Brad Nordholm is the President & Chief Executive Officer of Farmer Mac, the largest secondary market lender for American agriculture, where he leads the company’s efforts to successfully deliver on its core mission of increasing the availability and affordability of credit for the benefit of American agriculture and rural communities.
With a career that spans over four decades, Brad is a seasoned executive with a wealth of experience in the financial services environment, including his involvement in agricultural and energy finance, capital markets, and credit. He has built a reputation for high-integrity leadership, collegiality, consistent results, and purpose of mission. He is well respected for his financial and business acumen and has devoted his career to solving complex problems, creating opportunities, and delivering value on a broad scale in the agriculture, banking, and energy and power sectors.
Brad joined Farmer Mac in October 2018 from Starwood Energy Group Global, LLC, a leading private investment firm specializing in energy infrastructure, where he served as the company’s first CEO from 2006 to 2016 and, more recently, as Vice-Chairman. Prior to his time at Starwood Energy, Brad founded and served as CEO of an energy and power-focused investment firm, Tyr Energy, after serving as General Manager at Aquila, Inc., a leading merchant energy company. He spent the first half of his career in banking focused on agriculture and cooperative organizations, including serving as CEO at U.S. Central and as Managing Director at National Cooperative Bank (NCB), as well as working in various management positions at Federal Land Bank of St Paul and Interregional Service Corporation of Minneapolis, both of which were acquired by successor organizations of the Farm Credit System.
Brad was born and raised in Cloquet, Minnesota and completed his undergraduate degree in Economics at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. Today, he and his wife, Alison, own and operate a 134-acre family farm in Southern Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
