Kentucky Agriculture and Environment in the Classroom Hires New Leadership

Kentucky Agriculture & Environment in the Classroom, Inc. Appoints Conner and Erica Richardson as Co-Executive Directors

Conner & Erica Richardson bring diverse experiences in agriculture, education, and industry to help shape the future of Kentucky Agriculture & Environment in the Classroom.

Kentucky Agriculture & Environment in the Classroom (KAEC) is excited to announce the appointment of new co-executive directors, Conner & Erica Richardson, who began work on July 1, 2025. Conner & Erica’s leadership will bring a new level of excitement and energy to the organization.

Conner is a Campbell County, KY native and currently a high school agriculture teacher at Woodford County High School in Versailles, KY. Conner brings his experiences from the high school classroom, work with extension programs and time as an intern with KAEC to the organization to help achieve the mission. His high energy, content knowledge, and excitement for agricultural literacy will be assets to his role as Co-Executive Director.

Erica grew up in Adel, IA and currently works in agriculture supporting sales and customer journeys. Being a former National FFA Officer, agriculture teacher and student development consultant, Erica brings a plethora of agriculture, facilitation, and student engagement knowledge to this role. She is excited to tap into nation-wide agriculture connections to bring relevance and new opportunities to youth in Kentucky. Her commitment to success and deep roots in production agriculture will help propel Kentucky Agriculture and Environment to the next level of engagement across Kentucky.

As Conner & Erica take over in the leadership role of KAEC, they are excited to bring their diversity of thought and varying strengths to help reach the goals of key stakeholders. The couple looks forward to analyzing current initiatives offered by the organization and creating a strategic plan to meet the needs of all stakeholders across the state. By bringing their experiences & strengths together, they will be able to develop the strategies necessary to help promote agricultural and environmental literacy.

“After an extensive search process, I’m pleased to welcome Conner and Erica to KAEC as new co-directors. The board is excited about this new chapter for KAEC and we look forward to working with the Richardsons to fulfill the mission of promoting ag literacy across the commonwealth. I want to take this opportunity to thank our outgoing executive director, Jennifer Elwell, for developing so many successful KAEC programs over the past decade and teaching so many Kentuckians about agriculture in this role.” -Tod Griffin, Chair, KAEC Board of Directors

“I am ecstatic to work with key stakeholders in the agriculture & environment industries to provide educators across the state with turnkey agriculture content resources. Having the opportunity to bring people together to ensure the future success of the agriculture industry is truly a dream come true.” —Conner Richardson, Co-Executive Director, KAEC

“Informed, transparent, and healthy decisions for the future. That is our commitment - to increase agriculture awareness and empower students and educators to have ownership and in their day-to-day food, fiber and fuel choices that support agriculture and beyond. — Erica Richardson, Co-Executive Director, KAEC

The mission of KAEC is to provide agricultural, environmental, and practical living literacy programs across the Bluegrass. Kentucky Agriculture & Environment in the Classroom was founded in 1992, when a group of agriculturalists realized the need for more agricultural education programming in the state. KAEC has worked diligently over the past 33 years to provide educators with the necessary resources to create informed consumers of tomorrow. This has been accomplished through educator classroom resources, virtual field trips, the Mobile Science Activity Center trailers, and professional development. The work of the organization is guided by its board of directors, which is made up of commodity groups, educators, agriculturalists, and others with an interest in promoting agricultural literacy across the state of Kentucky.