She’s only been on the job for more than a week, but Christy Wright is already settling in as the new President and CEO of AgriNovus Indiana.
On her third day on the job, Christy led a panel discussion on leadership with several Indiana ag leaders during the recent AgriNovus Indiana Quadrant event at VisionLoft Stutz in downtown Indianapolis.
Christy tells Hoosier Ag Today that she’s originally from Allen County and graduated from Homestead High School.
“I grew up in the southwest area of Fort Wayne, but I didn’t grow up on a farm,” she says. “I went to college at Indiana University and studied public affairs and nonprofit management, and then got my career started.”
She says she was drawn to a career in the ag industry after serving on several mission trips with her father.
“I had a few experiences with my dad, who’s a physician,” she says. “We volunteered together on some medical mission trips, and the trips were fantastic, growing experiences, but we volunteered in food insecure communities, and that really changed my worldview. When I came home from those experiences, I felt like I was called to agriculture and to the purpose that agriculture serves, which is to feed and nourish people across the world.”
Christy started working in communications and public policy for Dow AgriSciences—which later became Corteva. She accepted the position of President and CEO of AgriNovus Indiana this summer after having spent 15 years with Corteva.
“I see so much opportunity with AgriNovus Indiana,” she says. “I am really eager to build on the momentum that this team has already done. There are so many positive things for Indiana and for the agbioscience sector, and I think with everything that’s happening in the world right now—a lot of disruption across agriculture, food, and health—there’s a real opportunity for innovation, and I think AgriNovus Indiana can be a real catalyst for the next chapter in Indiana agbiosciences.”
Christy admits that her new role as head of AgriNovus Indiana has been made easier thanks to the blueprint that’s already been put together by the previous President and CEO, Mitch Frazier.
“Mitch is a great leader, and I am blessed to inherit the work that he’s done. I intend to carry the torch and honor and build on what he’s done,” she says.
“Mitch has been gracious enough to be in touch with me frequently since I’ve taken the role already, and that says a lot about him. It wouldn’t surprise anybody who knows him that that’s the type of person he is. He wants to help the next chapter of AgriNovus Indiana succeed,” she says.
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