Agricultural
13 December, 2021
Brookstead woman named as FFN Director
With a focus on diverse skill sets and broad geographic representation, the Future Farmers Network (FFN) welcomed six new incoming Board Directors and elected a majority female Executive Committee at its 2021 Annual General Meeting, and amongst them is Brookstead’s Lauren Roellgen.
Ms Roellgen grew up on a cotton and grain farm at Brookstead as the first generation in her family to be born in Australia.
She moved to Brisbane in 2013 to complete a dual degree in Science and Commerce at the University of Queensland before starting her career with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Mergers & Acquisitions team, specialising in the food and agribusiness sector.
Her experience spans a wide range of industries, including horticulture, red meat production, ag-tech, broadacre cropping and aquaculture.
Ms Roellgen is a full Chartered Accountant, having fulfilled all academic and professional requirements.
She is a contributing member to the Royal Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland (RNA) Future Directions Committee and has led Brisbane’s Young Agribusiness Rural Network (‘YARN’) as President.
She is now an Agribusiness Analyst working for AustOn Corporation, the Australian agriculture arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP).
Her role involves assisting in the management of OTPP’s existing Australian assets as well as assessing new investment opportunities.
Whilst she is currently based in Melbourne she is often travelling to various parts of rural Australia.
Ms Roellgen is a strong advocate for all things agriculture.
With both huge opportunities and head-winds on the horizon, she believes it is critical to maintain the calibre of talent in our existing industry while ensuring young rural voices are heard.
She hopes that her perspectives and skills provide some unique contributions to the FFN Board to further the networks, skills and opportunities for young people in and wanting to be part of agriculture in Australia.
As well as being an incoming Board member, Ms Roellgen has been elected to the FFN’s Executive Committee as Secretary.
As a not-for-profit organisation, the FFN focuses on representing young agricultural students and professionals across Australia, with a renewed focus on being a positive force for change for those embracing a career in agriculture.
The organisation was established in 2002 and is the only national network specifically for young people involved in all aspects of Australian agriculture.
Founded in the belief that it was a shortage of communicated opportunities, and not a shortage of young people, that was the major problem facing rural industries, FFN continues to empower, support and retain young people in
the industry through strategic corporate partner-ships.
