Krysta Harden
serves as Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Congressional Relations. Ms. Harden will serve with Secretary Vilsack and will be responsible for coordinating legislative affairs and intergovernmental relations. Krysta Harden joined the National Association of Conservation Districts as Chief Executive Officer in March 2004. Harden previously served as the senior vice president of Gordley Associates, a Washington, D.C. consulting firm. In that capacity, she worked with a variety of commodity organizations, most notably the American Soybean Association. Her major areas of responsibility included conservation, environmental and energy issues. Prior to working for Gordley, Harden served in various positions on Capitol Hill for 12 years. While on the Hill, Harden served as a professional staff member for the House Agriculture Committee and as chief of staff for former House member Charles Hatcher of Georgia. Harden holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Georgia.
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JacquelineDavis-Slay serves as Confidential Assistant with the Office of Congressional Relations. For twelve years, she has worked for USDA for the Natural Resources Conservation Service where she has served in numerous positions such as Program Analyst and Manager, Acting Legislative Affairs Branch Chief and Senior Legislative Specialist and New Hampshire Acting State Conservationist. She began her career with the Honorable Congressman Bennie G. Thompson in Washington, DC in 1994. She also worked as an Agricultural Statistician with the National Agriculture Statistics Service in Little Rock, Arkansas. Mrs. Davis-Slay holds a B.S. in Agriculture Economics and a Master of Science in Agriculture Economics, both from Alcorn State University located in Lorman, Mississippi. She is married to Denmark Slay and they have one son, Denmark Slay, II.
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Tina May serves as Confidential Assistant with the Office of Congressional Relations. May most recently served as a Legislative Assistant for Chairman Tom Harkin on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. She worked on conservation, climate change and energy issues and helped craft portions of the 2008 Farm Bill. Prior to working on the Senate Agriculture Committee, she worked for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition in Washington, DC and The Scoular Company in Minneapolis, MN. May grew up on a family farm in Stacyville, Iowa. She earned her BA from the University of Minnesota and her Master of Science in food policy from the City University London. She resides in Washington, DC with her husband.
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Rebecca Blue serves as Confidential Assistant with the Office of Congressional Relations. Most recently, she served as the legislative assistant for Congressman Earl Pomeroy. During her two and a half years with the office, Blue worked on trade, appropriations, and agriculture issues including the 2008 Farm Bill. Before moving to Washington, Blue worked as a crop scout for Nielson Crop Consulting in Huron, SD. She also served for eight months as a volunteer for a faith based charity in Chimbote, Peru. A native of South Dakota, Blue attended South Dakota State University where she earned her B.S. in Agronomy and M.S. in Soil Science.
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Lilia McFarland serves as Special Assistant with the Office of Congressional Relations. Most recently, Lilia worked with the Food Safety and Inspection Services Office of Congressional Affairs as a legislative analyst. Prior to joining the Department, Lilia worked with an international political and economic forecasting firm and the Texas House of Representatives. Lilia holds a B.A. in government from the University of Texas.>
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Erin Hannigan serves as Staff Assistant with the Office of Congressional Relations. Erin most recently served as an Associate for the White House Office of Presidential Personnel and as a Volunteer Coordinator for the Presidential Inaugural Committee. Previously she worked on the Obama campaign in Iowa, Washington, North Carolina, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio and interned in the Moline, Ill., Senate office for U.S. Senator Barack Obama. A native of Orland Park, Ill., Hannigan graduated from St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, with a B.A. in History, Political Science, and Public Administration.
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Vianca Monet Dyer serves as a Staff Assistant with the Office of Congressional Relations. Dyer most recently served as the greetings coordinator for the White House Office of Presidential Correspondence. Prior to that, she was a Staff Assistant in U.S. Senator Barack Obama's Washington D.C. office and formerly interned in his Chicago office. A native of San Diego, Calif., Dyer earned her B.S. in Communication Studies with a double major in Political Science from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.
