Billy Van Pelt
National Director of Strategic Initiatives and Senior AdvisorBiography
Billy works with major donors throughout the Southeast, presents at conferences and meetings of allied organizations; and secures partnerships and sponsorships to increase AFT’s visibility across the region. Before joining AFT, he ran his own government relations firm. During this time, he served as the founding CEO of Woodford Forward, a land use advocacy organization. As a landscape architect, he worked in both the private and public sectors, including over a decade as the director of a farmland protection program in Lexington, Kentucky, where he conserved 28,000 acres. He grew up on his grandparents’ farm in Woodford County, Kentucky. Billy earned a Bachelor of Arts in business administration from Transylvania University, a Bachelor of Science in landscape architecture from the University of Kentucky and a Master of Business Administration from Midway University.