1. MASTER OF ARTS IN
ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP
This is to certify that I have approved this
final copy of a Master’s Thesis by
Kristine G. Rose
Martha Hardesty, Ph.D.,
Research Advisor
Date
COLLEGE OF ST. CATHERINE
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA

2. Leadership Pathways: Women Agricultural
Cooperative Directors
By
Kristine G. Rose
A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts in Organization Leadership, at
College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, Minnesota
December 2002
Thesis Advisor
Martha Hardesty, Ph.D.
Readers
Sharon Doherty, Ph.D. and Gary Weness, B.S.

3. Copyright 2002 Kristine G. Rose.
All rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any retrieval
system, without the written permission of the author.

4. - i -
Acknowledgements
The MAOL journey for me has been a pursuit of authentic leadership as
described by Robert Terry and of ethical, effective and enduring leadership. Those are
the 3-E’s (White-Newman, 1993) I learned from you, Julie-Belle. They have provided a
solid foundation whenever I questioned leadership issues. Thus, you are the first person
I acknowledge and thank. Thank you for having had the vision for the MAOL program
and the tenacity to see it through to fruition. I am grateful for the MAOL program, my
journey through the program and your leadership.
Thank you, Martha, for agreeing to serve as my advisor. When I scanned the
MAOL faculty and decided to ask you, I didn’t have a clue what was in store for me. I
cherish your enthusiasm for this work and for life. Best wishes to you in all of your
interests and pursuits.
Thanks, Fred. Without the financial, physical and emotional support you
provided, this MAOL journey wouldn’t have been possible. Thank you for clocking in
at the P.O. to keep a roof over our heads, food on the table, and clothes on the kids.
Thanks too for your extra effort with the kids and around the house while I spent time
on this project. You’re the best partner.
David, Helen and William. I’m sure you’ve wondered what could possibly be so
great about school that I’d spend so much time, tuition and effort on it. I can only tell
you about the joy and excitement I’ve felt when I’ve learned new things – or had ‘aha’
moments. This is my journey. I set the bar high and now that I’ve hurdled it, the rush is
awesome. My first wish for you is that you love God, love others and love yourself. My
second wish is that you challenge yourself to set the bar high and go for it. That is the
stuff dreams are made of.

5. - ii -
Thanks, Mom and Dad, for your patience and understanding as I’ve pursued this
journey. First you loved me and from that, came roots and wings.
Thanks, Frank and Judy, for your patience and understanding. From your open
arms to gifts from your garden and heart, I am blessed by your presence in my life.
Thank you, Sharon and Gary, for agreeing to serve on this committee. Your
knowledge, experience and suggestions were valuable as I formed and wrapped up this
culminating work.
Last, but not least, this work wouldn’t have been possible without the
participation of the women directors. Thank you for agreeing to share your stories with
me. I was humbled by the opportunity to meet each of you and thrilled at the chance to
shed light on this seldom traveled path to ag co-op director. Again, my thanks to you
and best wishes to you in your leadership endeavors.

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Abstract
The research problem is two-fold. First, as an employee of a regional
cooperative, I saw little evidence of women directors. Second, several women, gathered
at a conference for women in agriculture at a roundtable discussion on leadership,
wondered how they might be considered for the role of agricultural cooperative
director. In response to the research problems, I first gathered data to quantify the
number of men and women who serve as directors in the Midwest. Next I reviewed the
literature concerning executive women and characteristics that propel or derail
advancement. As the literature concerning women and agricultural cooperative director
achievement was very limited, I looked to the six women agricultural cooperative
directors as a resource. Through interviews with them, the pathways they each traveled
to agricultural cooperative director were unveiled. This study found that participation
in certain organizations supports leadership development and propels achievement.

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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements.......................................................................................................................i
Abstract .........................................................................................................................................iii
Table of Contents .........................................................................................................................iv
Chapter 1: Introduction................................................................................................................ 1
Research Questions and Purpose .................................................................................. 2
Research Goals and Methods......................................................................................... 2
Chapter 2: Conceptual Context.................................................................................................. 6
Board Constituency ......................................................................................................... 6
Leadership Pathway Experiences.................................................................................. 8
Barriers to women’s advancement/achievement .......................................... 9
Advancement and achievement ..................................................................... 11
The Agricultural Cooperative ...................................................................................... 12
Industry Analysis.............................................................................................. 13
Values and Principles....................................................................................... 15
Economic Features............................................................................................ 17
Research Question in Light of Conceptual Context.................................................. 19
Chapter 3: Description of Research Design and Methods .................................................... 20
Research Genre and Typologies .................................................................................. 20
Sampling and Participant Demographics................................................................... 21
The Research Relationship............................................................................................ 22
Data Collection............................................................................................................... 23
Data Management and Analysis.................................................................................. 24
Ethical Considerations .................................................................................................. 25

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Chapter 4: Director Stories........................................................................................................ 27
Opal.................................................................................................................................. 27
Coral................................................................................................................................. 30
Violet................................................................................................................................ 36
Pearl ................................................................................................................................. 39
Ruby................................................................................................................................. 44
Crystal.............................................................................................................................. 51
Chapter 5: Leadership Pathway Unveiled .............................................................................. 59
Pre-nomination Pathway.............................................................................................. 62
Cooperative Affiliation .................................................................................... 62
Values ................................................................................................................. 63
Organizational Involvement and Leadership Development...................... 65
Nomination..................................................................................................................... 68
Self....................................................................................................................... 68
Nominating Committee ................................................................................... 69
Encouraged by others....................................................................................... 69
Concerns............................................................................................................. 74
Campaign and Election................................................................................................. 75
Post-election Pathway Director Reflections ............................................................... 80
Being a woman and a token ............................................................................ 80
Peer acceptance ................................................................................................. 81
Self acceptance................................................................................................... 84
Leadership as a component of the pathway experience........................................... 84
Summary......................................................................................................................... 84

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Chapter 6: Summary, Conclusions, Implications, and Recommendations........................ 85
Summary......................................................................................................................... 85
Implications and Recommendations........................................................................... 88
Conclusions..................................................................................................................... 90
References .................................................................................................................................... 91
List of Appendices
Appendix A: Sample letter of invite........................................................................................ 97
Appendix B: Sample confirmation of interview letter.......................................................... 98
Appendix C: Sample consent document ................................................................................ 99
List of Tables
Table 1: Board constituency of Midwest cooperatives ............................................................ 7
Table 2: Board constituency: a comparison to the Fortune 500 and 1000 ............................. 8
Table 3: Number of cooperatives and net business volume ................................................. 14
Table 4: National Cooperative Bank Top 100: Midwest data .............................................. 15
Table 5: Economic features that differentiate a cooperative from an IOF........................... 18
Table 6: Leadership pathways unveiled.................................................................................. 60

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Chapter 1: Introduction
I had the opportunity to lead a roundtable discussion on leadership at an April
1999 agricultural leadership conference where I introduced myself as an employee of a
regional cooperative and a graduate student in organizational leadership. When the
women at the table learned of my employment and leadership studies, they queried me
about how they might be considered for a farmer cooperative director leader role. After
nine years of employment in the regional cooperative system and graduate level
coursework in leadership studies, I didn’t have what I considered a very good response.
I told them about Thomas Kajer’s Ph.D. thesis research (1996) in which he describes an
election path that was initiated by an informal sponsorship of an individual and was
then followed by a formal election process. The fact that these women asked how they
might be considered for and included in the nomination/election process for the role of
agricultural cooperative director indicated their interest in serving as a director. It also
revealed the existence of a knowledge barrier or void.
That day, a small group of women identified knowledge and their lack of it as
one problem in their director leader quest. As a regional cooperative employee, I was
uncomfortable by what I perceived as another serious problem: far too few women
served as farmer cooperative directors. Furthermore, I began to see a real disconnect
between the diverse leadership experiences of my youth and the reality of a white male
organization and cooperative board of directors.
As I reflected upon the experiences of my youth, I assumed that my farm
background and leadership development experiences were similar to those of
prospective women directors. I grew up on a crop and dairy farm in which all family
members were involved in the day-to-day operations of our production agriculture

11. - 2 -
enterprise. I was very involved in leadership development activities such as 4-H and
never felt that I was more or less likely to be elected to a leadership position based on
my gender. I saw young men and women assume leadership roles at local, county and
state levels. I viewed both career choices and leadership opportunities as limitless and
not precluded by gender. Furthermore, I felt that my experiences as a 4-H member and
leader were excellent leadership development opportunities and preparation for adult
leadership roles within my community. I was confused. If women in agriculture
participated in youth leadership development programs, why did I see so few women
directors and why were women asking me how to become a director?
The Research Questions
Two problems were identified above. First, in my tenure with a regional
cooperative, I saw very few women directors and second, women wondered how they
might become directors. Each problem posed a unique question: 1) is my perception of
too few women directors accurate and 2) how do women become farmer cooperative
directors?
Purpose
This study will explore the research questions to discover how many women
serve as directors and the pathway they traverse to agricultural cooperative director.
Research Goals and Methods
The perceived under-representation of women on farmer cooperative boards of
directors created the need to either validate or invalidate the perception. The validation
process would be conducted through a data-gathering process of its own. The other
research question would focus on the knowledge void and suggested that interviews
with women directors were the most appropriate data-gathering method. In response to

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the initial research questions, seven research goals emerged. They are identified and
described below.
Validate the Existence of a Gender Gap
Maybe my perception that too few women served as directors was wrong and
women served as directors of cooperatives at a level equal to or higher than the
corporate sector. Regardless, quantifying board constituency according to gender
would establish a benchmark for this study and future studies.
Gain an Understanding of the Leadership Pathway Experience
The women at the roundtable indicated an interest in being a director and a lack
of knowledge about how they might accomplish that goal. I didn’t have the requisite
knowledge that might have supported or enabled their journey. Therefore I looked to
the existing literature for information that might be helpful to them. Furthermore,
interviews with women agricultural cooperative directors could confirm and add to an
understanding of the leadership pathway to cooperative director.
Illuminate Their Leadership Pathway Stories
According to organizational sociologists, Joanne Martin and Melanie Powers,
stories are powerful. They compared the effectiveness of four different methods of
persuading people: 1) using only a story, 2) presenting statistical data, 3) presenting
statistics and a story, and 4) issuing a policy statement. “The students in the groups that
were given the story believed the claim about the policy more than any of the other
groups” (cited in Kouzes and Posner, 1995, p. 226). Thus the stories of the women
directors hold a prominent place in this work.
Reveal Common Themes or Patterns
Face-to-face interviews and the resulting transcripts would yield much data. An

13. - 4 -
analysis of the data would hopefully reveal themes or patterns common to the
participants. Emergent themes or patterns would hopefully shed light on the research
question and lead to a narrowing of the knowledge gap.
Empower Women in Agriculture with Knowledge
The women I listened to at the roundtable discussion were interested in
cooperative leadership, but didn’t know where to begin. With this work, the question of
how women achieve a directorship is unveiled and the knowledge gap narrowed.
Influence System Change
Cooperatives, cooperative employees, and member-owners are stakeholders in
the farmer cooperative system. Local cooperative directors are a primary source for a
regional cooperative’s board of directors. This work seeks to influence nominating
policy and procedure changes that promote the inclusion of women at all levels. As a
female regional cooperative employee it was important for me to see women directors. I
viewed a diverse board of directors as a reflection of the organization’s commitment to a
diverse employee population.
I once encountered a male regional cooperative employee who said: ‘If they
[women] don’t know how [to navigate the path to cooperative director leader], they
shouldn’t be a director.’ Similar attitudes and organizational policies and practices that
exclude fall short of being ethical, effective or enduring. Women are important figures
in the rural community and as such their contributions and leadership must not be
overlooked. Cooperative educators have an opportunity to increase awareness and
influence change surrounding attitudes, policies, and practices that marginalize or
oppress.

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Make an Academic Contribution
Rickson (1997), in Current Sociology wrote:
…researching women in agriculture is central to many on-going social science
concerns, central to many feminist aims (Thompson, 1992), but more central still
to what Reinharz (1992) has called the ‘sociology of the lack of knowledge.’ That
sociology examines ‘how and why knowledge is not produced, is obliterated, or is
not incorporated into a canon’; it analyzes ‘how certain people are ignored, their
words discounted, and their place in history overlooked … how certain things are
not studied and other things are not even named’ (Reinharz, 1992: 248-9). (p. 91)
Rickson acknowledges that “researching women in agriculture is central to many
on-going social science concerns.” Since little research looks at women in
agriculture and even less looks at women in agricultural cooperatives, the
opportunity exists to make an academic contribution. More importantly, the
research is an opportunity to acknowledge, value and name the knowledge and
experience demonstrated by the women directors who shared their stories with
me.
The context in which women become agricultural cooperative directors is
developed in Chapter 2.

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Chapter 2: Conceptual Context
Prior to this research project, suspicions and anecdotal evidence existed claiming
a paucity of women agricultural cooperative directors. An examination of the data was
required to quantify gender constituency within the agricultural cooperative setting and
compare the findings to the data from the investor-owned firm (IOF) setting. Next,
leadership pathway experiences are examined in the context of the IOF and then in the
context of the agricultural cooperative. Finally, the conceptual context is further
developed through an examination of the agricultural cooperative and its 1) significance
within the agricultural economy, 2) values and guiding principles, and 3) economic
features that differentiate it from an investor-owned firm.
Board Constituency
The first research question was, is my perception that few women serve as
directors accurate? The data gathering process began with a query of the National
Cooperative Bank Top 100 list of cooperatives in the Midwest. Eleven agricultural
cooperatives were identified as a result of the query. Then director names and photos
from each cooperative were gathered from 1) their cooperative’s website, 2) their annual
report as published on their website or 3) a written request for their most current annual
report. Table 1 shows the number of directors that serve each cooperative and their
constituency with regard to gender.

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Table 1
Board seat constituency of top Midwest farmer cooperatives
Board seats held
by
Cooperative Women Men TotalSource
CHS Cooperatives 0 17 172001 annual report
Land O'Lakes Inc. 2 25 272001 annual report
Foremost Farms USA Cooperative 2 36 382001 annual report
Associated Milk Producers, Inc. 0 32 322001 annual report
American Crystal Sugar Co. 0 17 172001 annual report
Minnesota Corn Processors, Inc. 0 24 242001 annual report
United Suppliers, Inc. 0 9 92001 annual report
Equity Co-op Livestock Sales Association 0 15 152001 annual report
Swiss Valley Farms Co. 1 20 21www.swissvalley.com
Alto Dairy Cooperative 1 17 18www.altodairy.com
South Dakota Wheat Growers Association, Inc. 0 18 18www.sdwg.com
Total 6 230 236
According to Table 1 on board constituency of top Midwest farmer cooperatives,
women hold six of 236 board seats or 2.5% of total available board seats. Table 2 shows
how board constituency of Midwest farmer cooperatives compares to percentage of
board seats held by women in the Fortune 500 and 1000 where women held 12.4% and
10.9% of board seats respectively (Catalyst, Inc., 2002).

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Table 2
Board constituency in Midwest cooperatives compared to the Fortune 500 and 1000
% of Board Seats Held by Women
Top 11 Midwest Agricultural Cooperatives 2.5%
Fortune 500 12.4%
Fortune 1000 10.9%
Note. Fortune 500 and 1000 data assembled from Catalyst, Inc. (2002)
The findings on board constituency confirm the perception that few women
serve as directors. The under-representation of women directors is an indication that
they have been largely excluded from agricultural cooperative leadership. The
difference between the percent of board seats held by women in midwestern agricultural
cooperatives and the Fortune 500 and 1000 of America indicated the existence of more
than just a gender gap; it suggested the existence of barriers to achievement faced by
women in the farmer cooperative system. The paucity of women directors and the
roundtable discussion where women wondered how they might become directors
suggested a closer look at the literature related to leaders and the pathway they traverse
to a leadership position.
Leadership Pathway Experiences
“Leaders go first. They set an example…” (Kouzes and Posner, 1995, p. 13).
The board constituency analysis identified the existence of a gender gap. Thus,
an examination of the literature surrounding barriers women and others face in their
leadership pathway pursuits is one focus of the conceptual context in which women
serve as directors. An examination of barriers helps uncover information about what

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stands in the way of advancement or achievement. At the same time, six women
directors were identified and provide examples of achievement despite barriers. Thus,
the conceptual context will be further developed through an examination of the key
leadership pathway experiences of women who experience advancement to executive
and director positions. The literature contains examples of women who serve in
executive roles, who serve as corporate directors and who own their own companies.
From those examples, the achievement pathway to agricultural cooperative director
might begin to be illuminated.
Barriers to Women’s Achievement/Advancement
The noticeable lack of advancement by women and minorities became the
impetus for the 1991 formation of The Glass Ceiling Commission by the U.S. Labor
Department. “The Commission undertook an extensive research and information
gathering effort, including public hearings, surveys of chief executive officers, and
interviews with focus groups” (Federal Glass Ceiling Commission, 1995a, p. 9). The
commission findings identified numerous barriers to achievement in its report Good for
Business: making full use of the nation’s human capital (Federal Glass Ceiling Commission,
1995b) including “difference” barriers such as culture, race and gender and “pipeline”
barriers.
Prior to the formation of the Federal Glass Ceiling Commission, Morrison (1987)
led the Executive Women Project and produced significant scholarly research in the area
of factors that “propel” or “derail” (p. 8) advancement. She described a “double barrier”
to advancement – the ceiling and the wall. The ‘glass ceiling – a transparent barrier -
applies to women as a group who are kept from advancing higher because they are
women’ (p. 13). “Once women break this first barrier, however, they unexpectedly

19. - 10 -
encounter another barrier—a wall of tradition and stereotype that separates them from
the top executive level. This wall keeps women out of the inner sanctum of senior
management, the core of business leaders who wield the great power” (p. 14).
The purpose of Morrison’s next work, The New Leaders: Guidelines on Leadership
Diversity in America, was “to help organizations and leaders design and implement
practices that will develop diversity within the management ranks” (1996, p. xii). As
part of the research, she and her team identified 21 barriers to advancement. Two
categories of barriers identified by Morrison are:
1) White men already in place, [sic] keep others out
2) Cannot find [emphasis added] qualified nontraditional candidates (p.
291)
For women in agriculture, that white men are already in place is evident by the
preceding data assembled on board constituency. Furthermore, if board constituents are
primarily men, then it seems logical that nominating committees are similarly
composed. If that is true, it is possible that few women candidates are found. In
category two, Morrison identifies five barriers, one being a lack of organizational savvy.
According to her a lack of organizational savvy limits access to political networks and
mentors, resulting in a knowledge gap.
Women’s absence from farmer cooperatives is also notable in the literature. Kau
(1976) in her research of Wisconsin agricultural cooperative managers discovered that “a
substantial number of managers were discouraging if not outright hostile to the idea of
more women in their cooperative.” More recently, O’Hara (1994) wrote “Women are
conspicuously absent from (or marginalized in) farming organizations, agro-support
services, agricultural cooperatives [emphasis added], the farming media and

20. - 11 -
organizational structures associated with initiatives to promote rural development
(1994:54)” (as cited in Liepins, 1998, p. 130). Barriers described in the agricultural
literature include patriarchy, gender, life cycle effects, and stereotyping which all hinder
women’s participation and achievement in agricultural cooperatives (Sachs 1983, 1986;
Rosenfeld, 1985; Kajer, 1996; Liepins, 1998; Ketilson, 1996; and Shortall, 1999).
Morrison and the Glass Ceiling Commission reported that their interviews were
conducted with executives. Unlike the executives who were the focus of their research,
women in agriculture who are interested in an agricultural cooperative director role
depend upon being successfully nominated and elected to a director role.
Advancement and Achievement
The preceding analysis of board constituency, and identification of barriers to
advancement, paint a dismal picture regarding women in agriculture and cooperative
director leader achievement. Yet, authors such as Swiss (1996), White (1992), Driscoll &
Goldberg (1993), and Helgesen (1990) through interviews with women leaders provide
hope and inspiration. They provide examples of women either advancing through the
ranks of corporate America or leading their own companies. Though these authors
provide numerous stories of advancement and achievement, none of the subjects are
women in agriculture.
The literature concerning women in agriculture and achievement falls into two
categories: 1) non-scholarly and 2) scholarly. The first category contains an article that
gives advice on overcoming barriers based on Randall’s own experience as a director
(1982). The second article showcases women cooperative leaders (Merlo, 1988).
The second category, scholarly literature on women and achievement in farming
organizations is limited. Shortall (1999) and Kajer (1996) provide the most

21. - 12 -
comprehensive look at the subject. Shortall’s work doesn’t examine the achievement
path. Instead her focus is on the achievement itself. Kajer provides the most valuable
insight on the journey to leader achievement in farming organizations. Participants in
Kajer’s project noted the significance of being asked. He devotes a portion of his
dissertation to “The Asking: Launching Leaders” (p. 297). He found that being asked
was “often remembered for a lifetime” and “affirms confidence of others in their
leadership abilities” and for those reasons I agree that being asked was significant for
those leaders. Yet is ‘being asked’ significant when one considers that most
organizations establish a nominating committee to source candidates? The questions his
research elicits are: did his subjects anticipate being asked, did they conscientiously
prepare themselves for leadership, did they signal their interest in some way, how was it
that they came to be asked, were they networked in such a way that they were
considered or noticed?
The Agricultural Cooperative
The agricultural cooperative setting is one factor that makes this research unique.
As described earlier, much of the pathway research has been conducted with women
executives in the invest-owned firm setting. While annual reports and company
information are widely available for IOFs, nearly the opposite is true in the cooperative
sector. Bernardi and Zeuli (1999) conducted a survey of new cooperative ventures since
1994 and identified the need for a comprehensive database for cooperative information.
Without a comprehensive database, I relied on two primary sources to develop a brief
industry analysis. One source of information was the United States Department of
Agriculture Rural Business Cooperative Service (USDA RBS). It conducts annual
surveys of farmer cooperatives and then publishes those results. The second source of

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information was the National Cooperative Bank (NCB) which publishes: NCB Co-op
100, a list of the top one hundred revenue generating cooperatives. Beyond the industry
analysis, cooperative values and principles are reviewed, as are the economic features of
a cooperative.
Industry Analysis
The impact of the farmer cooperative industry in the five-state Midwest area can
be measured in terms of number of cooperatives and net business volume relative to the
U.S. presence overall. Table 3 shows that the Midwest is home to 1,046 cooperatives
with a total net business volume of $30.7 billion. As a percent of U.S. total cooperatives,
the Midwest is home to 31.3% of U.S. farmer cooperatives. The Midwest cooperative
business volume is 31.0% of the U.S. volume.

23. - 14 -
Table 3
Number of cooperatives and net business volume
State # of
cooperatives
Net business volume (mil.
dol).
IA 179 7,932
MN 302 9,306
ND 251 3,041
SD 133 2,451
WI 181 8,018
Midwest total 1,046 $30,748
Nationally 3,346 $99,064
Midwest/National 31.3% 31.0%
Note. Data assembled from USDA-RBS Farmer Cooperative Statistics 2000
The National Cooperative Bank Top 100 list (2002) is the only known source for
data on individual cooperatives. A query by industry (agriculture) and state (MN, WI,
IA, ND and SD) of the Top 100 list resulted in a list of 11 cooperatives. A brief industry
analysis depicting national rank, revenues, and total assets (Table 4) showed total
revenues of $19.6 billion and total assets of $8.1 billion.

24. - 15 -
Table 4
National Cooperative Bank Top 100: Midwest data
National Revenue Total Assets
Rank $ in Millions $ in Millions
2000 Cooperative (state headquarters) 2000 1999 2000 1999
2 CHS Cooperatives (MN) 8,571 6,329 3,173 2,788
4 Land O'Lakes Inc. (MN) 5,756 5,613 2,473 2,684
31 Foremost Farms USA Cooperative (WI) 1,093 1,301 331 323
37 Associated Milk Producers, Inc. (MN) 989 1,062 227 209
45 American Crystal Sugar Co.(MN) 731 844 740 656
60 Minnesota Corn Processors, Inc. (MN) 584 599 606 619
79 United Suppliers, Inc. (IA) 440 403 190 164
85 Equity Co-op Livestock Sales Association (WI) 413 364 48 42
89 Swiss Valley Farms Co. (IA) 376 371 91 89
93 Alto Dairy Cooperative (WI) 367 422 67 66
98 South Dakota Wheat Growers Association, Inc. 331 272 181 152
TOTAL 19,651 17,580 8,127 7,792
Values and Principles
The International Cooperative Alliance’s (ICA) mission “has been accepted by
cooperators throughout the world as the final authority for defining cooperative and for
determining the underlying principles” (Hoyt, 1996, ¶2). The ICA has adopted as one of
its aims the ‘promotion and protection of cooperative values and principles’ (ICA, 2002,

25. - 16 -
¶Aims and Methods: Aims). The ICA Statement on Co-operative Identity provides the
following values statement:
Co-operatives are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy,
equality, equity[emphasis added] and solidarity. In the tradition of their founders,
co-operative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social
responsibility and caring for others (ICA, 2002, ¶Values).
Equality and equity are included in the values statement. Ironically, this
research project is the result of women’s absence from the director’s table in the farmer
cooperative system. The Honorable Robert B. Reich, former Secretary of Labor and
Chair of the Glass Ceiling Commission, addressed equity in his “message from the
chair”:
The glass ceiling is not only an egregious denial of social justice that affects two-thirds of
the population, but a serious economic problem that takes a huge financial toll on
American business. Equity demands that we destroy the glass ceiling. Smart business
demands it as well. (Federal Glass Ceiling Commission, 1995a, p. 4)
The ICA Statement on Cooperative Identity identifies seven guiding cooperative
principles. They include:
1) Voluntary and Open Membership
2) Democratic Member Control
3) Member Economic Participation
4) Autonomy and Independance [sic]
5) Education, Training and Information
6) Co-operation among Co-operatives
7) Concern for Community (ICA, 2002, ¶Principles)

26. - 17 -
Economic Features
The seven guiding principles provide a framework for the creation of future
cooperatives and a standard for current cooperatives. They also shed light on the
features that differentiate cooperatives from investor-oriented firms. From ownership,
to the subordination of capital, to the distribution of earnings, and voting privileges
numerous differences exist and are highlighted in Table 5: Economic Features that
Differentiate a Cooperative From an Investor-Owned Firm.

27. - 18 -
Table 5
Economic Features That Differentiate a Cooperative From an IOF
Feature Cooperative (user-oriented) Investor-Owned Firm
Ownership Open to those who use products and services
(member-economic participation)
Stock-holders may or may not
purchase/use products or services
Subordination of
Capital
Equity Capital (a.k.a. member equity)
1. Allocated
direct member investment
retained patronage refund
per-unit retains (based on physical
units handled by cooperative)
2. Unallocated
Debt Capital
1. Short-term debt
accounts and notes payable
current portion, long term debt
other short-term liabilities
patronage refunds payable
2. Long-Term Debt
long-term loans
leasing
Ownership capital
Debt capital
Distribution of
earnings
Returned to owners in form of
• Equity capital (ownership in cooperative)
• Patronage refund (net income allocated to a
patron in proportion to the value or quantity of
patronage conducted with the cooperative)
As a general rule, stock in a cooperative may earn
dividends at a rate not to exceed 8 percent and are
therefore not an attractive investment vehicle for
outside investors.
Shared with stockholders in form of
dividends and based on investment
(number of shares held).
Voting privileges One vote regardless of amount of business
conducted with cooperative
According to quantity of stock owned
Information Source: Cooperative Financing and Taxation (USDA-RBCDS, 1981, rev 1995)
The member-owner is the central figure and beneficiary in the cooperative.
Those individuals who will use and benefit from the cooperative’s products or services
form the cooperative. Earnings are returned to those members who hold equity capital
and conduct business with the cooperative. Members have the opportunity to cast one
vote regardless of member equity in cooperative. In contrast the investor-owned firm

28. - 19 -
may or may not use the products or services offered by the firm. Earnings and voting
privileges are based on the quantity of stock held.
Research Question in Light of Conceptual Context
One of the initial research questions was, ‘how do women in agriculture achieve
a farmer cooperative director role?’ Based on the development of the conceptual
context, it was found that six women serve in the midst of 230 men as directors.
Furthermore it was shown that multiple barriers hinder women’s achievement. Thus
the primary research question became, ‘How in the context of a male constituency and
multiple barriers do women achieve an agricultural cooperative director role?’ A
secondary set of questions viewed director achievement as experience and knowledge
sets gained along the pathway to director leader. Interviews with the women directors
provided an opportunity to learn more about their achievement. The secondary
questions were:
• How did you prepare for the role of director leader?
• What were your nomination and election experiences?
• What challenges did you encounter and overcome?
• What role did others play in your director leader achievement?
• What key lessons or knowledge about director-leader achievement have
you come away with?
• What recommendations do you have for prospective directors, local
cooperatives, and cooperative educators about how to increase the
number of women directors?
With the conceptual context developed, the following chapter explores the
research design and methods employed.

29. - 20 -

30. - 21 -
Chapter 3: Description of Research Design and Methods Employed
“The research questions and methods chosen… are congruent and have an
organic relation to one another” (Marshall and Rossman, 1999, p. 10).
The research design and methods employed were selected based on:
1) the research problems: too few women serve as directors of agricultural
cooperatives and women indicated a lack of organizational savvy;
2) the conceptual context: women serve as directors in the midst multiple
barriers and a male constituency in the cooperative setting; and
3) the research goals identified in the introduction.
Research Genre and Typologies
A qualitative genre was chosen as it “is pragmatic, interpretive, and grounded in
the lived experiences of people” (Marshall and Rossman, 1999, p. 2). Six women
directors certainly could speak to their own experience of being elected to the
cooperative’s board of directors. Within the qualitative research genre, multiple
research typologies exist. Of those proposed in the literature, critical ethnography and
feminist theory were chosen.
First “critical ethnography is grounded in critical theories that assume that
society is structured by class and status, as well as by race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual
orientation, to maintain the oppression of marginalized groups” (Marshall and
Rossman, 1999, p. 6). The conceptual context revealed the existence of a gender gap
within the network of agricultural cooperative directors. That gap indicates the
existence of a system in which the exclusion of women is supported. Second, “Critical
ethnographers attempt to aid emancipatory goals, negate repressive influences, raise

31. - 22 -
consciousness, and invoke a call to action that potentially will lead to social change”
(Creswell, 1994, p. 12). The selection of a critical ethnography approach was driven by
the research question and in particular the research goal of influencing system change.
The research typology was also feminist theory. Feminist theories “…put
women at the center and identify patriarchy as central to understanding experience.
…They name and value women’s subjective experience” (Marshall and Rossman, 1999,
p. 6). Rather than look at the nomination and election experience of men, it was
appropriate to look at the experiences of these six women directors. It was their
experience that was central to understanding the research question and developing the
research design.
Sampling
The industry analysis revealed the existence of six women directors. Based on
the critical ethnography and feminist theory typologies, purposeful sampling (Miles and
Huberman, 1994) suited the research framework. Purposeful sampling “is a strategy in
which particular settings, persons or events are selected deliberately in order to provide
important information that can’t be gotten as well from other choices” (Maxwell, 1996, p.
___). Based on their achievement, these six directors “nested in their context” (Miles &
Huberman, 1994, p. 27) possessed the requisite knowledge and experience to provide a
detailed account of their nomination and election experiences.
Participant Demographics
Participant demographics were gathered through the interviews. The six
directors were homogeneous with regard to race, marital status and background. All
were white, married and possessed a farm background. With regard to age, I did not
request age information. Instead, I estimated their ages based on information they

32. - 23 -
provided during the course of the interview. One director was in her early 40s while the
rest were in their mid-to-late 50s or older. Neither did I specifically question tenure as a
director. Again, I relied on the context of the interview to estimate the number of years
of director service. Based on the interview data, I estimate five of the six women were
first elected to their cooperative’s board of directors in the following years: 1986, 1987,
19889, 1990, and 1996. Based on that estimation, five of the six have served as directors
for as few as six years and as many as sixteen years. The interviews also revealed a
limited amount of data on the amount of post high-school education held by the six
directors interviewed. One director spoke of her college years while another noted “I
had a professor.” Two directors wished they had more education, while two did not
note any post-high school education.
The Research Relationship
“…interviewees in qualitative interviews share in the work of the interview, sometimes
guiding it in channels of their own choosing. They are treated as partners rather than as
objects of research” (Rubin and Rubin, 1995, p. 10).
A letter of introduction (Appendix A) to each of the women directors initiated
the research relationship. In the letter, I described the research project, issues of
confidentiality and invited their participation. The letter was followed with a phone call
in which I described the project, issues of confidentiality and invited them to participate
in the interview. In fact, two of the women, eager to participate, called me before I
called them. While on the phone we also arranged a meeting date, time and place for
the interview. Once the interview was scheduled I sent a confirmation letter (Appendix
B) to each participant in which I listed the general interview questions, addressed the
issue of confidentiality once again and confirmed the meeting date, time and location.

33. - 24 -
Enclosed with the confirmation letter was a sample confidentiality agreement
(Appendix C) which gave each participant the opportunity to review the agreement
before being asked to sign it on the day of the interview.
Data Collection
All six women contacted agreed to an interview. Five of the six agreed to face-to-
face interviews while the other woman who lived outside the five-state area suggested a
phone interview. Whether face-to-face or over-the-phone, a general interview outline
was employed for all six interviews. A general interview outline, in comparison to a
structured interview, enabled me to pursue ideas or themes suggested by the director.
The challenge presented by a general interview outline is that the wording of the
questions changes from interview to interview. The associated flexibility of the
interview was a benefit so I could further probe ideas as information was uncovered
during the course of the interview or in ensuing interviews.
The interview outline arose from the idea that each director travels a unique
pathway to director. The pathway experience is chronological moving from early, pre-
nomination experiences to post-election experiences. The general interview outline
follows:
• Preparation for the director leader role
• The nomination of the director leader
• Marketing the director candidate (campaign practices)
• The election of the director leader
• The role of others in their nomination and election
• Challenges encountered and overcome

34. - 25 -
• Key lessons and knowledge gained regarding their director leader
achievement
• Reflections and recommendations for prospective women farmer cooperative
directors
A pilot interview was conducted with a female agricultural cooperative director
who serves a smaller cooperative in the state of Minnesota. The pilot interview met the
goals of testing the interview questions and practicing my interview skills.
Data Management
Upon completion of each interview, micro-cassette data was transferred to a
standard-size audio-cassette using equipment that I own. The next step was the
transcription of the audio recordings. I completed the transcription work using
equipment provided by the College of St. Catherine library audio-visual resource center.
Interview transcripts and related files were stored on a College of St. Catherine network
drive to which only I had access via a personal login and id. Upon acceptance of the
thesis research project, all micro-cassette and audio-cassette tapes were destroyed and
all documents stored on the network drive deleted.
Data Analysis
Once an interview was completed and transcribed, I read through the printed
transcript and recorded my reactions, questions, and observations to the data using
hand-written symbols and notes. Once all six interviews and associated transcription
work was complete, a side-by-side comparison table of election pathway experiences
emerged. The process I employed in developing the summary table was a combination
of read, record, edit, and confirm. First I read each transcript and recorded individual
responses in the summary table. For example, a participant might have noted that her

35. - 26 -
husband was very supportive. I then recorded “supportive husband” in the “pathway
experience” row x “director” column. I did this for each director. As the process
unfolded, pathway experiences were added until all transcripts were read. Lastly, each
transcript was cross-referenced with the table to confirm that the final table reflected the
actual content of the transcript.
Ethical Considerations
Confidentiality was a large issue as the women directors were easily identified
via a search of websites and annual reports. I took several measures to avoid any
breaches of confidentiality. First, all identifying information, including names of people,
cities/towns and states, was struck from the transcripts. Pseudonyms were used in the
thesis document and where possible I chose names of gems or flowers that suggest
strength, color, or beauty. The assignment of a pseudonym was not related in any way
to their real name. All tapes and transcripts will be destroyed upon the successful
defense and publication of the bound thesis.
Gaining a woman director’s consent was another ethical consideration. I
developed and employed a six-step process to assure each director understood and
agreed to her participation in the research project. The first step in the process was a
letter of introduction. The second step was a phone contact with the director. The third
step involved mailing of a copy of the consent form as an enclosure with the interview
confirmation letter. This provided another opportunity for the director to review and
consider the consent agreement. The fourth step was the review of the consent form
with her as we prepared for the interview. In the fifth step, the participant signed the
consent form indicating she understood and agreed. Step six was the receipt of a signed
consent form and commencement of the interview. All six participants signed the

36. - 27 -
consent form and agreed to participate in the research project with the understanding
that they could withdraw from the project at any time without consequence.
As noted earlier, stories are an effective means of conveying a message. In
addition, their voices must be heard. By including their stories herein, we cannot ignore
or discount their knowledge or experience. The following chapter allows the reader to
hear each director speak.

37. - 28 -
Chapter 4: Director Stories
The following stories are included here to illuminate their leadership pathway
knowledge and experience. My goal in sharing their stories was to allow their voices
and their stories to rise from the pages of this work. Each time I read these stories I am
transported back to our conversation and I hear their voices in my ear. I want my
readers to have that same experience. Therefore, I relied heavily on the transcripts,
lifting material directly from the transcript and allowing it to rise from the page with
little to no intervention. Where a transition to a new thought might have left the reader
stranded, I added a phrase or so to facilitate the story. Likewise, I did not change
grammatical errors, remove “you knows” or edit the work unless it distracted more than
helped tell this story. Where a director referred to a single situation in two separate
sections of the interview, I might have combined text from both sections and organized
it into a single thought. That way the story is told in an organized manner while still
upholding the story and allowing their voices to rise from the pages of this work.
Opal
I agreed to meet Opal at her home. Upon arriving at the farm, I went to the
nearest door where she welcomed me into her home and led me through the kitchen to
the dining table. I could see the barn from where I sat. She and her husband John own
and operate their dairy. Once we were seated at the table, I asked Opal to describe her
nomination and election to her cooperative’s board. In 450 words she breezed through
her story beginning with her involvement in the Young Cooperator (YC) program, being
asked to run, giving her election day speech, and ending with “It’s just something I
want[ed] to give a try and I got elected.”

38. - 29 -
Opal and John participated in the Young Cooperators organization and some of
its contests, winning “Outstanding YC Couple” one year. As a result of their YC
involvement Opal said, “I learned about our co-op and about the cooperative
system.…And in the YC arena, it’s a lot of couple stuff. It’s not just the guys. The
females are just as involved as the males.” Their involvement extended to their
cooperative as well. Her husband served as a district representative. The district
representatives and district director met “twice a year to discuss issues, maybe tour
plants, just stay involved in the co-op. So he had done that – been a district
representative. And you’re always invited to bring your spouse along – your wife,
whichever the case may be.” With a high involvement level and the “Outstanding YC
Couple” award, Opal and John were visible within their community and were being
prepared for future leadership opportunities. They just didn’t know that their
involvement and leadership would result in being approached to run for a cooperative
director role so early in their career.
We’d been with the co-op, but that would’ve been less than 10 years at that point, maybe
8 years when the retiring district director came to John and I both - He wondered if one of
us would be willing to run, just to get our names out front. Well at the time, John was
on the National Guernsey board as a director and so that was keeping him about as busy
as he needed besides the farm. And he was on Farm Bureau board and a couple other
things. John said [to me] ‘Why don’t you run? Just get your name out. We won’t get it
this time, but then they’re aware that we’re interested in the co-op and maybe it’s
something we can do down the road when we’re a little older.’ So I put my name up for
nomination.

39. - 30 -
In developing an understanding of the knowledge, experiences, and thought
processes surrounding the nomination and election of the directors, I asked Opal to talk
about why she accepted the nomination.
I guess I saw it as an opportunity for a new challenge and we felt we could work it out.
They [the board] meet once a month and it’s a one-day meeting. So we felt John could
handle some of my stuff here. I could still do stuff on both ends. I had two grandmas that
were willing to help out with the kids for that day and depending on the day, sometimes
they could just be here with their dad too. We just saw it as an opportunity to get more
involved, meet new people, be more aware of what’s going on in our co-op, be a part of the
process. I guess that’s why I accepted. It was a joint decision. John and I both felt we
were given the opportunity, let’s take it.
Opal also described the events of the election event.
There were two other gentlemen. One was probably late 40’s. I was friends of his
daughter, which was kind of interesting and the other guy was probably mid-50’s. Any
producers that show up are allowed to vote if they’re members - one vote per membership.
And it turned out the one gentlemen and I tied. And so they did a revote of course.
Now, just the two [of us] and we tied again. And so this time [the outgoing director]
said, ‘Well now each of you need to get up and give an impromptu speech why you want
to be a director of [this cooperative and] your reasons.’ And the other gentlemen, being
polite as he was, said, ‘Ladies first.’ I don’t remember quite what I said, but I just shared
our experiences with the YC group and how we enjoyed being part of [the cooperative],
and that I felt because I was active in the day-to-day operations of the dairy that I could
understand what other producers felt. That’s kind of the route I went. I didn’t go on
about being female or anything like that. I just said I felt I could do it because it was

40. - 31 -
something our family was involved in and we’d had some exposure to national issues
through the YC program. And it’s just something I want[ed] to give a try and I got
elected.
Coral
Coral suggested that we meet at a restaurant a few miles from her home. We
entered the restaurant together and asked to sit in the back where we could more easily
converse and record our conversation. We asked for coffee and immediately began
talking. Coral openly spoke of her nomination and election experiences, what she’s
gained from the experience, and more. I chose from the transcript entire paragraphs I
found central to her story. Here’s Coral’s story.
I forgot one very important point. My grandmother. My grandmother ran the farm. My
grandfather worked out. We lived with my grandmother and grandfather and so
everyday, I saw her going to the barn. She was the one who farrowed the pigs; she was
the one that had us kids down and pulling the mustard out of the field. I just grew up
with it. I never knew not being involved. My grandmother never said, ‘You kids go do
this or you kids go and unload hay.’ She said, 'Come and help me.' So I didn’t know life
without being involved. My grandmother had eight children, five boys and three girls.
All five of the boys worked out and I think it was because if someone was going to have an
off-the-farm job, they knew that the men could earn more money in the labor industry
than women. The women stayed home to run the farm and all the guys all got jobs.
When my grandfather went to work, he’d take the three oldest boys with him, so he took
her labor force. She broke the farm, the woods that was across the railroad tracks. She

41. - 32 -
broke it on a tractor. She knew more about the land, the wet spots and the difference
between which pigs and who was going to farrow more than the guys did.
So we also made a career change. We were 30-something when my husband had
a back injury and needed to leave the construction field and he wanted to do something
else. He was raised on a dairy farm and he always wanted to go back. So at 30-
something, we sold absolutely everything we had, bought a few cows, [and] found a farm
that we could rent. We decided we are doing business with a lot of cooperatives and these
[cooperatives] are our future. We needed to be involved and have a voice in what that
was going to be. We knew that we, whether it was church or anything, we knew that if
we were going to be members, we would be actively involved or we just wouldn’t be
members at all. We would either really be involved or we wouldn’t participate.
But the other thing that our local rep noticed was that neither my husband nor I
had an off-the-farm job. We were both… Because of his back injury… I did a lot of the
physical hands-on labor in the barn so I was always there when the dairy rep came. I was
always there when the milk inspector came; I was always there for the nutritionist; I was
there for barn cleaning, for milking, for everything and I was also in a major education
mode because I didn’t know anything about dairy. And it just happened that they came
to enroll us for members of the co-op and my husband wasn’t home and we filled out the
forms in the milk house and they asked for a social security number. Well I knew mine
but didn’t know Mark’s, so I gave mine. I was the one who had the actual share in the
cooperative simply because I put my social security number instead of my husband’s.
Actually our interest in the cooperative is through the Young Farmer program.
And that was our local co-op sponsoring my husband and I to go away for a day – Young
Farmer Leadership program. And then I think staff members chose from there who would

42. - 33 -
go on to the next level. The first time it was a single day conference; the next one we
went to was a three-day conference. After that it was, I think, the annual meeting which
was four days. And there’s an education process at each level. They work on first of all
understanding cooperatives; what’s involved; what makes a cooperative different from an
independently owned business. We had a really good history of our cooperative, how they
operate and function together as one parent company. And they also work on leadership
goals. How do you set goals? How do you become a leader? What kind of characteristics
or qualities do you need and they bring in speakers and hold seminars on developing
those skills. While we were at the annual meeting, they always choose [sic] one couple to
give the young farmer report to the general assembly and my husband and I were chosen
to do that. And because we were a dairy farm - but we also were farming crops, my
husband and I had split up and he had gone to some of the ag related speakers and I had
gone to some of the dairy ones. And independently, and we didn’t know it, but we were
both asking questions, quite a few questions in our group that we were in and it was
because we were actively involved that they had asked us to give a presentation. We
talked about why we were members of our cooperative and why it was important to us.
And we knew starting from scratch, we knew exactly the financial commitment it took
and dollar-wise what money exchanged between us. How much money exchanged from
the cooperative to us as far as milk sales and how much we had spent through the
[purchase of] feed, seed, fertilizer and that kind of thing back at our local and we just
realized that with that kind of an exchange, it was important for us to be involved and
committed to an organization that played that major role – to our fiduciary success and
also to the governance.

43. - 34 -
And after that our local co-op manager and some of the other managers [in our
area] stopped us and said, ‘If you guys ever want to get involved, we’d really like to see
you serve on some local boards or the region board.’ [When we considered running for
the regional board] I think we decided that it just wasn’t practical for him [my husband
Steve] to be able to leave the farm and so he really encouraged me to run. And he was
also involved. He was on the board of an organization that we belonged to for registered
Holsteins and he was a director on DHIA and he’s been a director at the Farm Service
Agency and so he really kind of encouraged me to try for the board.
I knew a couple of the managers that were on the nominating committee for the
fall board, for the region board that fall. And just thought it’s a good place to start. I felt
comfortable. There was a comfort level and I think I stopped to pick up cheese at one of
the co-ops and the manager said, ‘You know you should consider running for the board.’
He was on the nominating committee and looking for candidates and he was probably
asking about my husband, when I told him that I would be interested. And there was
kind of a pause and he said, ‘Well I’ll call one of the other managers.’ I think it was, ‘I’ll
call and see what he thinks.’ By the time I got home, the other manager must have said
something historic like ‘sure, put your name down.’ And he sent me the information and
I basically filled out the form that I needed to and contacted Member Services and got the
names and addresses and then it was to compile a letter. I saved a copy of that too, my
first letter and I remember handing it to some of the voting delegates and its legal size,
top-to-bottom, and they’re going, ‘Oh my gosh.’ They’ve never seen that much
information in their life, nor did they care. But I just talked about background. I was
raised on my grandparents farm. I had married a gentleman that had been raised on a
dairy farm, but their farm is now a housing development. He had been in construction

44. - 35 -
and back injuries put us into making a choice and we chose to be in agriculture. It
wasn’t like it was handed down to us or a forced decision; but it was something we openly
chose to do. [I] talked about involvement. Up until that time I’d been on church board
and school activities… That kind of thing in the community. And that was basically it.
I got up to introduce myself and to do my campaign speech, which was unheard
of at the time. The very first time I ran there was six of us and they brought us all up
front at the same time and they just asked if anybody had anything to say. I was on the
end and they started on the opposite. Every guy just said what his name was and where
he was from and you know if people wanted to support him that would be great. They got
to me and I actually had a prepared statement that I wanted to make. In fact I found it
this morning when I was going through… I told them what I felt about cooperatives and
principles and the amount of investment that we had in this cooperative and how many
dollars had exchanged hands between the cooperative and us and I wish more of it could
have stayed in our hands a little bit longer. And why I felt involvement in a cooperative
that was owned by farmer-members was important. I told a little bit about myself and it
took less than 2 minutes, but they’re all looking at me, like are you finished? I just
thought it was important; just giving my name I just didn’t think was enough. I just
needed to tell them basically what I felt about cooperatives. I thought it was important.
I remember my very first board meeting with my brand new briefcase in my
hand, walking up the sidewalk at the cooperative to go into the building to my very first
board meeting. I got up that morning, went down and did my calf chores, set up the
milkhouse for my husband and got things started. Then I went back in the house,
showered, got my clothes on and put my suitcase and briefcase in the car. I walked into
the boardroom. I was the first one there and found my place. I looked at that really big

45. - 36 -
room – microphones at every chair and my briefcase sitting on the table and I just
thought – what have I done? I just remember audibly thinking that I really had to do the
very best job I could do. I didn’t want to ask anything stupid and I didn’t want to do just
anything, not just for myself, but for any woman who would be the next one to sit. I
didn’t want to blow it, because I really wanted other women to have a chance.
I think there were other challenges. I can’t say they were across the board. I
think there were other personal challenges for me. That just makes me unique. I didn’t
have a lot of self-confidence or self-esteem. And so I always felt like I had to try harder,
read more, be more prepared, always go that extra mile just to be even. I always felt I had
to try hard just to be baseline. I wasn’t on the board very long, maybe three years and
[first name last name] sold his cows and had to retire off the board, because he was no
longer a dairy farmer. So the vice chair moved up to the chairman’s position on the dairy
committee and they needed to elect a new vice chair and my peers elected me into that
position. And I think at the meeting that that happened, I realized that I had always
thought of myself as not as good as or always trying harder. And the day that they did
that, I realized my peers had the confidence in me and trusted me. So I think my biggest
challenge was myself. And not only did they elect me then, that was in the fall to finish
that term, they re-elected me three more times. I think my biggest challenge was just me.
I wish I had realized it sooner. It was really late in coming. But I really have to
say that I think the gentlemen I served with recognized my value far ahead of me. Really,
they do tease me; they treat me like a sister. It was my low self-esteem. If I would’ve just
gotten it sooner...

46. - 37 -
Violet
I was unable to meet Violet for a face-to-face interview and so we conducted the
interview over the phone. I hope that I have an opportunity to meet Violet some day.
When asked about how she prepared for the role of agricultural cooperative director,
she described the importance of reading and attending director training. But I learned a
lot more about Violet just by listening to her talk. Throughout the course of the
interview she revealed much about herself. She grew up on a farm, earned a college
degree, worked for a man in college who became her mentor and worked in a bank
following college. She also described being active in the agricultural community.
Raised on her family’s farm she noted, “Of course my dad had a farm operation and
back then everything was done on the farm so to speak - an Old McDonald type thing. So he got
a lot of experience in different types of business approaches from grain to livestock.”
When asked to describe people who have played a role in her achievement she
spoke of her work in the college business office.
I go way back to my college days. I worked in the business office with a gentleman who
had retired but was working in the business. He had come from the business community
as a contractor – estimator. So he had a lot of experience in business and was tough.
And I got assigned to him and later found out that nobody else would work for him cause
he was tough. But he and I just hit it off great. And I didn’t have a bit of trouble with
him. If someone was willing to learn, he was very compassionate and helpful and
instructive on business things. He knew I was green, fresh into college without much
business savvy and he was very helpful and I would have to say that really grounded me
in business principles and I watched him deal with people and he was very good in

47. - 38 -
dealing with people and – and makes it clear to them what he wanted. So we just got
along fine and I think he laid the groundwork for my business academics.
Violet described her unsuccessful bid for a state Farm Bureau office and how that
resulted in her being noticed by the local cooperative’s nominating committee.
Although I had been active in the farm community and knew about the co-op and the
business and so forth, I was not seeking the position. I had been more active in the Farm
Bureau and was seeking an office there, but was unsuccessful at a state office that I ran
for there. When this position came up on the co-op board - why the nominating
committee I’m told after the fact said gee, ‘We’ve got somebody interested in ag here, let’s
ask her to run.’ It was my exposure from the Farm Bureau side that I guess caught the
attention of the nominating committee for the co-op. I said, ‘Well I don’t really know too
much about the governance.’ ‘Oh you’ll learn, you’ll do fine,’ [they said]. You know
how that is. I felt when I was asked it was quite an honor and so I was elected the first
time I ran.
Since the election was conducted via a mail-in ballot, Violet relied on a
cooperative mailing, her visibility in the agricultural community and personal contact
with members. I was interested in her campaign and whether she had a platform on
which she ran in her original campaign for cooperative director. In response she said,
Probably not a platform as much as just saying that I come from a farm background and
that I appreciate cooperative business principles and would definitely support them and
want to make the local co-op successful because if we’re successful, that farm is
successful. I tried to visit with people. I think the human side of it is very important and
I do that still. I visit local co-ops that I represent. I think the human side...so I tried to
contact some of the farm members that might be a bit skeptical of having this first woman

48. - 39 -
on the board and I had several positive comments. ‘Gee, after meeting her I have no
problem.’ I got that feedback from others. So like I say, that personal contact is very
important.
Without asking about her husband, I learned from Violet the following:
He is very supportive and has been from the beginning. He encouraged me to run each
time and then worked (inaudible) worked these re-elections. ‘Yes. Go on. Do it. You’re
doing a good job.’ He was very supportive of that. I am very active on the farm. Tractor
driving, truck driving, we run a saw-mill. I’m very much involved with that physically.
So when I’m away, some of those things can’t be done, but he says, ‘Oh that’s alright,
I’ve got plenty of shop work’ or whatever. So he works around my schedule. He’s never
said, ‘Well you really shouldn’t go this month’ or anything like that. I’ll say, ‘Well I’ve
got a training session’ [and he’ll say,] ‘Oh by all means go.’ So he’s very supportive.
Based on Violet’s story, I estimate that she was first elected to the local
cooperative board in 1986. Although the research question addresses the pathway to
leadership, it does not address the issue of enduring leadership. Violet wondered out
loud about her enduring leadership. She said,
You know it’s very hard to evaluate yourself. How do you know what really contributed
to your so-called success. I asked a region manager one time… I was up for election and I
had been re-elected and I wondered… You know after so long you think, how many
times can I be re-elected? Like I told you I had to be re-elected every year and I said,
‘What would you say would be attributed to my success’? He said, ‘Violet, I don’t know,
but whatever you’re doing, just keep doing it.’ Which didn’t help much but I just
maintained my same steadiness, I guess. I try not to be erratic and I think if you’re too
assertive, and I think I mentioned this before, it’s counterproductive.

49. - 40 -
I think you need to recognize others’ successes. Give them credit for their
success. And I’m saying this I think as a woman you need to do that because men
hesitate to complement sometimes. They’re very lax, maybe in that. So if you can
acknowledge some of their successes, maybe they made a comment during the board
meeting or they did some particular thing and complement them on that. I think its… I
mean if it’s sincere. Now I’m not saying be frivolous about it, but you know, say ‘That
was a really good comment that you made in the meeting. I agree with that. I hadn’t
thought of that’ or something of that sort. I think that’s important – it builds your level
of acceptance.
Pearl
I met Pearl on the farm she and her husband operate. She led me into the dining
room where a large and friendly dog greeted me. We sat and talked about her
nomination and election experience.
This particular board you do not have to be nominated. They send out.. there are district
meetings and they send out a notification to find out if you would be interested in serving
on the board and then you best be prepared to explain, at the meeting why you would be
interested. At the district meeting and in the bylaws of this particular cooperative [there
exists] a process whereby if someone really opposed you running, there is a vehicle to do
that. Maybe they would stand up and say this person has no character or… I don’t
know why they would do it, but there is a vehicle in the bylaws of this cooperative that
allows that. The candidates have to be approved by the voters before they are voted on.
They go through Roberts Rules of Orders… ‘Are there any other nominations’? But
basically you are nominated by indicating that you are interested.

50. - 41 -
The first year I ran I think I explained to you on the phone - this cooperative has
different districts and they had re-districted. So my particular district, the one that was
inclusive of our farm, did not have a director because they had switched and the man who
was our director was now running against someone else north of us. But my initial
reason for wanting to be on the board was that we were not happy with his
representation. He is a good man – has been a friend of our family for all of our many
years. But, did not do a good job representing us on this particular co-op, simply because
he didn’t pay attention. And he is sort of a… he has a very nice personality… a very
outgoing kind of person, but he doesn’t pay much attention to detail and I think it was a
glorification position. I think it was nice for him to be on the board, but he didn’t really
care to do anything with it. So he wasn’t very responsive to the people within his
district. So that was my initial reason for wanting to run. Would I have run against
him had we not been redistricted? Yes. Knowing full well that it would have caused
some problems. But that has never stopped me before so I guess it probably wouldn’t stop
me then.
At that election there were two other men running. I would say I won for a
variety of reasons. One because there were several – more than several wives at that
particular district meeting – and these are women I know. I had served on county board
at that time for a number of years. I was on some very visible committees so my name
was out there - it wasn’t as though I were an unknown person. Also because we had
milkroutes – we hauled milk from the farm to the factory – some of these people were our
patrons and I had known them for many years. The two men who were running had not
been with the cooperative as long as we had. I had that on my side. And most of those
people know, or knew at the time, I’m an active participant in this farm. I milk the cows;

51. - 42 -
I drive tractor; I don’t work away from the farm. So I think my argument that day was
‘Look, I do at least 50% of the work and I should at least have some of the say’ and my
main argument was because we had a milk route we were going into 53 farms every two
days. We were hitting 52 farms. Who knew better what was going on in the farm
economy than we would because we could see it every single day?
I asked Pearl how she prepared for being a director. She spoke of her ideals and
county board experience.
Yeah. It probably goes back to county board. What I discovered… What I’ve known
about myself is I like a challenge. And I am basically not so much one to back down from
an argument. Discussion is an exchange of ideas and an argument is a discussion of
ignorance. I had a professor that told me that one time and I firmly believe that. But I
also found out that I’ve liked researching things and I’ve liked finding out why things
work the way they work and this is our living. I mean at times I’m thinking of running
for the board and I’m thinking this is where we make our living. This is how… I should
have some say in how it works. And there were things going on that we weren’t
particularly happy with and so you don’t change things by sitting on your duff doing
nothing. You change things by getting involved and so that’s why I had initially run for
county board and that’s why I ran for this board. It was to find out why it was working
the way it was and what we could do to change it, if we could do anything at all.
She spoke further of experiences that prepared her for a directorship.
I think being in this business for 50 plus years. My husband and I both come from this
kind of background. My father was a milk hauler for 51 years. His father was a cheese
maker for 30-40 some years. We grew up in this thing. And we grew up particularly in
the milk-hauling business. I think we know more about what goes on with farmers and

52. - 43 -
in farmer’s minds than most people would imagine – than anybody could possibly know.
We’ve seen all the changes. I go back to the days of cans in cement tanks with water –
cold water. Helping my dad change cans and my husband does as well. I think our
lifetime prepared us for that. The patron has always been the most important part of our
business. Some of these patrons were 4th generation and that was a passionate part of
what I did on the board.
My husband taught ag and cooperatives was one of the things he taught. We’ve
always firmly believed in cooperatives. But the problem is that there is always somebody
at the top and that don’t always understand that the guy at the bottom is really the guy
that should get paid first because he’s the reason you exist. A cooperative exists – they
were started as an organization to make farmers, or in the case of electrical – the
stockholder – to make it better for them. But that’s why agricultural cooperatives started
as a bargaining unit – as sort of a safety net because we didn’t have unions per se. So
these cooperatives kind of served us well. [For example] there are 25 of us and we should
be able to get our seed at a little better cost if there are 25 of us versus 25 of us going
individually. That was the theory, the grass roots kind of thinking in cooperatives. My
husband and I grew up with that and we always… my father and mother and his parents
taught us that the patron comes first. That stockholder comes first. And when my
husband sat on the local cooperative board, that’s how they operated. Because he sat there
with a group of older farmers who believed in the same thing he did – that we do this, but
we do this with an eye on ‘Is it going to help the farmer’ or ‘Is it going to hurt the
farmer.’
There comes a point in most cooperatives in this day and age, particularly in this
cooperative, where there becomes a very fine line between cooperative and corporate. And

53. - 44 -
I’m sure you’ve seen that… larger units picking up smaller units. Okay – does it help or
does it hurt the guy who’s the individual stockholder? Is he going to get out of this what
he has invested? Is he going to get his equity? Is he going to get his capital retained? Is
he going to get everything that he deserves or is the guy who’s making $150,000 on top?
Once he [general manager or CEO] gets his, what’s left? That was my problem with this
co-op. There is just too much up here and not enough down here. I didn’t like the way it
looked and so I think my passion for our patrons probably was what really led me to think
about going on the board – because I firmly believe that’s the way cooperatives should
operate. They should always operate with an eye on the bottom line; but always with an
eye on what is our stockholder going to get. How is he going to get what he has coming
to him? What are we doing to have to do to make that happen? And not very many
cooperatives do that. I just firmly believe our patrons need some kind of representation
and ultimately that comes down to the farmers who aren’t on the board getting some
representation – somebody who knew what was going on on their farm.
Once elected Pearl described her feelings of serving on a board with a male
constituency.
I think to be a woman on a board that is predominantly male – whatever board it is, but
particularly going back to the rural cooperative kind of board you really have to do your
homework. You just have to read and talk and read and talk and read and talk. Always,
always, always do your homework so that when something is being discussed, whatever
question you ask has to sound smarter than the guys. It shouldn’t be that way. You’re
sitting as a board member and should be sitting equally. But it goes back to the old
philosophy of rural boards where women just didn’t exist on those boards and still
obviously don’t a lot. I think some women are probably afraid of that.

54. - 45 -
One question I posed was what role did others play in your nomination and
election?
I don’t know, other than my husband. I don’t know that anyone did in particular. When
I ran for county board, I also was the only woman on county board for a period of time.
Now I think there are seven. I don’t think that… I’m pretty independent. I don’t think
anybody influenced me, other than I just asked my husband, ‘Is this something you think
I could do? Do you think this is something I should do’? Because it was important in
terms of who is going to do the work when I’m gone kind of thing and do you think I have
the where-with-all to accomplish this? And he thinks obviously that I did. I don’t think
I’m easily influenced by other people, attitudes or opinions. I just am not. People who
have known me a long time would be able to tell you I pretty much walk my own path.
So I think I just decided for my reasons and ran at the time.
I wondered why Pearl’s husband didn’t enter the nomination and election
process.
He had served on another local cooperative board for 16 years, so he had had about all the
board meetings he really wanted. Also he was a milk hauler and he probably didn’t have
as much time and he just felt that it was okay if I wanted to do it. He really has never…
I guess he’s never said why he didn’t but he had served on that other board and I think he
was kind of boarded out. He kind of liked not having to go to meetings anymore and he
pretty much let me do what I wanted to do for 36 years.
Ruby
Ruby, Ruby, Ruby. I met Ruby on the family farm this past summer. A couple
grandchildren were around. She sent one to go help grandpa and the others

55. - 46 -
disappeared. She invited me to sit at the table in the middle of her kitchen. Here’s
Ruby.
Well each year the board of directors that are up for election, they get a copy of all the
patrons that ship milk to the co-op. And usually, there are usually two within, say my
district, there’s probably two directors and from those two directors get together and they
pick certain people that will run for the board and that’s how it all begins. Say they’ll
pick six to seven names and then the office at the co-op will call these people and will
verify if they’re willing to run or not and if you’re willing to run, then you have to send
them a little write-up, what do you call it? Bio, of you know your operation, anything
you want to put in it, a couple paragraphs – that’s about it. Then after that when the
election comes around, this comes out in a report and all the patrons get a copy of it. It’s
sent out in their annual report. They have their annual meeting in which - the
cooperative has several annual meetings in different parts of the area. And then you get
up there, whatever you want to say. You’ve got 3-5 minutes to say whatever you want to
say about yourself, your operation or why you want to be a director. And then they vote
right there at the meeting. And you’re either on the board or your off the board. You
either win or lose.
When asked about who noticed her, Ruby noted it was the fieldman.
The fieldman. They just tell the people that run this[cooperative] – well this one
would probably be a good candidate for a nominating committee. They give them names,
because they know the farmers.
I asked Ruby to describe her nomination and election experience. Here’s how
she described it.

56. - 47 -
I guess it all started when I was on the nominating committee. We met at the office and
at that time a couple of the field men were there and they asked if any of us would be
interested and I said, ‘Well I don’t know? Maybe.’ And they came back in two weeks
and they asked me if I’d be willing to run and I said, ‘Sure.’ So I ran for the board and I
ran against a gentleman that was on for oh… I believe eight years something like that
and I was elected. And he just lives south of here on a dairy farm. And from there I’ve
been re-elected every year. This is my… I’m going on my sixth year. We run for two
years at a time. We’re trying to get it three years because you’re just getting used to it
and if you don’t get re-elected then somebody’s got to run all over again. So that’s how I
got on the board.
Well we had the, after we were on the nominating committee we met as a group,
like I said and at that time we went to this list. And of course your name is in this list,
because you’re a member and when they get to your name they said, ‘Well what about
you’? And I said, ‘I suppose it wouldn’t be so bad.’ A couple weeks later then they called
and asked if I was serious and that’s when my name was put out. But otherwise my
name was not on the list. My husband’s name was because the check was in his name.
But I mean… You know if you and your husband ran a farm and shipped milk and it
was in your husband’s name, and somebody said to you, ‘Do you mind being on, do you
care to run for the board’? Sure. It’s no problem. You could run for the board and be
nominated. You’re part of the operation. You help. You work out there. You work side-
by-side. I’m up at 4:00 a.m. every morning, so...
I wondered what she spoke about during her candidate speech the day of the
election.

57. - 48 -
Oh just general you know. My personal life – married, you know, 11 children and so
many grandchildren. I farm with my husband and one son and what we have… for
crops. What type of farming we do. You know dairy, and at that time, we had hogs.
About how many acres, so many acres, you milk so many cows and if you’re – any of the
other associations if you’re involved with local co-ops, the breeders, or whatever you’re
involved in. At that time I was involved in Women for Agriculture, County Pork
Producers – give a short glimpse of what… You’re usually asked if there are any other
questions anybody else would like to know or ask you and if not… Really it’s in the
write-up you send to them, but you cover it in case – well some people don’t read’em all
the time. Well sometimes they’ll ask you – well sometimes they’ll ask you how long
you’ve been shipping to the cooperative other things like… could you specify more why
you want to be a director. If you think you could do a better job than some of the men?
I wondered how she responded to that question. Without missing a beat Ruby
responded.
I said, ‘Of course. I’m a woman.’ Well we look at things different than men do. You
know. I’m not saying I’m better than anybody else, but I mean, you look at a situation
different than men do. I don’t know about you, but I do. We all have our own ways and
thoughts of things and we just have a different look out or aspect of farming, agriculture
and nobody questioned me. And that was about the whole ball of wax. That’s when I got
elected and I’ve been there ever since.
As she was telling her story she kept referring to field men and I wasn’t sure who
they were and so I asked her about them.
Yes, they’re employees [of the cooperative], but they’re almost like an inspector. They go
around – if you’ve got troubles or they… or if you accidentally milk a cow that’s treated,

58. - 49 -
they come out and test your milk. Stuff like that and they know the patrons. And they’ll
say, ‘Well I think this person would be a good person to be on a nominating committee
because they know other producers.’ And that’s how that goes.
I wondered how Ruby prepared for being a director. “No. I just was myself. I
mean, I know agriculture. I know our farm. Sure it was different once you got on the board.”
At that point we were interrupted. When we resumed I tried to bring her back to
the idea of how she prepared. She resumed with:
Well yeah, I’ve been on the Farm Credit services – I’m going on my 13th year there. And
I chaired the Federal Land Bank side in our office at our board for seven years. In fact I
was the first woman ever elected to that. There still has never been a woman on that. I
was on the Women’s Pork Council of [state]– the women’s organization – because I was
treasurer there. I was there for six years. You can run for three and then be re-
nominated for another three, but then you have to be off one to get back on. From there I
went to the men’s board and I fulfilled a year term when one of the producer’s passed
away and then I was on there for six years straight and I was the first woman elected on
that board. I was on the [state] Women for Agriculture and our county pork producer
board and I still am a director for the county pork producer board and I haven’t had pigs
for three years.
Following on the theme of ‘I just was myself’ creates an opportunity to interject a
piece of advice Ruby offered during the interview. The advice was directed towards
other women interested in serving on a cooperative board. She said,
If they’re comfortable being on an all men’s board and they can carry their own weight,
handle themselves well, say what you think, stand up for yourself no matter. If
everybody agrees, then who needs a board? If you don’t think its right then say so.

59. - 50 -
Don’t ‘oh yeah, okay.’ Just don’t go along with’em because 14 of ‘em said it should be
this way and maybe you don’t want it that way. I mean you can disagree. Don’t be
afraid to disagree, because if you don’t disagree, if you’re just going to be a yes person,
stay off the board. They don’t need you.
Were there people who encouraged you?
I guess nobody really encouraged me. I just talked to my husband and I said, ‘Well, what
do you think’? And he says, ‘Go for it if you want to go on.’ I know when I got on the
Farm Credit board [I was told], boy you must have a good name because there has never
been a woman on the board. And the co-op there they just said, ‘Don’t worry. You’ll
make it.’ I don’t know, maybe you gotta be more outgoing, but you know I say what I
think. I don’t sit and think about fancy words I gotta use, because I probably don’t know
any. I just tell’em the way I feel. I don’t beat around the bush. I just say, well this is
what I think about it. I may be right and I may be wrong. Nobody is a 100% right. I
just tell people point blank and I guess maybe that’s why they wanted me on the board
’cause I told’em my opinions - if they liked it or not I guess.
I guess, if he [her husband] was against it I would not have run. But like I said, I
didn’t have any little kids at home. My kids were grown up. They were in sch…on their
own or in high school or something. Cause I have a big family – I’ve got 11.
Boy – I guess the biggest challenge, maybe I thought… Personally I probably
didn’t know if I knew enough about it. You know because I didn’t really know what they
did as a director on that board – on any of them as far as that goes. I didn’t know if I had
the education to do it. Because you get on these boards and this guy has got the Ph.D.
and whatever all these initials they got for education and I come through and I went
seven years of school and the last year was in vo-tech. Vocational school and I thought

60. - 51 -
well maybe I don’t have the smarts. I guess you learn as you go along and it probably
means more than a textbook and I’m not saying education ain’t good, ’cause there’s many
times I wish I had a better education because of things you just don’t understand or…
You know what I mean? You get into all these big numbers and I’m horrible at speaking
in front of people and believe me I had to do a lot of it. I applaud anybody that can do
this, believe me.
When I got on the board as a director, you learn many things you never knew
what went on at the cooperative or any other co-op. You don’t realize what the cost, or
the experience those people have to have, or even yourself. After you’re on that board –
you gotta study just a little bit harder because you’ve got to know – we get a pack a paper
about this thick and its numbers and I’m not a real numbers person. But its numbers.
The operation, the cost of milk, whey, cheese, whatever. You’ve got to study. You’ve got
to brush up on stuff. It’s very interesting and I guess… I wish everybody could be on
the board at sometime in their life to really understand what’s going on, because there is a
lot that people do not know or understand. You go to a meeting somebody will say, ‘Well
how come you’re not paying any dividend this year’? Well you go back and the manager
or CEO explains everything, or the financial person… They [member-owner] don’t
understand the cost and expense there is to running all this and bad debt – you get those
too, just as well as on a farm or anything else. I enjoy being on the board. Yeah, it would
be nice if more women were on the boards, really, truly.
I guess you’ve got to take a chance. Just go out there. I never even dreamed I’d
be elected. But you know if you never take a chance you’ll never know. Because there’s a
lot of demand out there for new ideas and different people and if you have the time and
the willingness to take a chance at running for a board, I’d say go for it. And I’m not

61. - 52 -
saying you’re going to go in there and think you’re going to take the whole world over,
the whole board over because you’re a woman. No. I mean – you’ve got to work with’em
just like you were another guy. I guess you should feel the same way as if you have an all
women board and a man wants to run for that board. Everybody should be treated equal,
no matter if you’re a woman or man, white or black, or whatever. Its… I don’t know. I
think it’s a challenge. I enjoy it, but don’t expect that they’ll put your napkin on your lap
and pull your chair. You’ve got to carry your own. And if they can’t do that and if they
expect to be pampered or anything, then don’t run for the board because you might be
accepted, but you won’t like it. It isn’t that they treat you bad. Well men talk. If you
can hold your own and be up front with everybody else, you go for it.
Crystal
Crystal shared a lifetime of involvement and leadership experiences with me.
She had so many things to share with me. I’ve organized her story into: pathway to
leadership, balancing act, and ensuing elections.
Pathway to leadership
We were members [of the milk marketing cooperative] and we were interested in knowing
more about it. We were asked to enter the Outstanding Young Dairy Couples contest.
And that was kind of the beginning where we were selected district winner and then we
were selected as one of two couples as winners in the state and we went on to win the
regional Outstanding Young Dairy Couples contest and from winning that we went on
to the National Milk Producers convention and represented our region along with two
other couples. And then, when we were involved in Young Cooperator (YC) activities at
National Milk representing our co-op, my husband and I were elected a regional vice