Friday Keynote:
Margaret Hoffmann - State Director USDA Rural Development
Margaret Hoffmann
State Director for Oregon, USDA Rural Development
Margaret, or Margi, Hoffmann grew up on a small family farm outside of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, a small community located in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. Hoffmann left Colorado and moved to Portland, Oregon, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature.
Hoffmann's professional career began working in natural resources management on federal lands. She has worked on public policy in the realms of public safety, health care, climate change, energy resilience and security, and land use. She has experience working for the public and private sector, as well as in non-profit management.
In 2012 and 2015, Oregon Governors John Kitzhaber and Kate Brown, respectively, appointed Hoffmann to serve as Energy Policy Advisor.
In this position, Hoffmann developed the first-ever 10-Year Energy Action Plan for the State of Oregon and served as the Governor's office liaison to the Oregon Public Utility Commission and Oregon Department of Energy. In addition, she served as liaison to the Pacific Coast Collaborative, a partnership between the States of California, Oregon and Washington, and the Province of British Columbia. In 2022, her work served to assist in the development of a shared Statement of Collaboration to address climate change adaptation and mitigation for the world's fifth largest economy.
After leaving the Governor's office, Hoffmann served as a senior management team member for the Farmers Conservation Alliance, a non-profit focused on modernizing irrigation infrastructure in the Western United States to benefit agricultural security and the environment. During Hoffmann's tenure, the Alliance's irrigation modernization program grew from the pilot stage to implementation across five western states and created a $1B pipeline of shovel ready irrigation modernization projects.
Since 2021, USDA Rural Development (USDA RD) has invested over $120.1 million in loans and grants to expand broadband access across rural Oregon through the ReConnect Program, but these projects are only the beginning. Under Hoffmann's leadership and at the direction of the Biden-Harris administration, USDA RD launched a first in the nation Broadband Technical Assistance pilot program in Oregon to help historically underserved rural communities and Tribes remove barriers to funding. With companion programs like Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grants, USDA RD is committed to helping all rural communities and the ISPs who serve them make use of this life-changing technology because when rural Oregonians prosper, all Oregonians prosper.
In January 2022, Hoffmann received a Presidential appointment to continue public service as a state director for USDA Rural Development, serving the State of Oregon. She currently lives in Bend with the love of her life, Joshua Klaus, and their 4-year-old daughter, Liesl.