Beth Ford  Beth E. Ford is an American businessperson. Ford is most notable for being the CEO of Land O'Lakes, an American agricultural cooperative which she assumed leadership of in 2018. She is the first openly gay female CEO of an American Fortune 500 company. Ford was born in Sioux City, Iowa, the fifth in a family of eight children. She started working in the agriculture business at a young age, making $2 an hour de-tasseling corn. Ford joined Land O'Lakes in 2011, being named as chief supply chain and operations officer. She continued at the company, eventually being promoted to COO, and in August 2018 was appointed as the cooperative's President/CEO. She is the ninth person to hold this position. She became the first openly-gay female CEO of a Fortune 500 company, a fact remarked upon by several sources. As CEO, Ford has invested heavily in Land O'Lakes implementation of new technologies in agriculture. Ford sits on the Board of Directors for the National Milk Producers Federation, Paccar, and the Greater Twin Cities United Way in Minneapolis. Ford is married to Jill Schurtz, the CEO of the St. Paul's Teachers' Retirement Fund Association. The couple has three teenage children.