As part of its ongoing commitment to representing Minnesota’s 24,000 corn farmers, Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) announces Amanda Bilek as its Senior Public Policy Director. In the role, Bilek will work closely MCGA staff and its board of directors to lead policy and strategy development for state and federal government affairs to advance the strategic goals of MCGA.
“We couldn’t be more excited to have Amanda on board to represent the interests of our state’s corn growers,” MCGA Executive Director Adam Birr said. “With her tremendous experience in policy, Amanda will be a tremendous addition to the team in advancing the issues most important to farmers.”
Prior to joining MCGA, Bilek was the government affairs and communications director for the Great Plains Institute (GPI), which is a Minneapolis non-profit organization working to transform the way energy is produced, distributed and consumed to be more economically and environmentally sustainable. In her nine years with GPI, Bilek worked on effective ways to use Minnesota’s abundant agricultural and forestry biomass resources to produce renewable fuels, chemicals, heat and power.
Prior to working at GPI, Bilek worked for seven years at The Minnesota Project, which is an organization in St. Paul focused on federal conservation policy, state clean energy policy and on-farm energy research.
A graduate of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Bilek hails from Wadena County where her family continues to run a small crop and beef farm.
MCGA has nearly 7,000 members and represents the interests of more than 24,000 corn farmers throughout Minnesota. MCGA’s mission is to identify and promote opportunities for corn farmers, while building better connections with the non-farming public.