Inspire Expands Food & Ag Practice with Recent Leadership Additions

Inspire, a full-service national firm based in central Ohio that integrates public relations, marketing and digital expertise, has hired Emily Sword and Meg Becker, expanding the agency’s agriculture and food practice and its capacity to grow in the industry.

Together, Sword and Becker bring unmatched experience and expert counsel that will benefit clients. They are immediately adding value by providing enhanced expertise in reputation management, industry partnerships, research-driven storytelling, and integrated marketing strategy—tailored to the unique demands of production agriculture, animal health, crop science, and food manufacturers and suppliers.

“Finding the right people to work in food and farming is important – and it’s not always easy. Leaders in agriculture communication must have a passion for this industry, an understanding of the hard work of farming, and recognition that U.S. farmers are essential to the security of the nation’s food supply,” said Hinda Mitchell, Inspire’s president and founder.

“Emily and Meg have that drive and live that purpose each day – and this is a strategic investment that positions us for growth and expanded client service. Their leadership reinforces our commitment to helping the farm and food production sectors communicate with clarity, credibility, and impact, and we are proud to add them to our team.”

• As Vice President, Sword leads strategy and account management for Inspire’s agriculture sector. As part of a fifth-generation farm family, Sword combines deep ag sector insight with more than 20 years of experience in corporate PR, brand strategy, and strategic communications helping brands earn trust, influence stakeholders, and drive measurable growth. Sword has guided organizations through brand transformations, stakeholder engagement challenges, and large-scale marketing initiatives that unite purpose and performance.
• Becker serves the agency as a Senior Director, where she leverages her livestock and production agriculture background to aid food and agriculture clients in building trust, elevating brands, and engaging B2B and B2C audiences with clarity and purpose. With over 10 years of agency and in-house expertise, Becker has developed and executed strategic marketing and PR strategies for a variety of brands across agriculture commodity groups, packer processors, food ingredient companies, and animal nutrition experts.

“Both of them ‘walk the talk’ each day – they can counsel farmers because not only are Emily and Meg great communicators, but they also live and breathe agriculture in their own lives. They will be invaluable as mentors to our team and contributors to our business,” said Mitchell.

In addition to leading the work of Inspire’s food production and agriculture practice, Sword and Becker also will lend their expertise to the agency’s broader client base in key verticals, including the pet care, restaurant and foodservice, nonprofit and trade association sectors.

Sword and Becker join a leadership team and deep bench of talented agriculture communicators that are committed to telling the stories of America's farmers. O’Dwyers PR News ranked Inspire among the top five of agriculture firms in the U.S. earlier this year, and the agency was recently named to Ragan PR Daily’s Top Agencies of the Year list .

Learn more about Inspire’s food and agriculture experience and view case studies at InspirePRGroup.com/Agriculture.