Meet Our Team!
(Headquarter Team)
National Women In Agriculture Association
Founder/CEO
Dr. Tammy Gray-Steele
NWIAA was founded in February 2008, by Dr. Tammy Gray-Steele who is the founder and Director. The organization is headquartered in Oklahoma City, OK. NWIAA is an agriculture outreach organization fueled by sisterhood and diversity.
Our vision is to provide vital opportunities for rural and urban communities to sustain themselves through agriculture. We have made it our mission to increase the number of minority participation in the agriculture sector. We believe if we equip our youth for tomorrow while engaging them today, we can increase the number of minority youth going into agricultural careers. NWIAA’s Grass Root innovative and sustainable at-risk-youth programs will build capacity within and at 1890 Land Grant Universities’ Motivate Education Achieve Program (“MEA”).
We also have partnerships with The USDA Programs and 1890 Land Grant Universities. There are 45 NWIAA Current & Pending Chapters. This number includes sub Chapters within various states.
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Mary Gray
Sustainable Science Academy Director
Mary Roberts-Gray, born in 1950 in rural Seminole County, OK, grew up on her family farm, allotted by The Dawes Commission. Her parents, George and Margaret Roberts, cultivated a variety of crops and tended to livestock. Mary, a member of the Black Seminole Tribe, actively assisted the National Women In Agriculture Association since its establishment in 2008. As an original member, she played a key role in outreach events, providing technical assistance to connect minority women farmers with USDA resources. Mary served NWIAA in various roles, including outreach assistant coordinator, bookkeeper, and financial coordinator. She also contributed as the Childcare Director at Sustainable Science Academy in Oklahoma City, the only Agriculture Childcare Center in the area.
Rhonda Spencer
Human Resources
Rhonda Spencer, a native of Brooklyn, New York, is a married mother of two, an educator, and an entrepreneur. Her career in education began in 1999 in the New York City Public School system, where she taught in The Bronx and Manhattan. She received her Master’s Degree in Education and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in Educational Leadership from Cambridge College in Boston, Massachusetts. Later, she became an adjunct professor and student teacher supervisor at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania.
In 2010, Rhonda's interest in agriculture began with her first summer food garden at her home in Pennsylvania. Within the same year, she and her family moved to Virginia for a land and farming opportunity. Although this opportunity did not materialize as expected, in 2020, after relocating to Oklahoma, Rhonda revisited her quest of growing her own food and her interest in farming and agriculture.
Rhonda continued her agricultural journey by growing food on her back porch. With news reports predicting a food shortage and the challenges of obtaining healthy, nutritious fruits and vegetables during the coronavirus pandemic, she grew food not just for leisure but to address the growing uncertainty of food access.
This endeavor presented many challenges, especially in an urban setting. Her desire to learn more about urban gardening and educate her community led her to start the live virtual workshop series “From Seed 2 Harvest.” Initially focused on gardening, the show quickly expanded to cover various stages of growing and storing food, including food preservation, freeze drying, hoop houses, greenhouses, aquaponics, and animal husbandry. The series featured seasoned farmers and gardeners like Kwame Mboya, a local farmer and founder of the NEOKC Farmers Market Incorporated, as well as international guests from as far away as Zambia, Central Africa. The virtual format allowed the show to reach larger audiences and forge relationships with farmers and food sovereignty advocates worldwide, placing "From Seed 2 Harvest" on the global scene. Just as we cultivate to grow fruit, vegetables, and flowers, this is only the beginning for "From Seed 2 Harvest."
In December 2021, Rhonda co-hosted "The Mentoring Klinic" on WOLB AM Radio 1010 in Baltimore, MD, discussing "Community Preparation for Food Shortage/How to Prepare." As Rhonda continued to engage with various groups and study, she realized that farming is a lost art. She believes it is important for our youth to reconnect with the earth and learn the art of growing food. She believes this is the key to sustaining a good quality of life, taking charge of our lives through cultivating good, wholesome, life-sustaining food.
Val'Ontay Linzy
Executive Assistant
Valontay Linzy serves as the Executive Assistant for the National Women in Agriculture Association (NWIAA), working directly with Executive Director Dr. Tammy Gray-Steele at the organization’s headquarters in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Valontay has been involved with NWIAA since the age of 12, gaining extensive experience and leadership skills over the years. Her expertise includes organizational efficiency, multitasking, time management, effective communication, data management, event coordination, and maintaining confidentiality.
In her current role, she applies these skills to a variety of responsibilities, such as assisting with workshops, coordinating virtual events, communicating with legislative staff, scheduling meetings, and supporting numerous other administrative tasks. In addition to her work with NWIAA, Valontay proudly served as a Logistics Specialist in the Oklahoma National Guard for four years.
Valontay is deeply passionate about agricultural education and community leadership. She currently serves as the Youth Coordinator for NWIAA’s J.A.D.E. Program, where she supervises college interns and engages with youth in the local community. From 2020 to 2022, she also held the title of America's Miss Agribusiness Oklahoma, during which she led community projects such as planting with children and feeding the homeless.
Valontay remains committed to advancing the mission of the National Women in Agriculture Association and looks forward to continuing her service and impact for years to come.
Elisa Joseph
Elisa Joseph is the Founder / Director of The Maternal Society
Nonprofit Mission: Dedication to Maternal Infant Child Health and wellness through a community-based approach of lactation services, perinatal care, health literacy and child development.
They envision a premier continuum of healthcare and social support that safeguards African American Maternal Infant Child Health and wellbeing. Together we can, and we will.
The Maternal Society
Founder/Director
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Soeun Jeon specialized in international cooperation and linguistics at Seoul Cyber University and English studies at Bordeaux University. Starting this September, she will be pursuing a master's degree in Agricultural Development Economics. Soeun plans and organizes international projects, collaborating with associations worldwide. She thrives in diverse environments and enjoys being surrounded by people from different backgrounds. Soeun tutors Korean, English, Math, History, and French. In her free time, she likes to visit parks and woodlands to appreciate wildlife and nature.
Soeun Jeon
Grant Writer
Chapter Ambassador
My name is Betsy Tovar and I am an upcoming senior Agribusiness major at Texas A&M University. Growing up on a small farm in Northeast Texas has fueled my passion to serve in the agricultural industry and grow into a position where I can assist farmers from underrepresented backgrounds secure finances and resources to sustain their farms. I'm so excited to intern with the NWIAA this summer and contribute to their mission.