The Executive Director of the Four Bands Community Fund, Inc., based in Eagle Butte, has been selected to be a member of a newly established subcommittee in the US Department of Agriculture.
Lakota Vogel is one of 12 people chosen– out of around 500 applications– to help guide the work of USDA’s new Equity Commission Subcommittee on Rural Community Economic Development (RCED). Vogel was born and raised in South Dakota and is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.
Courtesy photo.
RCED Subcommittee members include representatives of community-based organizations, lending institutions, small business or cooperatives, tribal entities, and two members from the Equity Commission.
The new RCED subcommittee members are:
- Lakota Vogel, South Dakota
- Cheryal Hills, Minnesota
- David Carrasquillo-Medrano, Puerto Rico
- Calvin Allen, North Carolina
- Valerie Beel, Nebraska
- LaTonya Keaton, Illinois
- Doug O’Brien, Maryland/Washington, DC
- Curtis Wynn, Florida
- Terry Rambler, Arizona
- Larry Holland, Mississippi
- Nils Christoffersen, Oregon
- Shonterria Charleston, Georgia
“I am very excited to welcome this new RCED Subcommittee to join the work of the Equity Commission and Subcommittee on Agriculture,” said Deputy Secretary Jewel Bronaugh, who serves as co-Chair of the Equity Commission. “Overcoming the historic and systemic barrier that is the persistent poverty experienced by underserved rural communities is a charge that I feel personally connected to and believe will positively impact two-thirds of the 3,000 plus counties in the United States.”
The RCED Subcommittee will work with the Equity Commission and its Agriculture Subcommittee to provide recommendations to the Secretary that specifically address issues and concerns to rural development, persistent poverty and underserved communities. The newly appointed subcommittee members reflect diversity in demographics, regions of the country, background, and in experience and expertise. As part of the application and selection process, USDA sought members who can share the voice and experiences of farmers, ranchers, and farmworker groups, people of color, women, Tribal and Indigenous communities, individuals with disabilities, individuals with limited English proficiency, rural communities and LGBTQI+ communities.
After onboarding, the RCED Subcommittee members will join the Equity Commission and its Agriculture Subcommittee at the commission’s third public meeting on September 21-22, 2022.
If there are issues that should be considered by the Equity Commission and its Subcommittees, all stakeholders, including the general public and congressional representatives, are encouraged to submit public comments via email to equitycommission@usda.gov.
Comments