The Board of Directors of the Rural Development Leadership Network has hired Ms. Pamela Madzima Tackie of Montgomery, Alabama as its CEO beginning October 1, 2025.

Since May, Pam has been working closely with RDLN co-founder Starry Krueger on reviewing RDLN’s program and operations, meeting academic partners and business colleagues, and working to transfer electronic and physical files as part of the transition to establish our office in Alabama under her leadership.

From 2022-2025, Ms. Tackie was Domestic Proposal Manager at Winrock International, and for eighteen years before that, she worked with the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/ Land Assistance Fund at the Rural Training and Research Center in Epes, Alabama, most recently as Alabama State Coordinator, with a focus over the years on Cooperative Development, Youth Development, and Forestry. She also supervised teams of AmeriCorps VISTA members and raised government funds. While she was at the Federation, Pamela worked closely with RDLN founding Board member John Zippert and was acquainted with the work of previous RDLN Leaders whom the Federation sponsored, including Alice Paris, Shirley Sherrod, Yvonne Hampton, Gus Townes, Cleo Askew and Earnest Johnson, among others. Pamela is originally from Zimbabwe, Southern Africa.

Pamela earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Fort Valley State University, a Master of Science degree from Tuskegee University in Agricultural and Resource Economics and is working toward an Ed.D. in organizational change and leadership in rural education at the University of West Alabama. She has served on loan fund boards, reviewed grant requests for the Black Belt Community Foundation, volunteered at her church to assist at-risk students, and played competitive tennis in college.