Like many involved in agriculture advocacy and leadership, Cathy Lennon knows that there’s no such thing as a typical day. That’s the way she likes it.
Of course, being as comfortable in a small group at a family farm as you are in a Queen’s Park lobby can take a particular personality – not to mention skills in relationship building that can only come from years of experience. She outlines the various ways in which her experience has taught her not just about the world of agricultural advocacy and collaboration, but also about herself, in her interview as one of the honourees of the 2025 Influential Women in Canadian Agriculture.
1. Not all great skills are learned on the farm
Lennon’s position at the OFA – which she began in 2019 – saw her pulling from many of her previous positions in terms of experience and skillset. But none of those previous experiences were directly on a farm. Of course, Lennon, who didn’t grow up largely immersed in agriculture, credits her many influences in the agriculture world for where she is today.
Still, one of the most important figures that set her on her current path was from her first job – which wasn’t related to agriculture. Initially holding a college diploma in legal administration in and working as an administrator at a family counselling agency in Stratford, Lennon’s supervisors saw potential in her and encouraged her to go back to school – this time to university – and obtain her degree. “They sat me down one day and pushed me out of the nest,” she says. They assisted her by paying part of her tuition costs until she felt comfortable doing so on her own, and Lennon has never forgotten the enormity of the gestures.
Balancing work and school, Lennon was on a path to what she envisioned as family law in the co-op program at the University of Waterloo. But what initially started as an unlucky year turned into a pivotal one for Lennon.
“It was one of those years where there were not enough co-op placements for all the students that were looking,” she says. But down the highway, the University of Guelph had far more job postings – many in agriculture – than students. She found herself with a term job at the Agricultural Adaptation Council, which led her to catch the ag bug. As a student, she met farmers from all over the province from berry to dairy. From there, she caught the ag bug and enrolled in the advanced agricultural leadership program. “It really opened the box and let me see what was out there,” she says. The opportunity led her to her next major role – general manager of the Ontario Sheep Marketing Agency. She’s not looked back, staying in agriculture for three decades.
2. Know your style – and do it well
Lennon has filled out countless personality quizzes and formal tests to understand where she falls on certain spectrums and personality types, like Enneagrams or the Myers-Briggs personality types. But she’s also simply learned through her experiences.
As she began evolving through various agriculture leadership and management roles, Lennon learned a lot firsthand about different personality types and leadership styles. “What gives you energy, where you want to focus your time and your attention in your career,” she explained. “That was really important to pushing me,” she added, noting that this taught her how to set goals appropriately.
Knowing yourself is important when your day-to-day changes so much. “Very, very often, you can expect that something will go off the rails,” says Lennon. “Someone’s schedule changes, a venue has to change, locations have to change at the last minute – you have everything scheduled out, [but] you have to work with folks to have them understand to come into a day feeling ready, but flexible. We might have to pivot.” This doesn’t just include cancellations but also covers last-minute availabilities and opportunities to seize upon – like a meeting with a cabinet minister. Knowing herself, her work styles and management styles has allowed Lennon to stay consistent in her approach to such things. Her mantra is always, “The answer is yes.” “[People ask] ‘can we?’ And I say, ‘the answer is yes,’ and we find a way.” Her tendency to commit to others has led her to learn the value of not only balance – her nominator, former OFA chair Peggy Brekveld, taught her that anytime she says ‘yes,’ she’s saying no to something else – but also about commitment. It’s not rocket science, she says, but you need to develop a reputation as someone who does what they say they’ll do.
3. It all comes back to people
“In an executive role, you have to have a lot of people skills,” says Lennon. Connections are everything to her. But helping others make connections is just as important to Lennon – who says she falls somewhere on the edge between introvert and extrovert. In agriculture – especially in a province like Ontario, a diverse ag province whose commodities range from canola in the northeast to fruits and vegetables in the southern Great Lakes region and a sizeable livestock scene in the south – being able to unite producers, advocates, service providers and others suits Lennon’s personality.
“I don’t necessarily want to be the centre of the conversation,” says Lennon. “I want to make sure that my friend Ed meets my friend Sally over here because I think they might have issues or opportunities in common – or they would just enjoy the conversation.”
She’s proud of the collaborations undertaken with farm owners, farm leaders and organizations. “Identifying a lot of issues that many people care about, and trying to figure out, how do you get them all to the same table, boil it down and find the areas that you want to move forward on?” This has ranged from issues like farmland preservation and “buy local” campaigns to labelling awareness and trade and tariff discussions.
It’s not just work where Lennon is all about connections. She’s very proud of her group of female friends, both the ones she’s forged personally and professionally or in her education.
“They’ve been cheerleaders, mentors and supporters through the good times and the bad,” she says. “I hope I’ve been able to do the same for them, too.” The longer she’s in her position, the more she sees opportunities to encourage young women to enter and evolve in agriculture. For any young woman looking to go into agriculture, she has four simple words: “You can do it.” Beyond those four words, though, she urges aspiring ag leaders to develop a sense of self awareness, commitment and the confidence to bet on themselves and skill up whenever necessary.
