News

The Board of Directors at the Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) is pleased to announce that Ms. Alanna Koch is returning to the GIFS Board. Koch, who took a leave of absence from her position as Deputy Minister to the Premier of Saskatchewan during her bid for leadership of the Saskatchewan Party, and subsequently resigned from her position on the GIFS Board, has been unanimously welcomed back by the GIFS Board.

“We are so pleased to have Alanna back to continue service on the Board,” says Mr. Lorne Hepworth, Chair of the GIFS Board of Directors. “As a former board member, Alanna is entirely knowledgeable about the Institute. Her experience working in several political positions in the Saskatchewan legislative building, and in leadership and oversight positions at the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association, and the Boards of Directors of Agricore United and the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance will once again provide the Board with expertise and insight in the area of agriculture in Western Canada.” 

Born and raised near Edenwold, Saskatchewan, Koch and her husband still farm in the area. After serving for nine years as Saskatchewan’s Deputy Ministry of Agriculture, in 2016 Koch was appointed to the position of Deputy Minister to the Premier in Saskatchewan, the first woman to hold this position.

While Koch is returning to the Board, founding Board Chair Dallas J. Howe, has made the decision to leave.

The Board of Directors, and everyone at GIFS is grateful for the expertise Howe provided to GIFS over the years. “As founding Chair of the Board, Dallas was instrumental in the development of GIFS,” says Hepworth. “He helped build the organization, which has grown to include research being conducted by almost 120 scientists, research and graduate students. Dallas was a highly accomplished and respected member and he will be dearly missed; we thank him for his years of service and wish him well in his continued business pursuits.”