Lynn S. Coody became an active participant in the organic community in 1974 with her apprenticeship on at Maplevale Organic Farm. Since then, she served in many leadership positions in her long-time home state of Oregon, multiple national organic groups, and internationally with IFOAM. As President of Regional Tilth in the early 1980’s, she worked with other PNW organic activists to restructure Tilth into state-based organizations in Oregon and Washington. She is proud to have been a founder of, and active contributor to, Oregon Tilth, Organic Materials Institute, Oregon Organic Coalition, and Western Alliance of Certification Organizations. In 1982, Lynn established Organic Agsystems Consulting. Her consulting projects have focused on assisting domestic and international certifiers in complying with the accreditation requirements of the USDA’s National Organic Program. Another notable highlight was her work as a visiting professor at the Institute of Mediterranean Agriculture for 15 years, where she taught a short course on organic regulation and oversight to students working toward their Master’s degree in Organic Agriculture.

Her current work is with Organic Produce Wholesalers Coalition, where she serves as Senior Policy Analyst, providing analysis and recommendations about the issues before the National Organic Standards Board. In 2019, Organic Trade Association honored Lynn with its Leadership Award for Growing the Organic Community. In 2020, Lynn received the Ecological Farming Association’s Sustie Award, which “honors those who have been actively and critically involved in ecologically sustainable agriculture.” She has also been recognized with awards from Oregon Tilth, Oregon Organic Coalition, and Organically Grown Company’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Lynn and her husband recently resettled in northern Vermont to live nearby their son and daughter-in-law.