WASHINGTON – The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on Dec. 20 several senior staff appointments.

Georgette Furukawa is the new chief of staff of the Agricultural Marketing Service. Most recently, Furukawa worked at the White House, serving as an advisor to the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander team in the Office of the Chief of Staff. She brings to the position more than 20 years of experience working in leadership roles in government, business and non-profit sectors. She received a bachelor’s degree from Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Ore.

Jayme Holliday has been appointed as a senior advisor for the USDA’s Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services. She joined the USDA after serving in several roles in the US House of Representatives, with her most recent role being senior policy adviser for Representative Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan. Prior to working in Congress, Holliday worked in the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service as a government affairs coordinator. She also worked in the Obama administration as a confidential assistant for the USDA’s Marketing and Regulatory Programs. Holliday received a bachelor’s degree from George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs.

The USDA’s new chief of staff for rural development is Sarah Dietch, joining the agency after working in the United States Peace Corps in roles that included the director of response and previously as an individual and organizational development volunteer. She also worked in senior level positions with the USDA’s Rural Development, US Department of Homeland Security Office of Legislative Affairs and the Transportation Security Administration. Dietch received a bachelor’s degree from Simpson College and a master’s from Harvard University.   

Betsy Dirksen Londrigan has been named administrator for the USDA’s Rural Business Cooperative-Service after having worked as the agency’s rural development state director for Illinois since January 2022. She will assume the role in mid-January, following the retirement of Karama Neal, PhD. Dirksen Londrigan has more than two decades of experience working in the nonprofit sector, influencing legislators to make productive changes in policy. She is a former director at the University of Illinois Springfield and received a bachelor’s from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Kevin Shea has been appointed senior advisor in the Office of the Deputy Secretary, after serving most recently as acting deputy secretary from Feb. 28 to July 17, 2023. He comes to the new role after working for the past 10 years as the administrator of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and in total has more than 40 years of experience at APHIS. He is a graduate of the University of Maryland in College Park, Md., and the University of Baltimore School of Law.

Michael Watson, PhD, has been named the new administrator of APHIS after working as the associate administrator of APHIS since 2018. During that time, he has served as acting administrator, including when Administrator Kevin Shea was appointed acting deputy secretary in early 2023. Watson also has worked at other federal agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, College Park, and his doctorate from the University of California, Davis.

The USDA also announced the promotion of Jimmy Dahman from acting chief of staff for Rural Development to senior advisor for communications and external engagement. Dahman has worked with USDA’s Rural Development since 2021.