Ambassador Darci Vetter is general manager for public affairs and vice chair for food, agriculture and trade at Edelman, where she supports clients in the commodities, supply chain, agribusiness and global trade arenas.

She recently served as a diplomat in residence at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, where she is working to launch the Yeutter Institute in International Trade and Finance. From 2014-2017, Ambassador Vetter served as chief agricultural negotiator at the Office of the US Trade Representative a Senate-confirmed Presidential Appointment with the rank of ambassador. In this role, she was responsible for bilateral and multilateral negotiations, including the Trans Pacific Partnership agricultural package, and significant bilateral negotiations with Japan, China, Brazil and other countries. Ms. Vetter was the deputy under secretary of agriculture from 2010-2014, where she oversaw the Foreign Agricultural Service, led the department’s international trade negotiating team, directed USDA’s export assistance programs, and coordinated USDA’s role in international food aid and trade capacity building.

Ambassador Vetter is a member of the board of directors of the Neogen Corporation and the Farm Foundation. She received her Master of Public Affairs degree and a Certificate in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton, and her undergraduate degree from Drake University in Des Moines. She grew up in Nebraska on a family farm, and lives in Washington, DC with her husband and two small children.