Arlana “Loni” Kemp was born in 1953. She received a BA in Urban Studies from Macalester College in 1974, graduating summa cum laude. In 1980, she received a MA in Public Policy from the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, where she was also a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Air Pollution Fellow.
In 1979, after working as a planner for the City of Minnetonka and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Kemp began working with The Minnesota Project, a non-profit organization focused on sustainable rural development. Her role included policy research and analysis, public education, and coalition building with other organizations working on conservation and energy issues. Her work on agriculture and water quality led to involvement on local, state, and national levels, as she served as a speaker at conferences, testified at bill and rule hearings, and worked on legislation that was part of farm bills. Kemp played an active role in the passage of the Conservation Security Program as part of the national farm bill in 2002 and the Conservation Stewardship Program in 2008, both of which sought to create “green payments” for farmers who practice environmental stewardship through farming practices that protect water quality, soil, and wildlife habitats. Other research interests include whole farm planning, sustainable biofuels, and climate change.
While employed as a senior policy analyst by the Minnesota Project, Kemp became active in other organizations focused on sustainable agriculture. She was a founder of the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (SAC), a coalition of Midwestern farm groups including the Minnesota Project, the Wisconsin Rural Development Center, and the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute. It served as the lobbying arm of the Midwest Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (MSAWG), an organization founded in 1988. (In later years, SAC became a sub-group of MSAWG, which became the lead organization.) Formation of other regional Sustainable Agriculture Working Groups followed from 1991-1994, including Southern SAWG (SSAWG) in 1991, Northeast SAWG (NESAWG) in 1992, Western SAWG (WSAWG) in 1993, and California SAWG (CASAWG) in 1994. In 1992 and 1994, two national conferences (National Dialogue for Sustainable Agriculture) held in Alexandria, Virginia continued the momentum toward a national sustainable agriculture organization. Kemp was a founder of the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture (NCSA) in 1994, served on its coordinating council (NCSACC) and board for fifteen years, and co-chaired the board from 1997-2004. She also served on the board of the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA), a joint project of the University of Minnesota's College of Agriculture and the Sustainers' Coalition, from 1992-1998, and served as board chair from 1995-1997. In 2008, MSAWG and NCSA merged to form the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC). For further information on the current organization and its history, see the NSAC website: http://sustainableagriculture.net/
Kemp was named a Food and Society Policy Fellow for 2002-2004. A program of the Thomas Jefferson Agricultural Institute and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) and supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Fellowship provided two years of part-time funding to individuals working to advance sustainable food systems. Communications and media trainings aimed to enable fellows to use the mass media to best advantage in the dialogue surrounding food policy in the United States.
Kemp left the Minnesota Project in 2008 and founded her own consulting firm, Kemp Consulting, to act as an independent policy analyst on issues where she has provided leadership over the course of her career: sustainable agriculture, water quality, biomass production, and conservation issues attached to farm bill legislation.
Chronology
| 1953 |
Loni Kemp born
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| 1974 |
BA in Urban Studies, Macalester College
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| 1975-1977 |
Planner for the City of Minnetonka, Minnesota
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| 1977-1978 |
Planner for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA)
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| 1980 |
MA in Public Policy, Humphrey Institute, University of Minnesota
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| 1984-1987 |
Served on Southern Minnesota Rivers Basin Council
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| 1986-1990 |
Served on Water Resources Committee of the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board
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| 1987-1990 |
Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources, Charter member
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| 1988-1993 |
Fillmore County Water Planning Committee, Chair
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| 1979-2008 |
Senior Policy Analyst with The Minnesota Project
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| 1990-1994 |
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Citizen Board member
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| 1991 |
Named Outstanding Citizen Environmental Leader of the Year, Clean Water Action Minnesota
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| 1992-1998 |
Midwest Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (MSAWG), Board member (Board chair, 1995-1997)
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| 1992-2007 |
National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture (NCSA), Coordinating Council and Board member (Co-chair, 1997-2004)
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| 1998 |
Named Steward of the Land, Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
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| 2002-2004 |
Food and Society Policy Fellow
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| 2003 |
Received Minnesota Rural Future's Emma B. Howe Foundation Award
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| 2008 |
Founded Kemp Consulting, an independent firm providing research and analysis on renewable energy and sustainable agriculture; MSAWG/SAC and NCSA merge to form National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC)
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| 2009 |
Received Thirty Year Challenge Policy Competition Award, Farm Foundation; Lanesboro Local Inc., founding board member
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