During the 96th National FFA Convention and Expo in Indianapolis, the National FFA Organization signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Native American Agriculture Fund (NAAF) and the Tribal Agriculture Fellowship (TAF). Their goal with the MOU is to financially support and create accessible resources to continue to promote agriculture education and FFA to Native American students across the country.
The National FFA, founded in 1928, is designed to prepare all students enrolled in the organization for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education. Agriculture education takes place in multiple forums, including classroom engagement with an ag educator, public speaking and leadership development, contest involvement, and practicing a skill learned in the classroom to an agriculture project at home and in their community. In over 50 states and two U.S. territories with 9,163 local FFA chapters, and 945,000 FFA members, the National FFA Organization prides itself on being the largest school-based youth leadership organization in the country.
According to the National FFA Organization, the total enrollment of Native American (American Indian and Alaska Native) students in their organization totals 14,000. That means the number of Native American students is only about 1.4 percent of the total FFA enrollment. The need for a partnership between FFA and those who represent our Native American students and families is necessary for not only increasing involvement but promoting retention.
The NAAF is the largest philanthropic organization dedicated to increasing access to capital for Native American producers. They are a huge proponent, advocate, and funder in advancing agriculture in Indian Country through grants. NAAF has provided grants to over 350 eligible organizations for business progression, promoting agriculture education, providing technical support on their land, and continuing advocacy for services needed for producers.
Providing funding to aid the National FFA Organization aligns with the NAAF’s mission.
“NAAF is observing a significant increase in enthusiasm of Native youth to further their knowledge and practical experience in agriculture. Regardless of specific agricultural pursuits that Native students wish to embark upon, our commitment is to furnish them with a comprehensive array of accessible resources,” said Toni Stanger-McLaughlin, CEO of NAAF.
In collaboration with the TAF, the NAAF and National FFA hope to provide students with tuition to leadership conferences, such as Washington Leadership Conferences, and provide access to National FFA resources directly to local chapters in Tribal country.
The TAF program, a nonprofit organization, has a mission to provide opportunities to students who are specifically working to promote and preserve the legacy of agriculture in Tribal country. National FFA’s opportunities for professional development among our Native American agriculture education students definitely falls along the lines of the TAF’s mission, making them good partners.
This partnership also bolsters National FFA’s promise of becoming a more diverse and inclusive youth leadership organization.
“One of our goals at the National FFA Organization is to partner with like-minded organizations to expand our collective impact on agriculture, food, and natural resources, especially for underrepresented and marginalized communities.” shared Scott Stump, CEO of the National FFA Organization. “This partnership with the NAAF and TAF will be a catalyst for advancing our shared goals.”
This monumental MOU follows two others established in this past year with organizations supporting agriculture education. Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences (MANRRS) signed an MOU with the organization promising collaboration when supporting students from marginalized communities and their engagement in careers in agriculture. As more recently, the National FFA Organization signed an MOU with Agriculture Future of America designed to also pipeline students to agriculture careers. Other MOUs include those of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency, which focus on career pipelining into agriculture and environmental careers, as well as students’ effort in stewarding the future of our country’s land and resources.
As the National FFA Organization continues to collaborate and partner with stakeholder groups, the goal is that action follows. Performance has often been misconstrued as action, even for marginalized communities-as being “seen” by an organization that might not have prior. We accept being seen, we settle for the bare minimum. With partnerships from stakeholder groups whose daily mission is to support the future youth pursuing successful futures, we see accountability through the eyes of those students, staff, and leaders who watched the MOUs be signed. Those eyes are the vehicle for change, acceptance, and belonging soon to follow.
Bre Holbert is a past National FFA President and studied agriculture science and education at California State-Chico. “Two ears to listen is better than one mouth to speak. Two ears allow us to affirm more people, rather than letting our mouth loose to damage people’s story by speaking on behalf of others.”
