Deanna Kuester of Champaign began Feb. 25, as a vice president of internal audit, based at the financial cooperative’s central office in Mahomet.

What interested you in a career serving farm families and agriculture?

Coming to Farm Credit gave me the opportunity to take the next step in my career while realizing a long-term goal of mine – working in the agricultural industry. I was raised on my family’s LaSalle County grain farm and graduated from Ottawa Township High School before earning a bachelor’s degree in agricultural and consumer economics and a master’s degree in accountancy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

What experience qualified you for your new position?

I am a certified public accountant. Before coming to FCI, I worked for four and a half years as the director of accounting at JSM Management in Champaign, four years as an audit supervisor at Martin Hood in Champaign, and two years as a staff accountant at Kerber, Eck & Braeckel in Springfield.

What is one unique thing about you?

My husband and I would like to go to all the Major League Baseball stadiums; we have been to 24 so far.