Dallas Selle

 

Before joining Cornell, Dallas spent five years at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Budget and Program Analysis in Washington, D.C., where she played a key role in evaluating program performance and shaping department-wide strategy. She contributed to major cross-agency initiatives, including the development of the USDA Strategic Plan and the implementation of the Evidence-Based Policymaking Act. She also led efforts to embed racial equity into program design which resulted in her team receiving a USDA Secretary’s Award for improving data-driven decision-making and interagency coordination. Additionally, Dallas supported the formulation of agriculture funding legislation for both Senate and House Appropriations Committees, helping to translate policy priorities into actionable budget strategies. Prior to her time in Washington, Dallas served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Costa Rica, where she collaborated with local women’s groups to secure grant funding for agro-biodiversity initiatives and livelihood development. Her projects there focused on organic farming adoption and the creation of a value-added community facility to process harvested crops. She is now a Peace Corps Coverdell Fellow at Cornell and holds a B.S. in International Business and Economics from the University of Missouri–St. Louis.