There are five new appointments at the USDA. The Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations in the Office of the Secretary is now Maribel Duran, the former Managing Director for Equity and Inclusion at the aspen Institute. The House Ag Committee’s Director of Communications and External Affairs, Mickaela Carter, is now the Deputy Director of Communications at the Office of Communications. The Senior Policy Advisor at the Farm Service Agency is Bidisha Bhattacharyya, a former director for Climate and Energy Policy at the Center for American Progress and she also previously worked for former Minnesota Senator Al Franken. Lynn Overmann is the Senior Advisor for Data and Technology in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Valerie McMakin is the Legislative Analyst in the Office of Congressional Relations.
