Jonathan Mallek

Jon has spent much of his career working in and around agriculture. He grew up in Junction City, Wisconsin, on his family’s dairy farm. He received his bachelor’s degree from St. Norbert College in De Pere, WI, in Political Science, International Studies, and French. After graduating, Jon served as a Sustainable Agriculture volunteer in Senegal for the United States Peace Corps, and then afterwards joined AmeriCorps in Nevada as a volunteer completing environmental conservation work. He received his master’s degree in International Economic Relations from the School of International Service at American University in Washington DC. He channeled that degree into federal jobs with the Office of the United States Trade Representative as a research assistant in the Agriculture Office, and as an International Economist with the Foreign Agricultural Service with the United States Department of Agriculture working in international agricultural trade policy. Today he spends his time working for the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development as the department Policy Director.

Jon lives in Ann Arbor with his husband, Jason, and their two cats, Joey and Professor Douglas. He enjoys running in his spare time, as well as eating ice cream and gardening.