Most Powerful Women

Beth Ford

Ackerman + Gruber/Courtesy of Land O Lakes
  • Affiliation
    Land O’Lakes
  • Title
    President and CEO
  • Country/Territory
    U.S.

Beth Ford’s role at Land O’Lakes places her squarely at the intersection of business and policy. Since 2018, as CEO of the ­member-owned farming co-op best known for its butter, Ford has tackled issues like rural health care and broadband access. This year, she became chair of the Business Roundtable’s immigration committee. She’s now the point person for a delicate political balancing act of finding paths to legal immigration for workers who are crucial to U.S. industries—­including agriculture—while supporting Trump administration priorities like border security.