SHERIE HINTON HENRY NAMED ACTING DIRECTOR OF OUTREACH
                                          Release No. 0158.00. 
                                                               
                                                               
                            Mary Beth Schultheis (202) 720-4623
                                  mary_beth.schultheis@usda.gov


SHERIE HINTON HENRY NAMED ACTING DIRECTOR OF OUTREACH

     WASHINGTON, May 11, 2000 Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman today
announced Sherie Hinton Henry as the acting director of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Office of Outreach.

     "Reaching our constituents, particularly those who have been under-
served in the past, is one of my highest priorities," Glickman said.  "Sherie
Hinton Henry is exceptionally qualified to meet this challenge and I welcome
her to this important new role."

     As acting outreach director, Henry is responsible for assuring that all
eligible customers have access to all USDA programs and services.  In
addition, she oversees the 2501 grants program, which helps socially
disadvantaged farmers and ranchers access USDA programs, through USDA's
outreach and technical assistance efforts.
                                                            
     Henry has spent her entire career with USDA, beginning as a stay-in-
school employee with the former Farmers Home Administration in Poplarville,
Miss.  She has worked at the county office level and held the position of
county supervisor in Adams County, Miss.  In 1988, she was promoted to the
national office of the former FmHA and served in a number of positions in that
organization and the reorganized Rural Development mission area.  In 1996, she
served as the acting Texas state director for rural development.  Prior to
taking the outreach job, she was director of Rural Development's Financial
Management Division.

     Henry has served on the Rural Development Labor-Management Partnership
Council, was honored as Manager of the Year in 1999 by the Blacks and Minority
Employee Organization, and was detailed to the Mississippi State Office to
assist the Mid-Delta Empowerment Zone.  

     A native of Poplarville, Miss., Henry earned a degree in business
administration and agricultural economics from Alcorn State University in
Lorman, Miss.

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