APRIL 1, 2011 -- On March 29, the National Grange welcomed Amanda Leigh Brozana to the staff as Communications Director in the Washington, DC office. Brozana, of Orwigsburg, Pa., has a background in journalism, education and public relations, but said it is her rural upbringing that contributes most to her passion for working at the Grange.
“Pennsylvania -- whose No. 1 industry is agriculture -- is a very rural state. Everyone thinks of Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, but they forget when you drive the more than 300 miles between the two cities you find the heartland of America in the fields and on the main streets of small towns,” Brozana said. “I believe in the life grown in rural America, and because of that, I’m happy to work for an organization with roots as deep and a reputation as strong as that of the Grange.”
Prior to starting at the Grange, Brozana was a journalist at The Republican-Herald, a newspaper in Pottsville, Pa., covering the southern tier of Schuylkill County, and the agriculture and education beats.
Brozana, who holds a B.A. from Wilkes University, and M.A. from the University of Mississippi, also taught communications at Bridgewater State College, Stillman College and the University of Alabama, where she completed her doctoral coursework.
Established in 1867, the National Grange is the oldest agricultural and rural community service organization. The Grange, a nonpartisan, nonprofit fraternal organization, holds an annual meeting where the legislative policy for the year is developed. There are more than 200,000 members across 40 states. |