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CNFA Announces New CEO 

WASHINGTON, D.C.—CNFA announced its appointment of a new CEO after its current CEO, John Costello, announced his retirement effective this May. After the completion of the succession planning effort, the CNFA Board of Directors decided to tap Sylvain Roy, with the official transition occurring in early June. Roy has served the past five years as CNFA’s executive vice president of Programs and brings more than 25 years of project management experience, including field work in Burkina Faso, Kosovo, Togo, Cameroon, and Mali. 

The Board reached a conclusion after a two-day meeting that ended yesterday afternoon. Costello will transition into a senior advisor and member of the CNFA Board. Costello, who has served as the CEO of CNFA for 29 years, has grown the company to include a portfolio of more than $474 million in donor funds for program implementation in 38 countries. 

CNFA’s Board of Directors is comprised of: 

-Chairman John R. Block, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

-John J. Cavanaugh, former U.S. Congressman of Nebraska 

-Michael Espy, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture 

-Richard P. Reising, former Senior Vice President of Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), a global agribusiness company 

-Elin D. Miller, current principal of Elin Miller Consulting, LLC 

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About CNFA: CNFA, based in Washington, D.C., stimulates economic growth and improves rural livelihoods by empowering the private sector. CNFA’s unique approach is founded on six core capacities: 1) commercial input supply and farm services; 2) economic resilience and rapid recovery; 3) agricultural productivity, food security, and nutrition; 4) value chain development; 5) volunteer technical assistance and 6) access to finance. CNFA has worked in over 38 countries worldwide and impacted the lives of more than 70 million people. For more information, visit cnfa.org.