Amy Roady, an alumna of the IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders program, has been named the inaugural director of the James F. Evans Global Center for Food and Agricultural Communications at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign — a significant appointment at a moment when IFAJ and Illinois are preparing to launch a new global certification for agricultural communicators.
The International Federation of Agricultural Journalists congratulates Amy Roady on her appointment as the first director of the James F. Evans Global Center for Food and Agricultural Communications, housed in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
For IFAJ members, Roady’s appointment carries special meaning. Earlier in her career, she was selected for the 2014 cohort of the IFAJ-Alltech Young Leaders programme, an initiative designed to identify and support emerging professionals with the potential to help shape the future of agricultural journalism and communications. Her new role at Illinois is a strong reminder that investing in young talent can have a lasting impact — not only on individual careers, but also on the profession as a whole.
Roady brings more than two decades of experience across agricultural communications, Extension, journalism, nonprofit leadership, and corporate communications. A graduate of Illinois’ Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications, she has worked in roles that connect farmers, researchers, industry, consumers, and the wider public. Her career has included leadership in communications and outreach with the Illinois Soybean Association, work with University of Illinois Extension, teaching in agricultural communications, and international engagement through IFAJ.
As inaugural director, Roady will help establish the long-term vision for the Evans Center, which was created to strengthen collaboration, professional engagement, and public dialogue around agriculture and food systems. Named in honour of Professor Emeritus James F. Evans, a pioneer in agricultural communications, the Center is intended to serve as a hub for research, outreach, professional development, industry collaboration, academic programming, and meaningful conversations about food and agriculture.
Her appointment comes at a particularly important time for IFAJ. In 2025, IFAJ and the University of Illinois announced a partnership to develop a Certificate in Global Agricultural Communications, an online program designed to be globally accessible, career-relevant, and aligned with the needs of agricultural communicators working across languages, regions, and media platforms.
The certificate is expected to be among the first major outputs of the Evans Center. For IFAJ, it represents an important step in expanding professional development opportunities for members and strengthening the skills needed to report, explain, and communicate agriculture in a rapidly changing global food system.
Roady’s journey — from IFAJ Young Leader to the first director of a global centre dedicated to food and agricultural communications — reflects the purpose behind IFAJ’s professional development programmes: to build a stronger, more connected, and more highly skilled community of agricultural journalists and communicators worldwide.
At a time when agriculture faces growing challenges around misinformation, sustainability, science, trade, technology, climate, and public trust, the role of specialised communicators has never been more important. The Evans Center and the forthcoming Global Agricultural Communications Certificate both point toward a shared goal: helping agricultural journalists and communicators tell accurate, relevant, and globally informed stories about food and farming.
IFAJ looks forward to continued collaboration with the University of Illinois and congratulates Amy Roady on this important new chapter in her career.
