Our Team

Colleen had an early start learning how to communicate. Her story began on a purebred Hampshire hog, Angus cattle and grain farm near Milford, Illinois. As the newspaper headline read, “9-year-old wins swine award on first try.” Colleen was that 9-year-old and the youngest exhibitor of a grand champion at the International Livestock Exhibition in Chicago. It was just the beginning of many firsts to come.

But being a member of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) was not one of them. Despite her agricultural background and experiences, Colleen was not granted FFA membership. Women were not permitted to join FFA until the month after Colleen graduated from high school.

However, another first almost coincided when, during her first semester at the University of Illinois, Colleen earned membership on the state 4-H livestock judging team, becoming the first female to ever make the team.

Colleen pioneered her way to broadcasting as the first woman agribusiness director for WMBD Radio and Television in Peoria, Illinois, a position she held for 30 years. She continued to break barriers serving as the first female president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting and was the first woman inducted into its Hall of Fame. Shortly after starting her own communications firm, Colleen was invited by Secretary of Agriculture Anne Veneman to accompany her to the war zone in Afghanistan and Iraq. Colleen’s commitment to public service inspired her run for the U.S. Congress in 2008. Colleen describes the experience as “Not Winning Doesn’t Mean Losing.”

Public service became a reality, though, when Colleen accepted a presidential appointment to become state director of USDA Rural Development in Illinois. During her tenure, Colleen oversaw a 20% reduction in staffing while still generating a $1 billion increase in the Illinois loan portfolio. “By focusing on staff development, creating work teams, and developing a curriculum for communications training, Colleen brought back happiness to the workplace.”

The positive impact was so well noticed that Colleen was asked to replicate the training in other Rural Development state offices and ultimately in Washington, D.C.

After Colleen’s appointment with USDA Rural Development, she founded her consulting firm, Colleen Callahan Consultancy. Then, in March 2019, Colleen began her appointment as director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. She “paused” her C3 consulting activity and led the agency for nearly four years managing, conserving and protecting Illinois’ natural and cultural resources.

Colleen was the first woman to lead DNR. During her tenure, she guided the agency through a global pandemic, oversaw efforts to develop a strategic plan for the agency, ushered the agency into a new era of diversity, equity and inclusion, and led the launch of Copi.

In 2023, Colleen returned to Colleen Callahan Consultancy and continues to lead the charge of “communicate, collaborate, connect.”