Ms. Carol Blake
Carol Blake was selected as the assistant administrator for the Office of Public Affairs and Consumer Education (OPACE) in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) in November 2011. In this role, Blake leads efforts to ensure that all customers receive valuable and consistent food safety information. Her extensive communications experience with FSIS and USDA provides a solid foundation to lead OPACE initiatives.
As assistant administrator of OPACE, Blake oversees the strategic communication programs that inform and educate various audiences, including Congress, media and consumer and industry stakeholder organizations on FSIS policy and public health activities, foodborne illness prevention efforts and safe food handling. She also oversees the communication strategies to nearly 8,500 FSIS employees nationwide. In her current role, she leads efforts that directly link to FSIS’ three strategic goals – Goal 1: Prevent Foodborne Illness and Protect Public Health; Goal 2: Transform Inspection Strategies, Policies, and Scientific Approaches to Improve Public Health; and Goal 3: Achieve Operational Excellence.
Under her leadership, FSIS has performed innovative outreach using traditional and social media, including an Ad Council campaign, as well as optimized the FSIS website into a cloud-based mobile-friendly public health tool. One of Blake’s missions is to increase the number of consumers who follow safe food handling practices through education and awareness campaigns. She has been instrumental in securing behavior research studies used to influence meaningful consumer messaging and ensure that the public can receive critical food safety information through a variety of social media platforms. She leads FSIS in its development of mobile apps and consumer tools and pursues partnerships with government and nongovernment organizations to strengthen awareness of FSIS priorities and food safety issues.
Prior to this role, Blake served as the director of FSIS’ Congressional and Public Affairs Office and also held positions that include press officer and deputy director overseeing the correspondence and Freedom of Information Act functions. Before joining FSIS, Blake handled media and communication initiatives for USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service and the Office of Communications.
Blake graduated from Randolph-Macon College with a degree in English.