WELD INNOVATIVE PROJECT

Participant Name: Christina Turner State: New Mexico

Innovative Project Abstract (Please describe)

Many organizations throughout the country have been developed to encourage and promote women’s involvement in the field of agriculture. Some of these organizations focus on the professional sector of this involvement while others focus on the social and cultural involvement. Whatever the reason for these organizations, they all provide women a place to gather and share their interests, contacts, accomplishments, and barriers related to agriculture. These organizations however tend to target a more mature audience leaving out prospective young women. Youth development organizations related to agriculture such as 4-H and FFA do an excellent job of promoting both agriculture and leadership through hands-on learning models but ignore the obvious differences males and females.

It has been documented that males and females have different qualities related to leadership. Industries such as science, math, and engineering have capitalized on these differences and have created entire campaigns to encourage young women to pursue careers in these fields.

The purpose of this project is to combine the successful models of Women’s Agriculture Organizations, 4-H, and FFA and pair it with the unique leadership qualities of young women to create a “young women in agriculture leadership” workshop. The goals of the workshop arethree fold. The first is to help young women learn about the different opportunities available to them in the field of agriculture. The workshop will educate the participants about the various ag industries throughout the state and hopefully create valuable contacts for the participants. The second goal is to provide industry leaders the chance to possibly recruit future employees and promote their own work. Last, the workshop will encourage young women to recognize their strengths and natural leadership abilities. It will give young women an outlet to meet and bond with peers that share similar interests and goals and hopefully create a support system for them to use their leadership skills. It will create a safe place for them to share their love of agriculture and learn how that love could become a career.

What are your anticipated project outcomes?

  • Provide young women valuable contacts throughout the agriculture industry in NM
  • Provide industry representatives the opportunity to recruit possible future employee
  • Provide young women the opportunity to become more aware of available career paths in the agriculture industry.
  • Foster a sense of community, pride, and belonging among young women with an appreciation of agriculture.
  • Identify strengths and leadership abilities of the young women participating.

Leadership Inventory-Indicate your perception of your most significant strengths and opportunities to improve your leadership capabilities to excel with your project.

Strengths:

  • Experience in organizing events
  • Experience working with youth
  • Strong Conviction- I truly believe in the purpose of the project. I feel there is a need and I am dedicated to making this project successful.
  • Task Oriented- I am focused on the task at hand. I tend to be very organized and keep a steady outlook on the task at hand.

Improvements

I tend to take projects on alone and fail to recognize the resources that others could bring to the table. I want to do things myself and take too much control of the situation making others feel that they are not needed or wanted and creating an environment where no one wants to help. I hope that through this project I can learn to better collaborate with others, delegate tasks, and create a network of colleagues that I can learn from.

Learning Plan-Indicate your preliminary plans to utilize strengths and address growth opportunities outside your organized WELD activities that together assist in accomplishing goals of the Innovative Project.

In order to make this project successful the first step I plan to take is to form an advisory committee. The committee will be made up of representatives from various ag industry throughout the state, FFA advisors and 4-H agents. This will help me gain a better understanding of what the specific needs might be of both the targeted youth as well as the industry. I hope to share my initial framework with this committee and get direction as to where the project should evolve.

Mentor Candidates-What are some specialized skills, interest, or experiences that you seek in one or more mentors to assist in your progress? Are there any likely candidates that you will consider?

Mentor Characteristics

Knowledge of the Agriculture Industry in New Mexico

Knowledge of the structure of CES in New Mexico

Vested interest in positive youth development programs

Knowledge of my leadership style, strengths, and weaknesses

Possible Mentors

  • Gerald Chacon- retired CES district director, county ag and 4-H Agent, member of NM Cattle Growers, Northern New Mexico Stockman’s Association, Rancher, Father of two daughters both in ag industry
  • Dina Reitzel- Executive Director of the New Mexico Beef Council