Elizabeth Knudsen
Program Manager
Tulare County Farm Bureau

JElizabeth works for the Tulare County Farm Bureau where she primarily manages education and outreach programs. In addition, she is involved in many of the issues that flow through the office, including everything from Ag labor to land use. Originally she was from the Washington D.C. area where she got her degree from Western Maryland College in economics and political science, and worked as an economist for many years: first for the Department of Commerce, and later for the Department of Agriculture (U.S.D.A). In between these posts she spent 2 years in Sweden, and traveled in Europe.

At the U.S.D.A. her duties revolved around improving the marketing and distribution of fresh agricultural products. After Perestroika, she developed training programs for food distribution executives, and ran seminars in Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. While producing a training video on how to export Ag products, she visited the central valley for the first time.

While attending a Produce Marketing Convention she met her husband, Ejnar. After marrying she moved to New York, and went to work for Sotheby's. Together, they pursued their mutual love of travel and investing, even taking time on their honeymoon in Thailand and India to visit businesses. In Holland, where they lived for 4 months, she worked for an internet company, and did the same upon returning home.

In 2001, they moved to California, where Ejnar is originally from, and he took a position with Western Milling. She went to work for the Tulare County Economic Development Corp. There she ran an outreach program for small businesses, and acted as an interfaced with the local Ag community. Briefly, she also worked for Cal Poly setting up an Internet training program.

Elizabeth and Ejnar live in Exeter where she enjoys, entertaining, her garden, and running their dog, Indie. She takes an active role in the community serving on the boards of two arts groups, fundraising for Fresno State, and volunteering for groups like California Woman in Agriculture.