ANNAPOLIS, MD (July 9, 2026)—Maryland Secretary of Agriculture Kevin Atticks is pleased to announce the appointment of two new key staff members to the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA).
Allie Carter Cavanagh has been named MDA’s new Director of Legislative and Government Affairs. In this role, she will be responsible for all aspects of the department’s state, local and federal legislative activities, and actively represent MDA during the Maryland legislative session.
Photo courtesy of Allie Cavanagh
Cavanagh previously served as a Policy Advisor to Maryland Congresswoman Sarah Elfreth (MD-03), and as the Congresswoman’s Chief of Staff during her final two years in the Maryland Senate. Her policy areas covered agriculture, animal welfare, energy, environment, education, labor and health care. She was a fellow with the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine in the Climate Crossroads Program from 2025-2026.
She holds a Master of Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Bachelor of Music from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania. Cavanagh served as a Program Manager for the Career & Technical Education Committee at the Maryland Department of Labor, is a former music educator and was nominated as Baltimore County Teacher of the Year in 2016-17.
Additionally, Rachel Felver has been appointed MDA’s new Director of Communications. In this role, she will lead communications efforts for the department, serve as the primary media point of contact, and support the communications needs of the Secretary and other senior agency officials.
Photo courtesy of Rachel Felver
Felver previously spent 10 years as the Communications Director for the regional Chesapeake Bay Program, where she was employed by the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. She holds a Masters in Environmental Policy and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as a professional certification in Sustainability & Behavior Change from the University of California at San Diego Extension. Felver also served on the Marketing Team at the National Aquarium in Baltimore and spent eight years in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, most notably as the Director of Communications for the former Office of Environmental Information.
“We are incredibly fortunate to add two leaders of this caliber to the Maryland Department of Agriculture, and their arrival marks a major win for our state’s agricultural community,” said Maryland Secretary of Agriculture Kevin Atticks. “Allie’s impressive tenure navigating complex legislative environments and her deep background in policy make her uniquely equipped to champion our farmers at local, state and federal levels. Rachel’s decade of high-level communication leadership on critical regional issues like the Chesapeake Bay brings an immense asset to our team. Her unique ability to translate complex agency initiatives into meaningful, actionable public outreach will bridge the gap between the agency, the agricultural community and the public.Together, their deep professional expertise will directly translate into stronger advocacy, clearer communication and more robust support for Maryland’s farmers and producers as they work to feed our families and power our economy.”
For more information, please visit mda.maryland.gov.
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