Bios of Chris Clayton, Christopher Doering, Kara Flynn and Marci Hilt

1. 2012ACEconference
–
bios
for
session
13B
Chris Clayton
Chris Clayton has been a reporter and editor for DTN/The Progressive Farmer, one of the
most influential of those covering agriculture, for the past seven years. DTN is widely
regarded among farmers, agricultural business leaders and other businesspeople in
commodity and energy sectors.
While at DTN, Chris has won story of the year and writer of the year from the American
Agricultural Editors Association for a series on recovery efforts in rural Louisiana a year
after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. He won the Glenn Cunningham Agricultural
Journalist of the Year Award from the North American Agricultural Journalists for a
series of articles following a steer's life and beef industry production practices. Both
AAEA and NAAJ honored his 2010 series on immigration in a small Alabama town. The
National Farmers Union named him the organization's agricultural communicator of the
year in 2009.
Before he came to DTN, Chris worked for the Omaha World-Herald where he focused on
Iowa news, including extensive coverage of the Iowa Caucuses. He was part of the 2001
reporting team that uncovered a fraud case the FBI eventually declared the largest cattle
scam in U.S. history.
Raised in Dearborn, Mo., he graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia in
1993 with a degree in journalism. Chris has worked for news organizations in Missouri,
Kansas, Illinois and Nebraska. He currently lives in Glenwood, Iowa, with his wife and
three children.
#
Christopher Doering
Christopher Doering has worked as a reporter in Washington since May of 2000. He
spent most of the last 12 years with Reuters where he predominately covered agriculture,
including a time when he was located in the U.S. Department of Agriculture – providing
him rare access to the inner workings of the agency.
In addition to agriculture, Christopher has reported on the oil markets, the
implementation of Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation and was instrumental in
conducting an annual survey of more than 4,000 farmers to gauge their opinion on hot-
button issues affecting the farm community.
In April, Christopher took on a new challenge as a regional reporter for the Des Moines
Register and the Sioux Falls Argus Leader where he will focus largely on covering
agricultural issues from Washington for his readers in the Midwest.
Christopher earned his journalism degreefrom the University of Missouri and is the proud
father of a 6-month old boy, Drew.
#

2. Kara Flynn
For close to 20 years, Kara Flynn has worked for diverse industries as both a strategic
counselor and hands-on communications manager, most recently serving as a Vice
President in the Crisis and Litigation Practice of Levick Strategic Communications in
Washington, D.C.
Prior to joining Levick, Ms. Flynn served as Director of Global Communications at the
Plasma Protein Therapeutics (PPTA), working as a senior member of that international
organization’s leadership team, supervising global media coverage, overseeing
marketing, and editing its magazine and external communications materials.
Prior to her work at PPTA, Kara worked as Director of Communications for the Pew
Initiative on Food and Biotechnology, where she oversaw that group’s strategic
communications, managed media relations, and conceived and ran workshops and other
events for its senior scientific staff.
Before working at Pew, Ms. Flynn was Director of Communications at the National Pork
Producers Council, handling media relations, editing electronic and printed materials, and
serving as a national spokesperson. She has also managed public relations with the
Edison Electric Institute’s Electric Vehicle Association and The Heritage Foundation.
Ms. Flynn began her career as a journalist, working for more than five years reporting for
and editing regional and trade publications, including Real Estate Finance Today, OSHA
Week, Occupational Safety and Health News and Wireless Data News. She earned her
Journalism degree from the University of Maryland.
#
Marci Hilt
Marci Hilt grew up on a small grain, dairy and poultry farm in Northwestern Ohio. A
recovering reporter, she worked on communications issues for USDA until she retired in
June 2010 after 43 years of public service.
She claims, but has no actual proof, that she spent several years of her life attending
meetings. She is currently a communications consultant for Fitness Together on H Street
in DC, a small fitness studio that specializes in coaching their clients in both fitness and
nutrition.
Some job highlights include: press secretary for agriculture at the Office of the U.S.
Trade Representative; press secretary for the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture; and
project manager for the Federal Communicators Network’s Communicators Guide.
Hilt founded the ACE Media Relations SIG in the late 1980s; served as DC regional

3. Director from 1998 to 2001; was a member of the ACE team that received the ACE
Beacon Award in 2002; and received the ACE Media Relations Award of Excellence in
1989 and the ACE Diversity Award of Excellence in 2007.
#