As part of management transitions at NCBA CLUSA, Pat Brownell Sterner has announced she is stepping down from her three-year tenure as Chief Operating Officer for Domestic Programs at NCBA CLUSA to focus her attention on building sustainable sources of revenue for the organization’s domestic operations. In her new role as NCBA CLUSA’s Senior Development Director for Domestic Programs, Sterner will work directly with Interim CEO Judy Ziewacz.
“We are grateful to Pat for staying on in this new role,” Ziewacz said of Sterner’s transition. “Having the opportunity for Pat to focus her expertise in sustainable revenue production for domestic operations will help us build a strong platform for the next 100 years.” NCBA CLUSA is celebrating 100 years of cooperation in 2016.
Sterner’s accomplishments during her three years as COO for Domestic Programs include establishing the networks for the growing Cooperative Business Association groups and the Cooperative Professionals Network; forming the Cooperative Leadership Coalition that guided the launch of the Interagency Working Group on Cooperative Development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and establishment of the Congressional Cooperative Business Caucus; coordinating the partnership between USDA, Cooperative Professionals and NCBA CLUSA to publish a comprehensive manual on cooperative law in the U.S.; and successfully advocating for enhancing the role of Cooperative Services as a major part of USDA Rural Development’s reorganization to focus on community economic development.
“I am honored to assist in developing long-term revenue plans for NCBA CLUSA’s domestic programs,” Sterner said of her new role. “And I am happily postponing retirement for the chance to work alongside my long-time colleague and friend, Judy Ziewacz, to secure the future of NCBA CLUSA.”
Sterner took on her new role as of January 1, 2016.