Executive Director

Amanda Ryan | a.ryan@vtfb.org

Amanda is a lifelong Vermonter, community builder, and horsewoman joining the Vermont Farm Bureau as Director of Operations.

A Champlain Islands native, Amanda comes from eight generations of Franklin County dairy farmers. She was raised with a deep appreciation for hard work, self-reliance, fairness, perseverance, and—perhaps most importantly—a good sense of humor. Those values continue to shape how she approaches both work and relationships.

Amanda earned her degree from the University of Vermont, where she studied Animal Science, Community Development, and Applied Economics

Her career has taken her from Vermont’s agricultural and equestrian communities to Washington, D.C., where she helped grow a small firm from five employees into a 30-person company. Along the way, she developed a particular appreciation for building strong organizations: bringing people together, understanding what motivates them, solving problems pragmatically, and creating the conditions for people and ideas to thrive.

Horses have remained a constant throughout her life, and she has taught riders across the eastern seaboard from Vermont to Florida. She continues to teach through the longstanding therapeutic riding program, CHAMP (Champlain Adaptive Mounted Program), in South Hero. She has also been a longtime leader in the Vermont Morgan Horse Association, serving as President and Vice President, and remains active on its board. She was named Vermont Morgan Horse Woman of the Year in 2010.

Amanda believes that the strongest organizations are built on relationships. “Technology can help us communicate, and data can help us make better decisions, but nothing replaces listening, showing up, and taking the time to understand people.”

She is an optimist, a pragmatic problem-solver, and a believer in the power of bringing good people together around a shared purpose. She is grateful to be home in Vermont and looks forward to getting to know Farm Bureau members across the state, learning from them, and helping advance Vermont agriculture.