From November 7-10, 2024, students from Haskell Indian Nations University’s School of Business had the opportunity to attend the 2024 Agriculture Future of America (AFA) Leaders Conference at the Westin and Sheraton hotels in the Crown Center District of Kansas City, Missouri. Students in attendance were me (Kanyon Alexander), Randi Anderlik, and Monica Chesarek, accompanied by Dean Mackie Moore.
Upon arrival, I was greeted by AFA student ambassadors, who directed me to the check-in hub to register and receive my badge and AFA tote bag. Following registration was the Track 3 Welcome and Orientation. The Track 3 program prepares juniors and seniors to live and work in a global market. Delegates practice collaboration and participate in discussions focused on global leadership and systems, aiming to help students grow in personal financial management and cultural understanding– to prepare them for their transition to the workplace. At the time, I had just started MANRRS at Haskell, but I met a group of students from Fort Valley State University at our orientation; through them, I could connect to other MANRRS members who were also in attendance.
Later that evening, we heard from AFA CEO & President Mark Stewart and renowned motivational speaker Diana Kander during the opening session, an energizing starting point for the conference, setting the tone for the days ahead. Stewart enlightened us on his journey as the head of AFA, how much he values the Leaders Conference, and more. Kander spoke to her story of both being a refugee and housing refugees and equipped us with a few questions to ask ourselves: What are my blind spots? How can I create the space to improve? Where am I today versus what I’m capable of? What does version 2.0 look like? Lastly, the evening was wrapped up with a United States Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) Partner Social, where we heard from leaders in various sectors explain what their roles encompassed, the values they hold, the missions they’re striving to complete, and where new leaders can fit in.
The following day started with breakfast, hearing from the 2024 AFA Bridge Builder Finalists Kiah Twisselman Burchett, Ellen Zimmerman, and Michael Granche. The Bridge Builder Award not only celebrates distinguished alumni in the industry but also pays tribute to the core principles upon which AFA was founded.
Zimmerman said, “I truly believe that the opportunity to build a bridge can come at any time and in any conversation as long as you approach life positively and seek to make genuine connections.”
After breakfast, we made our way to the Opportunity Fair. Here, we explored many opportunities, connecting with leading companies from the agriculture, food, and natural resources industries. This event was held in the Sheraton, providing a dynamic space that allowed us to engage with various organizations such as CHS, Valent, American Royal, USDA-NRCS, and many more to discuss potential career paths. Later in the evening, I met Jannai Oganeku, MANRRS Region VI Undergraduate VP, and Julia Edwards, Region III Undergraduate VP. I’m so glad I could connect with these two outstanding scholars. As the MANRRS-Haskell President, they advised and guided me on possible directions for my chapter. To wrap up the night, I heard from the three Bridge Builder finalists again and then sat down for dinner. I was fortunate enough to have CEO & President Mark Stewart join my table for our meal. I was able to speak directly with him and ask him questions about Coresynergy, a partnership AFA is cultivating with MANRRS, and learn more about the core competencies of the organization.
The next day, around six workshops were scheduled to dive deeper into AFA’s competencies. The first workshop I attended, The Successful Career Launch, was hosted by Adam Carroll, CEO of National Financial Educators. This session aimed to expand attendees’ knowledge of career management. Carroll taught us how to launch our careers to set us up for the most significant upward mobility, from what to ask, what to wear, what to read, and how to prep for the very first day. He also advised us to identify and research what industry we’d like to work in, build a list of people we can contact for assistance, and handwrite “Thank You” notes to those who have helped us. My second workshop, Radically & Authentically Me, aimed to develop attendees’ relationship development skills and was hosted by Christina Parle, an educator and consultant. So much of our lives are focused on finding spaces where we belong- where we can experience care, love, and support. Our lives are filled with moments where we feel like we aren’t enough and, hopefully, some beautiful moments where we feel entirely and radically ourselves. The journey to becoming our authentic self only happens after a while and is challenging. The presenter examined the three phases of becoming our authentic self – exploring, naming, and claiming it. My third workshop, Cultivating Compassion, Unlocking Confidence, touched on the attendees’ interpersonal IQ and was hosted by Kiah Twisselman Burchett, CEO of Coach Kiah. In this workshop, I explored how to build self-awareness, foster more compassionate curiosity, and embrace simple yet powerful tools to support me on my personal and professional journeys. By the end of this workshop, I discovered potential roadblocks standing in my way, and I developed a new superpower for overcoming them, leading confidently with compassion, courage, and clarity.
My fourth workshop, Finding Alignment in an Unbalanced World, hosted by Whitney Kinne, career and leadership coach, focused on systems thinking. So many opportunities are available to me, sometimes making it challenging to decide what doors to walk through. Kinne helped me to discover who I am and leverage my values and talents now and after graduation. This workshop helped me to dream big and launch myself into the future. My fifth workshop, Adding Value Through Elimination, touched on cultural EQ and was hosted by Adam Miller, founder of Bespoke Consulting. Life’s goal is to find our purpose for the gift of having it. Our purpose is identified through values we believe and hold true. Our values are based upon our identity and lived experiences, yet rarely do we inventory the beliefs that make us unique, nor the collective beliefs that bring us together. In this interactive, we explored the aspects that make us all unique while observing shared values that can bring us together and accomplish great things. My sixth and final workshop, Working Effectively with Others Toward a Common Goal, hosted by Jason Womack, a leadership coach in The Womack Company, focused on collaboration. In this session, I learned the power of working together to achieve shared goals and how honing my collaboration skills can elevate my leadership potential. Through engaging activities, I reflected on personal values and practiced active listening while building peer connections. Collaboration enhances academic success and strengthens personal relationships and professional development. I found all six of these workshops tremendously beneficial; they all proactively assisted in developing my personal and professional development skills.
The 2024 Agriculture Future of America’s Leaders Conference taught me more about AFA, provided wisdom from numerous high-level leaders, allowed me to make friends and build new connections, and helped me learn more about myself. Leaving this conference has left me feeling gracious and galvanized. I’m ready to take action to develop my career path while also building meaningful connections. I appreciate Mark Stewart and the AFA staff inviting my peers and me to attend, and my goal is for more HINU students to participate in the future and absorb all this exceptional conference offers.
