Lincoln, Neb. —Due to a one-year pause in their agriculture-based leadership development program, Nebraska LEAD Class 39 recently received their certificates of completion from the Nebraska Agricultural Leadership Council. There are twenty-eight members of the LEAD 39 graduating class.
The journey began in the fall of 2019 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s East Campus. Since that time, members of LEAD 39 traveled to every corner of the state, visiting nearly all of Nebraska’s private and public college campuses. Hundreds of speakers volunteered their time to share their knowledge with LEAD 39 Fellows. Topics presented ranged from natural resources and nuclear energy to agricultural policy and understanding of leadership styles.
LEAD 39 program graduates also received national instruction with travels to Kansas City, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. Some of the included stops were: KC: the regional Environmental Protection Agency office and the Federal Reserve Bank; D.C.: the Embassy of the Czech Republic, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association; Chicago: Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences and Greater Chicago Food Depository.
Due to the pandemic, members of LEAD 39 did not travel internationally. Instead, the class traveled to Washington, Oregon, California, and Arizona. For 14 days, members of LEAD 39 saw first-hand agricultural practices of growing oysters and clams, vegetable production in hothouses, blue cheese production, alpaca ranching, growing grapes for wine and raisins, beef cattle finishing, and vegetable production in dessert conditions.
Formal presentations included an audience with Karen Barrett-Ross (LEAD VI), Secretary of the California Food & Agriculture Department and Meg Brown, an agricultural advocate from Chico, California. The class had meetings with representatives of Roseburg Timer, the Northern California Water Association, the California Fresh Fruit Association, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, tours of Specialty Produce and Shearer’s Snack Foods, and a private behind the scenes tour of the San Diego Zoo.
Nebraska LEAD 39 Fellows by city/town are:
ALBION: John Krohn
ARTHUR: Jason Christensen
BELLEVUE: John Bronner, Derek Brown
BLUE HILL: Alex Buschow
BROKEN BOW: Ashley Peters
CLARKSON: Mike Podany
CLATONIA: Monte Murkle
COLON: Jeff Meduna
COLUMBUS: Justin Lorenz
ELGIN: Tiffany Hemenway
EUSTIS: Zack Jenner
GRAND ISLAND: Andy Paul
HOLDREGE: Molly Trausch
HORDVILLE: Rebekah Bankson
LINCOLN: Travis Harrison, Laurel Mastro, Blythe McAfee, Brett Muhlbach, Tony Sibert
MULLEN: Kory Phillips
NELIGH: Koryn Koinzan
OMAHA: Craig Davidson, Benjamin Grabenstein
STROMSBURG: Cale Pallas
SUTHERLAND: Thomas Kelly
SUTTON: Jesse Mohnike
UTICA: Mindy Wolf
Applications for LEAD 41 are due no later than June 15 and are available via e-mail from the Nebraska LEAD Program. Please contact the Nebraska LEAD Program office at leadprogram@unl.edu. You may also request an application by writing to 104 ACB, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 68583-0940 or by calling (402) 472-6810. You can visit www.lead.unl.edu for information about the selection process.
In its 41st year, the Nebraska LEAD Program is operated by the Nebraska Agricultural Leadership Council, a nonprofit organization, in collaboration with the University of Nebraska’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources and in cooperation with Nebraska colleges and universities, business and industry, and individuals throughout the state.