Ann Veneman

Ann Margaret Veneman (born June 29, 1949) is an American attorney who served as the fifth executive director of UNICEF from 2005 to 2010. She previously served as the 27th United States secretary of agriculture from 2001 to 2005. Veneman served for the first term of President George W. Bush, and she left to take the UNICEF position. Appointed by the U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on January 18, 2005, she took over the post on May 1, 2005, serving until 2010. Previously, she also served as secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, serving from 1995 to 1999, as well as United States deputy secretary of agriculture, serving from 1991 to 1993. Veneman was the first woman to serve as Secretary of Agriculture and the second woman to lead UNICEF, following her predecessor, Carol Bellamy.

Early life and education Veneman was raised on a peach farm in Modesto, California. Her father, John Veneman, was former undersecretary of Health, Education and Welfare and member of the California State Assembly. She earned her bachelor's degree in political science from the University of California, Davis, a Master of Public Policy from the Richard & Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. She has also been awarded honorary doctoral degrees from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (2001); Lincoln University (Missouri) (2003); Delaware State University (2004) and Middlebury College (2006).

Legal, political and corporate career

Veneman began her legal career as a staff attorney with the General Counsel's office of the Bay Area Rapid Transit District in Oakland, California, in 1976. In 1978, she returned to Modesto, where she served as a Deputy Public Defender. In 1980, she joined the Modesto law firm of Damrell, Damrell and Nelson, where she was an associate and later a partner. Veneman is also a second cousin of Star Wars creator George Lucas. In 2015, Veneman signed an amicus brief asking the United States Supreme Court to nationally recognize same-sex marriage.

Secretary of Agriculture

BluePrint for Agriculture

In 2001 Veneman released a blueprint for agriculture, Food and Agricultural Policy: Taking Stock for the New Century.

Protection of agriculture and the food supply

Within weeks after taking office, Veneman confronted the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Europe, prompting stronger sanitary and phytosanitary measures. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, additional protections were implemented. She also oversaw responses to outbreaks of avian influenza and exotic Newcastle disease in poultry, both of which were quickly eradicated. The department confronted various food safety recalls, prompting Veneman to take several actions to strengthen USDA's regulatory oversight and protections.

On December 23, 2003, Veneman announced the discovery of a single cow with Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, in Washington State. This would be the very first incident of mad cow disease in the United States. The cow was determined to be of Canadian origin. After taking initial steps in response, one week later, on December 30, 2003, Veneman announced additional protective measures to be put into place.These included a ban on "downer," or nonambulatory cattle, from the human food supply; additional food-safety measures in the processing of beef and related products; and an acceleration of "the development of the technology architecture" for a national system to track and identify livestock.

International trade

Veneman was involved in eliminating trade barriers and creating export markets for U.S. farmers.

Child nutrition and food programs

During Veneman's tenure, the Food Stamp Program and child nutrition program were reauthorized and funding increased. In 2004, Veneman finalized the transition from paper food stamps to electronic debit cards in an effort to reduce fraud and increase availability of these programs to more families in need. Under Veneman, after a comprehensive scientific review, new Dietary Guidelines for Americans were released, which formed the basis for USDA's MyPyramid.

As secretary, Veneman focused on new approaches to combat world hunger. To help meet the international goal of reducing global hunger by half by 2015, she organized and hosted in 2003 the Ministerial Conference on Science and Technology, which brought together ministers from 120 nations to California, to discuss how science and technology can reduce hunger and poverty in the developing world.

USDA Management and Programs

As part of several actions to implement the President's Management Agenda (PMA), Veneman began USDA's e-Government Initiative, which made an unprecedented array of programs and services available electronically. In addition, USDA for the first time ever received a clean financial audit, a status the department attained three years in a row.

Veneman established USDA's 'Leaders of Tomorrow' initiative to support agriculture education and related mentoring. She increased the number of internships available at USDA, and encouraged young people to seek career opportunities at USDA and across the food and agricultural spectrum.

UNICEF Executive Director

In 2007, Veneman helped launch a partnership with US playwright Eve Ensler in 2007, to bring awareness to sexual abuse and violence against women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Veneman has also called for greater efforts to end female genital mutilation. In February 2009, marking the International Day against the practice, Veneman said, "Some 70 million girls and women alive today have been subjected to female genital cutting. While some communities have made real progress in abandoning this dangerous practice, the rights, and even the lives, of too many girls continue to be threatened."

In 2009, Veneman was named to Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women, ranking #46.

Veneman was succeeded by Anthony Lake on May 1, 2010.

Nestlé After her time with UNICEF, Veneman served as an adviser to Nestlé and took a seat on Nestlé's board of directors. Nutrition campaign groups criticized Veneman's involvement with Nestlé because of the company's violation of a global code restricting advertising of breast milk substitutes.