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 cross-sector relationships to identify science-based solutions and guide their effective implementation to achieve profitable chicken and grain farming, clean water, and thriving ecosystems 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 2023-2025 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 Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment 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
Our Chair, Josh Hastings, is the Program and Policy Director for Forever Maryland. He grew up on a poultry farm and Maryland’s very first certified organic farm, in Wicomico County, MD. Prior to joining Forever Maryland, Josh spent a few years as the Deputy Director of the Lower Shore Land Trust and seven years as the Policy Manager for the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy. In 2018, he was elected to the Wicomico County Council. He holds two bachelor’s degrees from Salisbury University and earned a master’s degree in Public Policy from UMBC.
Vice Chairs
Past Chair, Kurt Fuchs, is the Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for Horizon Farm Credit (HFC). In his role, he provides leadership and mentoring in HFC’s legislative and public affairs programs, coordinates association participation in various state and federal programs, and works with senior management to develop new program goals while reducing the loss of nitrogen and phosphorus to surface waters.
Vice 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
Kristen Hughes Evans
Executive Director, Sustainable Chesapeake
Nancy Nunn
Assistant Director, Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology
Kurt Fuchs
Senior VP of Government Affairs, Horizon Farm Credit
Alan Girard
Eastern Shore Director, Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Holly Porter
Executive Director, Delmarva Chicken Association
Josh Hastings
Program and Policy Director, Forever Maryland
Bill Massey
VP of Live Operations, Mountaire Farms
Steering Committee
David Baird
District Coordinator, Sussex Conservation District
Michelle Schmidt
Conservation and Watershed Planning, Delaware Center for Inland Bays
Danielle Bauer Farace
Executive Director, Delaware and Maryland Soybean Boards
Kevin Cline (Non-voting advisory member)
Environmental Specialist, Virginia Dept. of Environmental Quality
Kim Coble
Executive Director, Maryland League of Conservation Voters
Wendell Meekins
Dorchester County Grain and Poultry Farmer
Kristen Hughes Evans
Executive Director, Sustainable Chesapeake
Bob Frazee
(Retired) CEO, MidAtlantic Farm Credit, ACA
Jenna Mitchell Beckett
Agriculture Program Director, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay
Kurt Fuchs
Senior VP of Government Affairs, Horizon Farm Credit
Kate Patton
Director, Lower Shore Land Trust
Alan Girard
Eastern Shore Director, Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Josh Hastings
Program and Policy Director, Forever Maryland
Mark Hoffman
Maryland Director, Chesapeake Bay Commission
Amy Jacobs
Watershed Restoration Director, The Nature Conservancy
Drew Getty
Vice President, Environmental Sustainability and Government Relations, Perdue
Zach Evans
Community Relations Manager
Dave Lovell
Accomack County Poultry Farmer
Bill Massey
VP of Live Operations, Mountaire Farms
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
Tim Rosen
Director of Agriculture & Restoration, ShoreRivers
Kelly Shenk (Non-voting advisory member)
Agricultural Advisor, EPA Region III
Steve Kline
President, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy
Nick Thomas
Accomack County Poultry and Grain Farmer
Lindsay Thompson
Executive Director, Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board
Lisa Wool
Executive Director, Nanticoke Watershed Alliance