Working with Cooperative Boards: Supporting Better Governance Insights and Outcomes

Cooperative boards are most effective when directors have the information, context, and perspective needed to stay focused on their governance role. This session will examine why boards sometimes become inefficient or get off course, and how management leaders and professionals who work with boards can communicate expertise in ways that improve understanding, strengthen judgment, and support better board outcomes.

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Presenter and Moderator Bios

Presenter: Dr. Keri Jacobs, Assoc Prof, Ag & Applied Economics, University of Missouri

Dr. Keri L. Jacobs is Executive Director of the Graduate Institute of Cooperative Leadership (GICL), associate professor of agricultural and applied economics, and Partridge Chair in Cooperative Leadership at the University of Missouri. She works with cooperative CEOs, management teams, and boards across the agricultural sector on governance, financial oversight, and the board’s role in strategy development. Through GICL, she designs and facilitates director and leadership development programs and regularly engages with cooperative boards on complex organizational issues.

Her research and outreach are grounded in sustained collaboration with cooperatives and industry partners and focus on how collective action and cooperative structures can strengthen producers’ position within agricultural supply chains. Dr. Jacobs serves on the NCBA CLUSA Cooperative Economics Council and the Nationwide Board Council and is North Central Director for the Extension Section of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association. Raised on her family’s hog and row-crop farm in eastern Iowa, she holds a B.A. in economics from Coe College and a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from North Carolina State University.

Moderator: Wayne Sine, CPA, MBA, Education Director, National Society of Accountants for Cooperatives

After retiring as Tax Director of a regional supply cooperative on the East Coast, Wayne Sine was asked to serve as Education Director for NSAC. As an active and long-term member of NSAC, Wayne previously served as Chair of NSAC’s Tax Committee, President of the Atlantic Chapter, and was a recipient of NSAC’s Silver Bowl Award. In addition to his work with NSAC, Wayne has also served on the Legal, Tax, and Accounting (LTA) Committee of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, Chaired the Tax Committees for both the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and the Virginia Manufacturers Association, served on the Tax Policy Committee of the Virginia Society of CPAs, and served as Region Vice President for Tax Executives Institute.