Speaker Bios
Jolene Brown
Jolene Brown will have you laughing while you learn! She's fun and funny, long-legged but not long-winded, and so insightful audiences accuse her of sleeping under their beds. The positive impact of her work is well documented by the accolades of those who have had her speak for their events. Through humour, hope, and helpful ideas her messages are guaranteed to bring us ideas to put into action and something good to talk about in the days to come.
As a professional speaker, Jolene is an honoured recipient of the Certified Speaking Professional award. This is the highest earned designation of speaking achievement from the National Speakers Association. She's made numerous guest appearances for television and radio broadcasts and her work has been featured in several major publications.
Jolene and her husband Keith live on a farm near West Branch, Iowa. She's also the mom of two daughters and an avid supporter of community and church activities. Her real life stories have been gathered from every day life and shared with people throughout North America and countries beyond.
Annemarie Pedersen
Annemarie Pedersen has worked with a number of organizations as a public relations and media relations specialist. Currently working for an agency that specializes in agricultural clients, she has worked with a variety of businesses from large chemical companies to not-for-profit associations, in both the livestock and crop production sectors as well as consumer focused work.
In her session "Get the Media Talking About your Agri-Business", she will share her experience and provide participants with the tools to build relationships with the right media outlets and promote their agribusiness.
Annemarie is a member of the executive committee for the Canadian Farm Writer's Federation and is the chair of the Agriculture Media Relations Committee with the Calgary Stampede. She has a Bachelor of Applied Communications from Mount Royal College in Calgary, Alberta.
Honourable Steve Thomson
Steve Thomson was elected to represent the riding of Kelowna-Mission on May 12, 2009. Born and raised in Kelowna, he comes from a pioneer family who continue to operate the original family farm established in 1896.
Minister Thomson is the former executive director of the BC Agriculture Council and has developed his career and experience working on behalf of British Columbia farmers and ranchers. He has served as general manager of the BC Fruit Growers' Association and the BC Milk Producers Association.
He has served the community and province as president of the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce and chair of the BC Chamber of Commerce, and has represented those organizations and others on provincial government task forces focused on red tape reduction and small business development.
He has also served as a director of the Kelowna Museum, the Okanagan Innovation Fund and the BC BioEnergy Network.