About the DLLC
One Of A Kind
DLLC brings together representatives from chicken companies, farmers, regulatory agencies, academia, and environmental groups in a collaborative and mission-driven manner.
Our mission is to build trusting cross-sector relationships through shared learning and dialogue about science-based solutions in order to catalyze collective action for profitable chicken and grain farming, and healthy land and water on the Delmarva Peninsula.
Our vision is that farming and poultry production on Delmarva are economically viable, environmentally sound and can serve as a national model.
See our 2026-2029 Strategic Roadmap for more information.
Diverse Partners
The DLLC Steering Committee consists of 30 members who are leaders in their field and represent farmers, environmental groups, poultry companies, agricultural business and trade groups, academics and government agencies. All stakeholders who embrace the DLLC mission are invited to join in this grand collaboration.
Our Process
DLLC is a voluntary, self-directed collaborative of individuals and organizations directed and controlled by its Steering Committee. Solutions from the Land (SfL), a 501 (c) (3) organization focused on land-based solutions for global challenges, functions as the fiduciary agent and legal host of the DLLC. Staffing is provided by Green Fin Studio, an external, neutral group funded by The Campbell Foundation to provide backbone support for DLLC. Additional funding to support specific products and Steering Committee meetings comes from the DLLC members and stakeholders who support the mission.
DLLC has a 30-member Steering Committee that meets quarterly. Seven of those members volunteer to serve on our Executive Committee, which meets monthly and oversees the operations of DLLC. The Chair of our Steering Committee rotates each year between a member of the agricultural community and a member of the environmental community. The Steering Committee members participate in workgroups and committees and meet often to ensure that their annual work plans are implemented. In between these meetings, staff and members maintain communication through email and shared documents.
To provide structure and consistency for the organization, the Executive Committee relies on the Governance and Operating Procedure and Principles document. If a circumstance arises that is not covered in the document, the Executive Committee will make a recommendation to the Steering Committee, who votes by consensus. The value of this structure is that any product or statement that comes from DLLC has gone through a rigorous collaborative process that ensures that our diverse membership has provided input and approval.
Leadership
Chair
Chair, Bob Frazee, is one of the founding members of DLLC. He enjoyed a 34-year career with the Farm Credit System, serving his last 16 years as the CEO of MidAtlantic Farm Credit. Bob is now the CEO of J.R. Frazee Strategic Consulting, providing services to businesses and non-profits in business strategy, risk management, talent management, and succession planning.
Vice Chairs
Vice Chair, Steve Kline, has been the President and CEO of the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy since 2021 after spending two decades as a lobbyist in Washington. For the last ten years of Steve’s time on Capitol Hill, he led the government relations work of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP), a national hunting and fishing conservation organization. Steve was also an elected member of the Centreville Town Council from 2020-2023 and served two consecutive years as Council President. He was a delegate to the 2008 Republican National Convention and has advised national, state, and local political candidates on issues related to natural resources. He has a bachelor’s degree in political science from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and a master’s degree in government from Johns Hopkins University. Steve is a seventh generation Marylander, avid bird hunter and angler, and an obsessive reader of non-fiction.
Past Chair, Holly Porter, is the Executive Director of the Delmarva Chicken Association (DCA). Holly joined DCA in 2017 after working in marketing for MidAtlantic Farm Credit and helping craft policy at the Delaware Department of Agriculture. She became the Executive Director of DCA in 2019. Holly is a graduate of Marymount University in Arlington, Va., with a BA in communications, is an alumni of LEAD Maryland Class VII and sits on the Mid-Atlantic Regional Women in Ag committee and the Rural Maryland Council Board. Holly was raised on a farm in Caroline County, MD and spent many summers baling hay and straw with her family.
Executive Committee
Bob Frazee
CEO, J.R. Frazee Strategic Consulting
Danielle Bauer
Executive Director, Maryland and Delaware Soy Bean Boards
David Baird
District Coordinator, Sussex Conservation District
Holly Porter
Executive Director, Delmarva Chicken Association
Jen Nelson
Executive Director, Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts
Steve Kline
President, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy
Tim Rosen
Director of Agriculture & Restoration, ShoreRivers
Steering Committee
David Baird
District Coordinator, Sussex Conservation District
Danielle Bauer
Executive Director, Delaware and Maryland Soybean Boards
Kevin Cline (Non-voting advisory member)
Environmental Specialist, Virginia Dept. of Environmental Quality
R.C. Willin
President, Willin Farms
Kristen Hughes Evans
Executive Director, Sustainable Chesapeake
Bob Frazee
CEO, J.R. Frazee Strategic Consulting
Tyler Walston
Maryland Agriculture Projects Coordinator, Alliance for the Chesapeake
Jenell McHenry
Executive Director, Mid-Atlantic 4R Alliance
Matt Heim
Director, Lower Shore Land Trust
Alan Girard
Advocacy Director, Chesapeake Bay Foundation
John Sandkuhler
Restoration Coordinator, Nanticoke Watershed Alliance
Jason Scott
Diamondback Farms LLC
Maggie Woodward
Maryland Director, Chesapeake Bay Commission
Vagner Benedito
Associate Dean for 1890 Research & Associate Director of UMES Agricultural Experimental Station, University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Kristin Fisher
Applied Agricultural Scientist, The Nature Conservancy
Benjamin Hildebrand
Director of Environmental Sustainability, Perdue Farms
Zach Evans
Community Relations Manager, Mountaire Farms
Dave Lovell
Accomack County Poultry Farmer
Jen Nelson
Director, Delaware and Maryland Associations for Conservation Districts
Nancy Nunn
Assistant Director, Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology
Holly Porter
Executive Director, Delmarva Chicken Association
Jennifer Rhodes
Senior Agent, University of Maryland Extension
Eric Hughes (non-voting advisory member)
EPA, Chesapeake Bay Program Office
Tim Rosen
Director of Agriculture & Restoration, ShoreRivers
Steve Kline
President, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy
Lindsay Thompson
Executive Director, Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board
Christophe Tulou
Executive Director, Delaware Center for the Inland Bays
Joseph Waddell
Director of Market Innovation, Horizon Farm Credit