Oklahoma Farm Bureau Executive Director Monica Wilke has been named 2010 Woman of the Year in Agriculture by the Diamond Hats organization.
The prestigious award is presented to a woman in agriculture who has worked tirelessly to promote Oklahoma’s agricultural industry as well as offering support to those involved in the industry.
She accepted the honor Oct. 30 at the Diamond Hats Ball in Oklahoma City at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
“I am humbled and honored to have received this award,” said Wilke. “Agriculture has been a part of my family’s life for generations. Therefore, to have been selected among the many distinguished ag leaders in this state as the recipient of such as special award is an honor that I cherish more than words can express.”
The Diamond Hats organization is a group of women whose mission is to support 4-H and FFA youth programs in Oklahoma. Wilke is a past president of the Diamond Hats and helped the organization raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to support youth in the state of Oklahoma in recent years.
Wilke began her career with Farm Bureau in 1999 with the governmental relations division and worked on state and national policy issues as well as serving as director of political education and assistant general counsel.
She then was promoted to general counsel and mutual company lobbyist for the organization, and was named executive director of Oklahoma Farm Bureau and Affiliated Companies in September 2009. In that position, she leads the grassroots, agriculture organization in the state of Oklahoma.
Wilke grew up on a farm in the southwestern Oklahoma town of Grandfield, where she was actively involved in 4-H and FFA. She served as state FFA secretary during her freshman year at Oklahoma State University.
After earning a bachelor degree from OSU in 1996, she was accepted into the Oklahoma University School of Law where she received her juris doctorate in 1999.
Wilke and her husband, Jason, and their two children reside in Edmond.
