Gretchen Hanson

MPS Class of 2024, Global Development

Grand challenge: Farmer-centered research and pluralism in agricultural extension services; climate-smart and inclusive agriculture solutions; gender equity in food systems

Connect: grh76 [at] cornell.edu (grh76[at]cornell[dot]edu) | LinkedIn

Gretchen Hanson is the Graduate Assistant for the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program, a MPS student in Global Development and a CALS Professional Master's Student Ambassador. As the Humphrey Fellows’ Graduate Assistant, Gretchen works to maximize the experience of Humphrey Fellows through the design and implementation of networking and social events while also managing community outreach efforts for the program.

While at Cornell, Gretchen’s work is broadly focused on agriculture and rural development specifically looking at agriculture extension approaches targeting smallholder farmers and gender equity in agriculture and food systems. This summer she traveled to Ghana through funding from a Polson Institute Collaborative Grant to conduct field work in partnership with the One CGIAR- International Potato Center (CIP) to support one of their current projects. The CIP led Generating Revenues & Opportunities for Women to Improve Nutrition in Ghana (GROWING) is funded through Global Affairs Canada and aims to improve nutritional and financial security of women, youth, and young children in 6 selected districts of Northern Ghana. Gretchen is currently leading the development of training modules for community-based agriculture trainings in collaboration with the GROWING project team.

Gretchen holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Iowa State University in Global Resource Systems with minors in Agriculture Education and Studies and Linguistics. Prior to coming to Cornell University, she spent the last decade working in program management, volunteer coordination and new business development for programs focused on youth development and sustainable agriculture. She started her career working in admissions and youth outreach programming at Iowa State University. After that she worked at Land O’Lakes Venture37–an international non-profit headquartered in Minnesota–where she supported business development efforts and provided program management oversight to agricultural development projects in Egypt, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Mozambique.