In a meeting with staff today, Holstein Association USA (HAUSA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) John M. Meyer announced his plans to retire December 31st of this year and that current Chief Operating Officer (COO) Lindsey Worden will succeed him as CEO then.
During the meeting, Meyer said he had informed Holstein Association USA President Jonathan Lamb and Vice President John Burket about his retirement plans quite some time ago.
After a comprehensive interview process, the HAUSA Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Lindsey will assume CEO duties January 1, 2025. According to President Lamb, “I want to thank the entire Board of Directors for their dedication and thoughtfulness to which they approached working through our transition process. I also want to express appreciation to our Counsel Phil Maples for his leadership as our facilitator. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I extend our heartfelt gratitude to CEO John Meyer not only for his 23 years of dedicated service, but allowing us 22 months of notice of his retirement to undergo a thorough process of naming his successor. We welcome COO Lindsey Worden as the 10th Executive Secretary of our Association since its inception in 1885!”
Upon the announcement of her upcoming promotion, Lindsey Worden, a University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate, who also serves the dairy industry as Council on Dairy
Cattle Breeding Board Chair, National Pedigreed Livestock Council Director, and Councilor on the World Holstein Friesian Federation, commented, “I am humbled to follow in John’s footsteps and have been grateful to work alongside him and witness many of the significant achievements our organization has enjoyed under his leadership. I am honored to be named Holstein Association USA’s next CEO, and excited to navigate the opportunities and challenges that will propel us into the future, while respecting and honoring our organization’s rich history.”
Reflecting on Worden’s new role, Meyer, a longtime dairy industry leader, told coworkers, “I’m delighted about the transition. Lindsey and I have worked extremely well together as teammates for the last 17 years. It’s been enjoyable for me to see Lindsey’s tremendous growth at the Association from college intern to CEO.”
Meyer continued, “Furthermore, I’m also happy for the entire Holstein team including staff, the Board of Directors, Association members and the dairy industry at large.”
“Lindsey, along with HAUSA’s outstanding Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Barbara Casna, of 21 years, and I will continue to work closely together, and with the HAUSA Board of Directors, to ensure the continuity of the transition along with the continued success of HAUSA, the world’s largest dairy breed organization,” Meyer stated.