President and chief executive officer of the American Egg Board (AEB) Anne Alonzo has announced that she is stepping down after almost four years of service. In a letter to the organization, Alonzo said her last day will be in mid-April 2020.

“Please know that it was an extraordinarily difficult decision to reach. I genuinely love my team, AEB members and the egg industry. I was not looking to leave. A challenging professional opportunity recently found me, though, affording a unique opportunity to join a newly public agriculture company and lead its Washington, D.C., office.”

Alonzo explained that she has been commuting to Chicago, Ill., since she began her leadership role with AEB and missed spending time with her husband.

“Over these past years, I’ve worked hard to drive needed change necessary to transform AEB in to a more modern, efficient and high-performing organization,” Alonzo said.

Her achievements include:

“I genuinely believe I was the right person at the right time to lead this organization at a pivotal juncture in its history. Collectively, the board, the staff, our agencies, consultants and USDA overseers all share in turning AEB into what is now, arguably, one of the country’s ‘best in class’ commodity checkoff boards,” Alonzo said.

Further, she relayed that demand for eggs and egg products is also at its highest level in more than 50 years.

“Going forward, I am confident that AEB’s next leaders can powerfully take AEB’s strong foundation and marketplace value and achieve even greater success in the coming decade. For now, though, there’s a lot to be done,” she said, adding, “It’s my personal desire to help successfully transition some of my work duties and deliver a stellar annual board meeting and White House Easter Egg Roll before my departure. Thank you for the opportunity and privilege to serve this important industry.”