Ariel Wiegard is director of government affairs at the American Soybean Association, where she is policy lead for conservation, ag tech, soy foods and nutrition, biobased goods, checkoff policy, and other issues important to more than 500,000 U.S. soy growers. Before ASA, Ariel was federal government relations lead for the global agribusiness Syngenta, director of the Center for Agriculture & Private Lands at the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, and a fundraiser for numerous political campaigns and nonprofits. She has earned awards from the American Association of Political Consultants and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, and in 2021 was named one of Seed World’s Top 10 Next Gen Leaders. Ariel attended the University of Virginia for college, and Vermont Law School’s master’s program for environmental law and policy where she focused on agriculture and food systems. She lives in Virginia with her husband, son, and two bird dogs; is an avid cook and bird hunter; and volunteers with various groups, including Ag Data Transparent, the Washington Agricultural Roundtable, and World Central Kitchen.