ANCW LEADERSHIP

PRESIDENT
Pam Griffin, Arizona

Pamela was born in Anaheim, California surrounded by strawberry fields and orange groves. In 1974, the family moved to Glendale, Arizona then settling in Carefree. Both parents left agricultural roots. Her father’s family ran a farming and meat operation, and her mother’s side ran the family’s grain operation. Pamela grew up on what she considers a hobby farm with an array of livestock. As an adult, she worked in the legal field as well as commercial and residential real estate development. John and Pam live on his family’s third-generation 110-year-old cow/calf operation in Globe, Gila County, Arizona. Over a decade ago they began their own cow/calf business, X4 Cattle Company, LLC. They are also actively pursuing the custom beef industry.

She has served in numerous capacities, including President-Elect, Vice President of ANCW, past Region VI Director, Chairman of the Membership Committee, previous service on the Nominating Committee, sat on a sub-committee of Ways and Means, served as Arizona State Cowbelles President, Gila County Cowbelles President, and various committee member or board seats in the cattle industry within Arizona. She was appointed and served under past Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Purdue as Chairman of the Arizona Farm Service Agency. Pam is a graduate of Project CENTRL for Arizona Rural Leadership Class XXIII. In 2019, she was the inaugural recipient of the Governor’s Award for Outstanding Arizona Woman Rancher.

Pamela currently serves as ANCW President Elect, a Bylaws/Policies and Procedures Committee Member, Board of Trustees member for Arizona Cattle Industry Research and Education Foundation, President of Gila County Cowbelles, County Planning and Zoning Commissioner and a member of the Southern Gila County Economic Development Corporation.

John and Pam have 7 children and 4 grandchildren who have all been involved in some aspect of agriculture and livestock. When time permits, Pam enjoys her garden, canning, quilting, cooking or baking and any opportunity to go fishing. Pamela believes that her involvement in the cattle industry comes with larger obligations and responsibilities, promotion of beef, education of our youth, supporting and lifting up women in this industry, learning from others, staying up-to-date on current events and becoming an active advocate in the industry by sharing her voice. She is truly humbled by and thankful for the opportunities that have presented themselves along her journey and the people who have mentored and welcomed her along the way.

PRESIDENT ELECT
Ruth Coffey, Oklahoma

Ruth Coffey, and her husband, Chuck, fifth generation ranchers, and their children run the Double C Cattle Company in south central Oklahoma, a commercial cow-calf operation. In 2019, the Coffey's were awarded the Oklahoma Aldo Leopold Conservation Award and in 2020 they were the Region IV recipients of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Environmental Stewardship Award Program (ESAP). ESAP strives to recognize “outstanding stewardship practices and conservation achievements of U.S. cattle producers”. Both Ruth and Chuck have been active in the cattle industry for many years.

Prior to this position, Coffey served in the role of ANCW Region IV Director from 2020-2022 and served as a member on the ANCW Membership and Communications Committee. She was also named the ANCW Promoter of the Year in 2020, Oklahoma CattleWoman of the Year in 2019 and served as the OCW President from 2017-2019.

Her love for education began in her college years as she obtained a BA in Elementary Education and Art at Trinity University in San Antonio, TX. After graduation, Coffey taught Art a few years and returned to Texas A & M to obtain a BS in Range Management. She married Chuck following her schooling and started a custom framing studio in Tishomingo, Ok. When the Coffey’s were given the opportunity by her father to live on the family ranch, they raised their children to be working participants on the ranch. After her last child entered school, Coffey would return to teaching middle school art for a total of 15 years. She retired from teaching to focus on her family ranch and now devotes her time to supporting the beef community on a local, state and national level.

Coffey enjoys time spent outdoors with her horses, gardening, and grandchildren. She is most looking forward to learning about the ways in which her fellow CattleWomen are leaving their ranching legacies to the next generations and building a working knowledge of different sectors within the U.S. cattle industry.

VICE PRESIDENT
Nikki Weston, Utah

Raised in the urban setting of Watach Front near Salt Lake City, Nikki began her ranching experience when she married her high school sweetheart in 1994. Together they have raised 5 beautiful children and 2 grandchildren alongside their Black Angus cross cow-calf operation at Winecup Cattle Co., in Northern Utah and South Eastern Idaho.

Nikki is the immediate past Region VI Director of American National CattleWomen, past President of the Utah CattleWomen, and is currently serving on the Utah Beef Council. She was President and Co-founder of West Sky Technology, LLC, focused on making life easier for ranchers by using technology to improve ranch management and herd value to enhance ranching as a way of life.

Weston’s first experience with the American National CattleWomen was during a Region VI meeting in St George, Utah. She loved the passion for agriculture and the bond of sisterhood she felt there. Joining the Utah CattleWomen shortly after, Weston helped to establish the Utah Beef Ambassador Program. She has a immense passion for the youth of the agricultural industry and is excited to be working with her fellow CattleWomen to pave the way for the next generation of ranchers.

PAST PRESIDENT

Reba Mazak, Florida

Reba Y. Mazak is a fifth generation Florida cattle rancher. She grew up in Geneva, Florida and later moved to Sumter County, Florida where she resides today. She married her late husband, Paul Mazak, when she was eighteen year old. Together Paul and Reba started and grew their own cattle operation. It began with registered Polled Hereford cattle, and then grew to a cow/calf operation as they were able to purchase more ranch land. Mazak ranch owns cattle in both Florida and Texas and is a proud participant in Best Management Practice that is implemented on both ranches. Making sure that the cattle business is looked at in a positive way is very important to this family as they have a deep heritage in agriculture and want it to continue. Reba also has a viable limerock mine and a wedding venue on her property in Central Florida and a hunting operation on her ranch in South Texas.

Reba has been a part of the Florida CattleWomen, formerly Cowbelles for more than 40 years. She has held all offices at the state level and served as President in 2004, where she spoke to the Florida Senate Agriculture Nutrition and Forestry about the importance of the Beef Checkoff. Reba is very proud that she and her mom Imogene Yarborough were the first mother/daughter team to serve the Cowbelles/CattleWomen in Florida. Reba's passion for the cattle industry began at a young age and she has not wavered in her years of raising a family and setting goals for them. Paul was very vocal in the plans for their family, and his desire to continue no matter what the challenges, never knowing how true those words would be. It is with great pride that Reba serves the beef industry as she knows our future is in our hands. We must advocate for our commodity, protect our heritage and remember without our fore fathers insight to sustainability, we would not be here.

Reba served on the Silent Auction Committee, and the Ways and Means Committee for ANCW. Reba served as Parliamentarian in 2018, Vice President in 2019, and President Elect in 2020 and 2021 of American National CattleWomen. She has completed the Masters of Beef Advocacy Program, was a part of the first class to graduate from ANCW Women’s Leadership Program in 2018 and is Beef Quality Assurance certified.

American National CattleWomen are celebrating 70 years in organization. We are prideful of the women who had the foresight to know the value of uniting you voices. We stretch from sea to sea, and we all have the same end goal, to promote and educate others about our great protein.

In Reba’s spare time she enjoys spending time with her two daughters and their spouses. Rebecca and Grant Handley and Audra and Wes Platt, and her four grandsons Mayland , Myles, Warren and Waylon. Ranching, Hunting and promoting beef is where you will find Reba, they are are passions she readily shares with others and feels blessed to do so.

A chance to meet the past-president of ANCW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qebbbqu4SMU

ANCW’s 2023 Executive Committee

President: Pam Griffin - Arizona
President-Elect: Ruth Coffey - Oklahoma
Vice President: Nikki Weston - Utah
Recording Secretary: Leslee Lohrenz - Wyoming
Business Manager: Ashley Hughes - Florida
CFO: Melinda Sarman - Nevada
Past President: Reba Mazak - Florida
Region I Director: Brenda Kocher - Ohio
Region II Director: Beth Barber Jones - Tennessee
Region III Director: Debbie Chute – Minnesota
Region IV Director: Ddee Haynes – Oklahoma
Region V Director: Katharine Bruce - Oregon
Region VI Director: Callie Martinez - California
Region VII Director: Shirley Thompson – South Dakota
Chair of the Board of Directors: Kady Porterfield - Washington
Parliamentarian: Barbara Jackson - Arizona

ANCW Past Presidents 1952-2021

1952 – Mary Louise Lynman, Kansas
1953 – Mattie Cowman, Arizona
1954 – Marian Guthrie, California
1955 – Arlene Watt, Wyoming
1956 – Anna Dressler, Nevada
1957 – Thelma Trego, Nebraska
1958 – Yodie Burghart, Colorado
1959 – Clelie Dekle, Louisiana
1960 – Betty Smith, Oklahoma
1961 – Azile Garrison, Montana
1962 – Lois Claridge, Arizona
1963 – Marie Tyler, North Dakota
1964 – Ida Paxton, Nebraska
1965 – Lourinda Wines, Nevada
1966 – Viola Gouldin, Oregon
1967 – Delores Finney, Oklahoma
1968 – Maxine Larsen, Idaho
1969 – Elizabeth Johnson, Wyoming
1970 – Pat Stevenson, Arizona
1971 – Florence Giorgi, California
1972 – Phyllis Connolly, North Dakota
1973 – Mary Kay Woodard, Ohio
1974 – Irene Hoyt, Utah
1975 – LaVonne Ater, Louisiana
1976 – Evelyn Smith, Oregon
1977 – Lucille Stone, Arizona
1978 – Marie Holz, Iowa
1979 – Rose Harris, Washington
1980 – Connie Townsend, Montana
1981 – Ann Woolley, Oklahoma
1982 – June Bradley, Colorado
1983 – Jo Berschet, Ohio
1984 – Natalie McElroy, North Dakota
1985 – Frances Owen, Texas
1986 – Betty Bergner, Wyoming

1987 – Gerda Hyde, Oregon
1988 – Dorothy Vaugan, New Mexico
1989 – Jeanette Barthle, Florida
1990 – Jane Lindgren, Montana
1991 – Phyllis Rothleutner, Nebraska
1992 – Wilma Ackerman, Kansas
1993 – Becky Terry, Texas
1994 – Eleanore Jones, Wyoming
1995 – Marilyn Weber, Colorado
1996 – Betty Grum, Ohio
1997 – Nancy Forth, Oregon
1998 – Mary Henzel, Oklahoma/Kansas
1999 – Janice Connelley, Nevada
2000 – Kay Snyder, South Dakota
2001 – Judy LaGrone, Arkansas
2002 – Vicki Wilkinson, Arizona
2003 – Patti Townsend, New Mexico/Oklahoma
2004 – Susie Magnuson, Colorado
2005 – Marlene Strickland, Florida
2006 – Nancy Sterling Neuhauser, South Dakota **
2007 – Wendy Pettz, Arkansas
2008 – Fita Witte, New Mexico
2009 – Kristy Lage, Nebraska
2010 – Lana Slaten, Alabama
2011 – Jill Ginn, Texas
2012 – Tammi Didlot, Oklahoma
2013 – Barbara Jackson, Arizona
2014 – Patti Buck, Colorado
2015 – Melanie Fowle, California
2016 – Ann Nogan, Pennsylvania
2017 – Penny Zimmerman, Minnesota
2018 – Gwen Geis, Wyoming
2019 – Wanda Pinnow, Montana
2020-2021 - Evelyn Greene, Alabama
2022 - Reba Mazak, Florida

ANCW Past Presidents 1952-2022.pdf