from sea level rise. But, increased adoption of regenerative farming practices, protecting farmland to reduce sprawling development and transportation emissions and other strategies offer key pathways for farmers to help combat climate change and improve water quality in the region.
Before joining AFT, Jamie served as Vice President, Learning at Conservation Impact & Nonprofit Impact leading training programs, strategic planning, governance and organizational development projects for its clients. Prior to that, as the Director of Riverside Land Protection Program for American Rivers, Inc., she created and led a national program to protect private and public lands and dependable clean water for people and nature, including managing budget and staff, program priorities and metrics, fund raising and reporting. She also led the Blue Trails Program at American Rivers creating and fostering a collaborative national network of 500 nonprofits, businesses and elected officials to support policies and programs to conserve healthy clean water.
Ms. Mierau will be based out of AFT’s national office in Washington, DC, but spending a great deal of time working across the region in coordination with farmers, conservation partners, land trusts, policy makers, and others.
“The Mid-Atlantic is home to some of the most diverse, yet threatened farms in the country. AFT has deep roots here. I look forward to supporting our dedicated team and critical partners to improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay, combat climate change, and strengthen the future for farming in the region,” said Jamie.
Jamie grew up spending summers on her family farm in Nebraska, igniting a passion for protecting farmland and improving the environment. She studied natural systems agriculture at The Land Institute and worked with sustainable coffee bean farmers in Costa Rica. She has devoted most of her career to protecting the natural resources that make farming possible — building program and policy movements to ensure healthy lands and ample, clean water through collaborative and diverse partnerships. In her free time, you can find Jamie tending her garden, exploring the woods, paddling rivers, getting thrown off a surfboard, and finding any opportunity to get muddy with her two daughters, husband, and dog.
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American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. AFT launched the conservation agriculture movement and continues to raise public awareness through our No Farms, No Food message. Since our founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 6.5 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally-sound farming practices on a half million additional acres and supported thousands of farm families.