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Leadership

Roger Glendenning

Acting Under Secretary

Roger Glendenning currently serves as the Acting Under Secretary for Rural Development. Prior to this, he served as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Rural Development, responsible for all administrative support functions for over 4,650 employees in nearly 500 offices across the country.

Meet our Under Secretary

Farah Ahmad

Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development

Farah Ahmad serves as the Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). She works to advance policies and programs that create economic inclusion and opportunity in rural communities. Before this role, she was the Chief of Staff in the same office.
Meet our Deputy Under Secretary

Dr. Basil Gooden

Director of State Operations for Rural Development

Dr. Gooden recently served as a Visiting Scholar in the Sustainable Food Access Core of the Institute for Inclusion, Inquiry and Innovation (iCubed) at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Meet our Director of State Operations

State Leadership

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State Director’s play a critical role in helping Rural Development focus on locally driven, community economic development strategies that build on the diverse assets and needs of rural places throughout America. Each state including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is led by an appointed State Director, and in a few cases adjoining states are led by a single State Director.