Mark Ritchie is a founder of the Institute of Agriculture and Trade Policy and served as Executive Director and President of the organization. IATP has been at the forefront of the state of Minnesota’s efforts in working to restore economic vitality to rural citizens. Through IATP Ritchie helped create the League of Rural Voters to increase voter registration and civic engagement in rural communities. Previously he worked as Executive Director of the Center for Rural Studies. Ritchie also served in Minnesota Governor Rudy Perpich’s staff as a policy analyst in the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. This work helped inspire Ritchie to write numerous books, articles, and studies on a wide range of agriculture, food, environment, forestry, human rights and trade issues. More recently Ritchie has worked to ensure free and fair elections in the state of Minnesota. He is currently running for Secretary of State in Minnesota. A graduate of Iowa State University, he has a master's degree in international public law from the University of Amsterdam.
