The Global Cow, Ltd.

Jill

Working with dairy cattle comes naturally to this company: the founder of The Global Cow, Jill Stahl Tyler, grew up on a dairy farm in northern Illinois. From birth, she's loved cows. And from a young age, she also was fascinated by international people and their languages and cultures.

Jill graduated with an agricultural communications degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign--plus an additional degree in Spanish. While in college, she studied in Spain and traveled Western Europe. After completing her degree, she spent half a year in Argentina studying international agricultural economics, and the other half teaching English in Brazil. She also worked as international marketing director for the Holstein Association USA, working in Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Ukraine, France, Italy--and with people from all over the world. It was a natural move to focus on international dairying when she began The Global Cow in 1991.

"I firmly believe that there is nothing more life-changing than international experiences," Jill says. "Although it sounds naive, I am completely convinced that the world would be a better place if everyone were able to live abroad. With increasing globalization and better technologies, our world is smaller every day. The more international experience we all have, the better decisions we make from everything from personal choices to managing dairies.

"Everyone used to joke with me that I was going to teach cows Spanish," she says. "I am still not convinced that the cows need to understand each other's languages. But I am positive that dairy producers around the world learn from exchanging ideas. And we as as people benefit from learning more about each other's cultures, languages, life styles and values."

The Global Cow makes the international exchange of ideas between dairy farmers as easy--and fun--as possible.

Personal update from Jill: Our family numbers two adults, three children and two dogs. We also have added chickens and numerous fish to our household. Nathaniel is in sixth grade for school year 2010-2011; Ryan is in fourth grade; Kiran is in kindergarten. The Global Cow Facebook Fan Page has more photos of the family--plus the office dogs!

Julie

Julie Potter, office manager and chief financial person. Julie has worked with The Global Cow for over 16 years. She is firmly committed to interns and hosts having the best experience possible.

Julie has two daughters, Marielle and Margot. Marielle is in fifth grade and Margot is in kindergarten.  Julie's family dog, Wonka, the Chocolate Lab, joins the office whenever she is here.  More photos (including adorable shots of him as a little puppy) are on the Global Cow Fan Page on Facebook.

Our Sponsor, Experience International

Our sponsoring organization is Experience International, based in Washington state.  Experience International has many years of working with interns and trainees from around the world.  They also offer many programs in other areas, such as forestry and general agriculture.  For complete information on their offerings, please see their website.