Relocation is rarely fun. It’s means temporary housing, living out of a suitcase and sometimes being away from family. But for Jason Stevenson, the opportunity to lead Indiana Farm Bureau’s organizational development team as its director makes the hassles of relocation bearable.
Stevenson is coming back home to Indiana from St. Louis, where he spent five years as manager of operational and service processes for Monsanto’s seed and chemical brands in the U.S. He began his new role as director of ODT in late March and has been spending the past few weeks familiarizing himself with all things Farm Bureau, including getting acquainted with his team.
“This opportunity at Farm Bureau seemed different and more interesting than anything else I’d seen,” said Stevenson. “I’ve never worked in the not-for-profit world; that’s one of the things that’s scary but also exciting.”
Born and raised in Lafayette, Stevenson graduated from Purdue University where he majored in business management. He spent several years working in agriculture in Monticello before moving out of state to pursue other opportunities and enhance his sales management and sales operations skills.
“In my previous jobs I was responsible for determining how we could do things better, how we could improve our processes. And I’d like to do the same for ODT,” he said. “We need to focus on how we can provide better service to our counties – how we can allow ourselves to more proactively serve our members.”
As far as the traumas involved in moving to a new city, most have been resolved. Jason, wife Trina, son Owen and shelter dog Walter are all living under one roof in Carmel.