Mary Ann Johnson (She|Her)
Deputy Director, Hudson Valley AgriBusiness Development Corp
Mary Ann is a regional planner who specializes in land use, environmental and food systems planning. She brings more than ten years of strategic planning and project management experience to HVADC. Mary Ann currently provides executive direction and leadership for all major HVADC programming including the Incubator Without Walls, Farm and Food Funding Accelerator, FeedHV, HVADC Agriculture Loan Fund, and Hudson Valley Bounty programs. As HVADC Deputy Director, she has interacted with clients and consultants bringing technical assistance and services to more than 235 farms and agribusinesses in a eight county region of New York.
Mary Ann also works closely with HVADC Executive Director Todd Erling on regional policy issues related to agriculture and food related businesses. She has served as co-chair of the agricultural focus group for the Mid-Hudson Regional Sustainability Plan and has been the lead consultant for town and county agricultural and farmland protection plans focusing not only on the preservation of farmland but the sustainability of the farmer.
Prior to joining HVADC, Mary Ann was the Smart-Growth Planner at Scenic Hudson, Inc. – the largest environmental group focused on the Hudson River Valley. At Scenic Hudson, she was the lead coordinator of the Hudson Valley Smart Growth Alliance and liaison from the Alliance to the Hudson Valley Agricultural Partnership. She is a certified planner in good standing with the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).
Mary Ann has received an undergraduate degree from Montclair State University in business administration with concentrations in finance and management and a graduate degree in land use and environmental planning from the University at Albany. Mary Ann is the current chair of the Town of Red Hook Farmland Preservation/Community Preservation Fund Committee and is former chair of the Town of Red Hook Agriculture and Open Space Committee.