Introducing the 2010 Conf. Keynote Speaker!! Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun!

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Sponsored by Essential Wholesale

Founder and President, Good Food Organics

Presidential Candidate for the Democratic Nomination, 2004

United States Ambassador, 1999 – 2001

United States Senator, 1992 – 1998

A woman of extensive achievements and a pioneering entrepreneur, Carol Moseley Braun has established herself as an agent for change passionate about preserving the American Dream for the next generation. Carol Moseley Braun combines philosophy, history, and policy to provide a unique perspective on various topics.

Impressive Record of Public Service

A pioneer in the law and politics, Carol Moseley Braun engages her considerable expertise to inspire and energize audiences worldwide. Her unified vision is explored in conversations about food and food policy, public education, racial integration and diversity, and women’s social and political progress. A prominent Democratic candidate in the 2004 Presidential race, Carol Moseley Braun qualified for more states’ ballots than any woman in history. Ambassador Braun’s public service includes experience in local, state and national government, where she has served as a U.S. Senator representing Illinois, and U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, as well as County Executive Officer, State Representative, and Assistant U.S. Attorney.

Biodynamic Agriculture Entrepreneur

Today Ambassador Braun is a private sector entrepreneur in the growing field of organic products. Her path to this industry started at the Michael Fields Institute in East Troy, Wisconsin with an initiation into Biodynamic agriculture. Harkening back to summers in Alabama on her great-grandmother’s farm, Ambassador Braun became a strong advocate for this holistic agricultural system. She realized her commitment to a healthier environment and better quality food production would be best expressed through entering the Biodynamic and organic products industry realm. In 2005, she incorporated Good Food Organics™, a premium, Certified USDA Organic and Biodynamic products company.

Carol Moseley Braun is an accomplished woman with a pioneering career. The daughter of Joseph and Edna Moseley, she was born and raised on the Southside of Chicago. Her father, a law enforcement officer, musician and activist, introduced her to public service at an early age. Her mother, hailing from a farm family in Alabama, instilled in her values of discipline and respect for the land. A product of the Chicago Public Schools, she went on to become a lawyer, and holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Chicago. As a federal prosecutor, she won the Attorney General’s Special Achievement award for her work as an Assistant United States Attorney. She later filed and won the first successful lawsuit against racial discrimination in reapportionment, the landmark Crosby v. State Board of Elections.

She is a former politician, having served in local, state and national government. Elected to the state legislature in 1978, she became the first spokesman for the Mayor of Chicago, Harold Washington, and was named Assistant Majority Leader by the Speaker of the House. Moving on to county government, she became the first female elected to executive office in Cook County with her election as Recorder of Deeds and Registrar of Titles.

In 1992 she challenged the incumbent democratic United States Senator and won first the primary and then the general election to the United States Senate. That historic election made her the first woman elected to the Senate from Illinois, the first African American Democrat ever elected to the Senate, and the one of two African Americans elected to the Senate in the 20th Century. She was the only black United States Senator from 1992 to 1998. As Senator, she became the first woman appointed to the Finance Committee. Her legislative record is replete with ground breaking and innovative initiatives, including the first federal support for rebuilding our nations crumbling schools, Park Service support for preservation of the Underground Railroad, women’s pension law corrections, and environmental remediation.

Following her unsuccessful bid for a second term, Senator Braun was appointed United States Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa. Confirmed by a Senate vote of 98-2, she received our nation’s highest security clearance. She became the first Ambassador to be named an honorary member of the Te Atiawa Maori tribe.

Ambassador Braun is not the first, but the second African American woman to compete for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States, following the precedent set by her mentor, the late Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm. Although she qualified for more ballot positions than any female presidential candidate in US history at that time, she withdrew from the race before the first caucuses.

Her fourth career is as an entrepreneur. She is the founder and President of an organic food company, Good Food Organics. The company’s flagship brand, Ambassador Organics, specializes in the highest quality biodynamic organic products. Her foray into the food industry is a continuation of her environmental advocacy and public service. Information about the company may be found at www.ambassadororganics.com.

Born and raised in Chicago, Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun’s interest in agricultural practices began as a child while spending summers on her family’s pecan farm in Union Spring, Alabama. There she developed an abiding love of the land, and learned to see it as a gift and source of bounty, vitality and good health.
She ultimately pursued a career path in public service, and, hailing from a largely agricultural state, became involved in agriculture policy. First in the Illinois state legislature, and later as a United States Senator, she continued to express her commitment to sustainable farm policy. Working towards improved food safety, health and nutrition were priorities during her years in the legislature. As Ambassador to New Zealand, she became an advocate for sustainable American agriculture in trade discussions and negotiations.
Transitioning to the private sector in 2001 after nearly 30 years in public service, Ambassador Braun had the good fortune to be introduced to the Michael Fields Institute in East Troy, Wis., where her path to the organic products industry started with an initiation to Biodynamic agriculture. She embraced biodynamics as a holistic, sustainable agricultural system that could provide the American people with a healthier environment and better quality food production. This “back to the future” inspiration gave rise in 2005 to Good Food Organics®, a company to produce and promote Biodynamic and organic products in the grocery industry. Ambassador Braun continues to engage in the debate about the availability of quality food for Americans, but as a private sector businesswoman with an identifiable, high quality line of products.

Carol Moseley Braun received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Illinois, Juris Doctorate from the University of Chicago. She is a former candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. She has served her country as Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, United States Senator from Illinois, Cook County Executive Officer, Illinois State Representative and United States Attorney.

The first permanent female member of the Senate Finance Committee, she proposed the first modern federal school construction legislation, and the first women’s pension equity laws, and advocated for health care reform and support of family farms. She sponsored Environmental Justice legislation, historic preservation of the Underground Railroad, and the first federal support of Lupus research. She was a co-sponsor of a Balanced Budget Constitutional Amendment. Her legislative record reflects a commitment to social progress and fiscal prudence.

Ambassador Braun serves on the Board of Directors of North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance, MWH Engineering, and the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, as well as the advisory Boards of the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, the Bretton Woods Foundation, the US/UNA Committee, and the Association of American Ambassadors.

Her work has earned her more than 200 awards and 11 honorary degrees for contributions in the public interest. A new public school in Calumet City, Ill. was named the Carol Moseley Braun Elementary in her honor. The school team is called the Ambassadors.

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