Isabella Chism was first elected 2nd vice president of Indiana Farm Bureau in 2006. She serves on the INFB board of directors and its affiliated companies, including Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, and is a member of the executive committee and the audit committee. She also chairs the State Women’s Leadership Committee and the Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance audit committee.
In 2021, she was elected chair of the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Women’s Leadership Committee, and she serves on the American Farm Bureau Federation board of directors as well as the AFBF trade advisory committee.
Chism has been heavily involved in her community, church and Farm Bureau. Prior to her election as INFB 2nd vice president, she was the woman leader (now called education and outreach coordinator) for Howard County Farm Bureau. She ran a successful in-home business, managing up to 42 people, and also has served as a volunteer in many capacities.
Chism is currently executive director of Howard County 4-H exhibit association capital projects and an at-large representative on the North Central Indiana Regional Planning Council. She also is a member of the Regional Leadership Institute steering committee and a board member for the Agriculture Council of America.
She is a graduate of the Richard G. Lugar Excellence in Public Service Series and of the Syngenta Leadership at Its Best program. Chism also has completed “Conversation Leaders” training through the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance. In 2021, she was the winner of the Purdue Extension Women in Agriculture Achievement Award, which recognizes one woman each year who is directly involved in a home farm operation.
She and her husband, Kent, farm in Howard County, raising corn, soybeans and sweet corn. They have three grown children.