Lakeitha ruffin,
Treasurer of Finance

Hi, I'm Lakeitha Ruffin

I am a native of Fayette, Mississippi, a small town in the Southwest part of the state. I did not grow up on a farm, but I remember my grandmother gardening throughout my life. During my senior year of high school, I listened to Alcorn State University’s Agricultural Economic students discuss their program, intrigued by the benefits of having an Agricultural Economics degree, I signed my name for more information. The rest is history. 

My NRCS career began in Bozeman, Montana as an Agricultural Economist in 2010. In 2016, I became the State Agricultural Economist for the Oregon NRCS and in 2020 began working at the West National Technology Support Center (WNTSC) as the West Regional Agricultural Economist.

My introduction to WiN occurred in 2010 at the Joint Diversity Training in Kansas City, Missouri. I was with NRCS for three months and was pleasantly overwhelmed by all the employee organizations in attendance. Many years later, I attended a series of professional trainings delivered through WiN. I was amazed by the level of generosity in helping others develop professionally and was encouraged by the work people have done to aid in changing or implementing policies that help women. After the training, I enrolled to become a member of WiN and that has been one of the best decisions I have made.