Brad Copenhaver, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry

Brad Copenhaver has been appointed Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry. Brad grew up on his family’s beef cattle and burley tobacco farm in Washington County. After working on Capitol Hill as a legislative correspondent for Congressman H. Morgan Griffith (VA-9), he was the Director of Government Affairs at the Virginia Agribusiness Council, where he worked closely with the General Assembly and Virginia congressional delegation on a variety of issues including animal welfare, food safety and labeling, the environment and water quality, and international trade.

Brad was a Pamplin Scholar at Virginia Tech and graduated with degrees in political science and agricultural economics, and he is currently completing his MBA at the University of Washington. During his education career, Brad has served as a National Beef Ambassador, Virginia 4-H President, and treasurer of the UW Graduate and Professional Student Senate, and he spent summers working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Meat Export Federation in Tokyo, and Bryant Christie, Inc., an agricultural exports consulting firm in Seattle.

Heidi Hertz, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry

Heidi Hertz has been appointed Assistant Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry. Prior to her appointment, Heidi served as Obesity Prevention Coordinator with the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth, where she developed initiatives and partnerships throughout Virginia to increase access to healthy foods and opportunities for physical activity. Heidi has previously held roles in the Office of the First Lady of Virginia Dorothy McAuliffe and for the Virginia Department of Health.

Heidi serves as the Vice President of the Alumni Board of the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Co-Chair of the Board of Directors for Shalom Farms. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and a Master of Science degree from James Madison University and serves as an adjunct professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is a native of Lunenburg County and a resident of the City of Richmond.