Ms. E’licia L. Chaverest is the Assistant Director of Alabama A&M University’s Small Farms Research Center. She has nearly 20 years of experience of educating and empowering small, limited-resource socially disadvantaged farmers located throughout the state of Alabama, central Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Among other duties, Ms. Chaverest directs and coordinates the development and implementation of outreach and risk management education programs; documents and disseminates finds to administrators, policy makers, funding agencies, producers and rural entrepreneurs; and identifies key priority areas in program implementation and outreach delivery.
Ms. Chaverest professional interests are in public policy, USDA government programs/services, access to capital and funding opportunities, food safety and managing agricultural risk. One of her many accomplishment was in 2019, she was appointed by USDA Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue for the New and Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Advisory Committee (2019-2022 year term). Ms. Chaverest obtained her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science from Alabama A&M University, respectively (2001) and (2003). Overall, Ms. Chaverest believes in equity for all by bridging the gap working closely with all people especially under-served communities, engaging and interacting with individuals to isolate problems and find practical solutions.