Staff Directory

Ed Luttrell, a native of Sandy, Oregon, was elected the 22nd President of the National Grange in November 2007. A second generation Granger, he is the immediate past Leadership/Membership Development Director for the National Grange. He is also an immediate-past Trustee on the Oregon State Grange Foundation having been the President of the board for six years.  Read more biography

Go to The President’s Page.

Jessie Cope, Executive Assistant and Meeting Planner joined the National Grange team in February of 2009 after 15 years of event planning in higher education. Jessie earned a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and a Master’s degree in Counseling and Personnel Services from The College of New Jersey. Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Jessie lived in Trenton, New Jersey and Farmville, Virginia before setting into her current home in Rockville, Maryland.

I was born and raised in Roanoke, VA.  After graduating from high school I attended a couple of colleges before ending at Greensboro College in Greensboro, North Carolina.  After my college graduation I continued to reside and work in Greensboro for another 7 years. In 2003 I decided I needed some new scenery so I moved to the Washington, DC area.  Here is where I married and had one child.  Next to my family, my greatest passion is bowling.

Amanda Leigh Brozana is the director of communications for the National Grange.  Brozana, who holds degrees from Wilkes University and the University of Mississippi and completed doctoral coursework at the University of Alabama, previously taught journalism, public relations and speech communications at several colleges. Most recently, she was a staff reporter for the Pottsville Republican-Herald in Pennsylvania. Brozana, of Orwigsburg, Pa., is a resident of southeast D.C.

My name is Stephanie Wilkins and I am the National Grange IT Manager.  My responsibilities include website management, phone and network services as well as membership/officer database management.  A native of Washington, DC, I received my certification in website management from EEI Communications in 2002.  In my spare time, I enjoy spending quality time with my husband, family and friends.

Greetings from the State of Massachusetts! As I write this, I am just in the early days of serving this organization as the National Junior Director. In the months ahead, I look forward to meeting Junior Grangers from across the country at the Regional Youth Conferences.I had the privilege of growing up in a Grange family. My dad is a Past Master of the Massachusetts State Grange, Northborough Grange and Borough Pomona and a member of the Assembly of Demeter. My mom is a Past Junior Grange Superintendant/ Junior Director, Past Master of Northborough Grange and Borough Pomona, and a member of the Assembly of Demeter. Both my brother and sister are Past Masters of Northborough and Upton Junior Grange.In Grange, I joined in 1964 at the age of 4 ½ years-old, holding my first office as Flag Bearer. I am a member now of Uxbridge Grange # 200, but grew up in Northborough Grange and Borough Pomona; both granges in Massachusetts. I am a Past Master of Northborough Junior Grange # 93, held many offices within Northborough Grange and now serve as Lecturer of Uxbridge Grange and Lady Assistant Steward in Worcester Norfolk Pomona # 10. I was appointed in 1982 as a Junior Deputy under Past National Master Brother Robert Barrows, and in 1997 as Co – Director of the Massachusetts State Grange Junior Committee by Past Master Kathleen Peterson. In 2005 I was appointed to the Youth Committee by our present Master Calvin C. Chase Jr. and in 2009 was appointed as Co-Director along with my son Christopher to the Youth Committee by the same.

I have a loving husband, Robert, and two sons Christopher & Michael, who live in Northbridge, MA.

Looking forward, I am a firm believer in our Junior and Youth programs.

On September 15, the National Grange welcomed Michael J. Martin, Ph.D., to the staff as Membership/Leadership Development Director.Martin, a native of Cummington, Mass., has been an active Grange member for over three decades.Martin said he is looking forward to giving back to the organization that provided leadership experiences for him as the Master of local subordinate and Pomona Granges in Massachusetts. He also served as Membership Director and state officer of the Massachusetts State Grange.As a young adult, Martin served on the National Grange Youth Team as National Grange Youth Ambassador.”The leadership skills learned in the Grange are exemplified in community leaders across rural America,” Martin said.He is looking forward to working with Grange leaders across the nation.”The future of our country rests on the strength of our agricultural and rural communities,” Martin said.Prior to joining the National Grange staff, Martin was a Cooperative Extension professional for 25 years and most recently served as executive director of the North Carolina 4-H Development Fund where he spearheaded the initiative to raise funds to support the 4-H youth development program in North Carolina.Martin has experience as a 4-H youth development agent in Massachusetts, Vermont and Pennsylvania.He was an International 4-H Youth Exchange (IFYE) Representative to Costa Rica, and also worked to establish and strengthen the 4-H youth development programs in the Republic of Albania and the Republic of Armenia.Martin holds a B.A. from Oberlin College, and M.Ed. from Cambridge College. He earned a Ph.D. in Workforce Education and Development from the College of Education at Penn State University.Martin, and his wife, Wendy, reside in south central Pennsylvania.

On August 5, 2010, the National Grange welcomed Nicole Palya Wood as their Legislative Director. Nicole brings to the organization over 14 years of government affairs experience in both the Congressional and State arenas, and has a self-proclaimed passion for the legislative process.

A native of Virginia, Nicole graduated from James Madison University with a B.S. in Political Science and caught the bug for legislative affairs while working as a legislative aide for Senator Frank Ruff in the Virginia State Legislature. She would later utilize her state legislative expertise to represent the National Rifle Association as a State Lobbyist in the Southern Region, as well as serving as a Manager of State Government Affairs for TAP Pharmaceuticals in the Mid-Atlantic.

On the Federal side, Nicole served as the Director of Legislative Affairs for the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, lobbying the House Financial Services and Senate Banking Committees. She continued her work on housing and community banking issues as the Senior Lobbyist for America’s Community Bankers, where she also served as a resource on farm credit issues and the Federal Home Loan Bank System.

Nicole serves as the National Grange voice on numerous coalitions dealing with the broadband build-out for rural America, as well as rural health access groups and agricultural consortiums focused on reducing the regulatory burdens on farmers and ranchers. Nicole is the Editor and Lead Contributor to the National Grange’s View From the Hill® newsletter and AgTalk in the New Grange.

When not on the Hill, Nicole enjoys serving as a volunteer for the Junior Friends of The Campagna Center in Alexandria, VA. Nicole is engaged in the center’s mentoring programs, and was appointed as a board member in 2007 and 2008. Nicole and her husband live in Alexandria, Virginia just around the corner from George & Martha Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate and spend their spare time on Kerr Lake in Southside,VA.

Beverly joined the National Grange in 1998 as an assistant to the Communication and Sales Department.  She was trained and received certification from Pitney Bowes UPS Mailing System Technician to accommodate the Communication and Sales Department mailings, then was quickly promoted to handle Membership Recognition/Sales. She now holds the position as Marketing Coordinator. Prior to working for the National Grange, Beverly spent 16 years at Sutton Place Gourmet as a gift basket designer, her real passion. She is also a native of North Carolina. Her Hobbies are many, but her favorite pass times are spending time with her family, designing gift baskets, traveling, cooking, and gardening.

My name is Leon Wilkins and I work in the National Grange Printing Department part-time,  producing an array of Grange literature, newsletters, brochures, and other material right from the National Grange Headquarters’ basement.  I attended school at Chowan University in Murfreesboro, NC.  My printing experience started while attending T.C. Williams High School then later working for Defense Printing at the Pentagon and now currently working for the Government Printing office in Washington, DC.  In my spare time, I enjoy exercising and spending quality time with my family and friends.

My name is Grace Boatright; I’m the Program Assistant here at the National Grange headquarters. I was born and raised in Austin, TX (hook ‘em horns) and moved to Washington DC in 2010. Most people think that Texans wear boots and hats, live in the country, and say “ya’ll” all the time, and I’m proud to conform to this stereotype completely. My family lived in the country my whole life and although I love Washington DC, I can’t wait to get back to the peace of a small town. I graduated from Concordia Lutheran University with a BBA concentrated in finance, and am thrilled to have begun my career here at the National Grange. Thank you for your continuing support and dedication to the Grange.

Currently the Sales, Benefits, and Programs Director, I have worked for the National Grange for 5 years.  I am originally from Mobile, Alabama and moved to Washington, DC in 2004 for graduate school. I received my BA in History from the University of Alabama in 2002 and my Masters in Political Science from American University in 2006. After graduating from American, I began working in the Grange as the Program Assistant.  My favorite thing to do is spend time with my God-daughter, Sophie Mae.

My name is Elijah Hunter and I work in the National Grange Shipping Department part-time.  A native of the Washington, DC area, my primary function is preparing as well as shipping products and material to various Granges and members around the country.  I have received on hand experience and training from Pitney Bowes, Inc.  In my spare time, I enjoy spending quality time with my family and friends.

Leroy A. Watson is the Special Director for Trademark Protection and Brand Management for the National Grange, a responsibility he has held since August 2007. As director for trademark protection for the nation’s oldest general farm and rural public interest organization, Watson’s duties includes addressing both incidential and deliberate attempts by corporations and businesses to infringe on the National Grange’s famous 135 year old trademarks for the word GRANGE, the famous GRANGE LOGO and other valuable trademarks owned and operated by the National Grange for its benefit of the historic organization’s nearly 2600 local county and state Grange chapters across the nation.Under Watson’s leadership the National Grange has successfully deployed legal strategies to turn back attempts by major corporations to dilute and eventually seize control of the registration of the name GRANGE as a commercial intellectual property asset.  Major corporations such as Tyson Foods (the largest food processing company in the world) Aldi Corp. (the largest food retailer in Europe) Lidl Corp. (the second largest food retailer in Europe) and Zynga, Inc, (the largest provider of various web based computer games for the FACEBOOK website)  have all been thwarted in recent years in their attempts to gain control of one or more of the of National Grange’s valuable trademarks.  In addition Watson has worked with more than 40 entrepreneurs around the nation to provide licenses for these start up companies to use the GRANGE trademark in their businesses to help generate local economic activity and local jobs in rural communities across the nation.    Watson also works with many of the local, county and state chapters of the National Grange located in in rural communities across the United States to advise them on strategies for better using GRANGE trademarks to enhance their fundraising and community service programs. Watson is a native of Vermont, where he still owns and operates his family’s farm.   He has a degree in political science from the University of Vermont, and a law degree from George Mason University in Arlington, VA. He also studied administrative law at the University of Exeter in Exeter, England, and is admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.Watson served as the National Grange’s Legislative Director in Washington, DC from 1999 until 2010. Watson also served as the National Grange’s Assistant Legislative director from 1985 until 1995. He subsequently was Director of Regulatory Management for the National Biodiesel Board, a non-profit trade association dedicated to the commercial promotion of biodiesel fuel in the U.S. Prior to that, he was a Regulatory Analyst for Gordley Associates, a government relations consulting firm in Washington, D.C. He has also served as Legislative Director of the Vermont State Grange, and as legislative assistant for both the Vermont Farm Bureau and Vermont State Employees Association.Watson and his family reside in Appleton, Wisconsin. Watson also volunteers as a member of the National Grange Historical Committee and as a director for the O.M. Kile Rural Leadership Fund, a small grant making foundation working to fund projects that enhance leadership skills among rural young adults.  Watson also previously served as chairman of the board for the Vermont State Grange Educational Aid Foundation, a non-profit affiliate of the Vermont State Grange that provides loans and scholarships to rural students from Vermont to continue their education beyond high school.

Charlene Shupp Espenshade is a member of Elizabethtown Area Grange and Oriental Grange in Pennsylvania. A fourth generation dairy farmer, Charlene and her husband Matthew reside on a dairy farm inElizabethtown,Pa.They raise registered Guernseys andHolsteins. They have two children, Evan and Alan. Charlene is employed at Lancaster Farming, an agricultural newspaper, as the special sections editor.Charlene joined Grange in 1994 at the encouragement of a cousin, taking the degrees with her parents and brother. She is a fourth generation Grange member.  In Grange, she is a past member of the Pennsylvania State Grange Youth Committee, past Pennsylvania Grange Young Couple, and holds office in her local Grange.What Charlene believes is the benefit of a Grange membership is the organization offers a wide variety of programs allowing youth to pursue their interests and it is an organization that grows with a Granger and they grow in the organization.Other agricultural awards and activities include, final four winner of the American Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmer and Rancher Discussion Meet, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Excellence of Agriculture Award winner; and active with the Wyoming-Lackawanna Counties Dairy Princess Program, Wyoming-Lackawanna County Farm Bureau and chairs the Elizabethtown Fair Dairy Show. She has a bachelor of science in dairy science and minor in communications from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech.)