Applications available for the 2nd annual Native Youth in Food & Ag Leadership Summit!

We're excited to announce that applications are OPEN for our second annual Summer Leadership Summit for Native Youth in Food & Agriculture at the University of Arkansas School of Law! We are looking for student applications from American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian youth between the ages of 13 and 18 who are passionate about food & agricultural production and have the courage to lead their Tribes and communities into the future. Please see the links below for the appropriate application form!

If you're a college-aged student, we hope you'll consider putting an application in to be a Student Leader, and if you're back for a second year as a student, please fill out an application to be a Summit Fellow. Details about the Fellows program can be found in that application.

Spaces are limited, so PLEASE APPLY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Dates:                   July 19-July 28, 2015 (this includes travel dates)

Location:              University of Arkansas School of Law– Fayetteville, Arkansas

Hosts:                   Indigenous Food & Agriculture Initiative, University of Arkansas School of Law

                              Farm Credit Council

                              Intertribal Agriculture Council

                              National FFA Organization 

 Supporters:         First Nations Development Institute 

Cost to attend:     All food, lodging, instructional materials, and field trip costs will be provided. 

Depending on the number of students, some travel scholarships will also be provided.  However, we need applications as soon as possible to plan for travel needs.

Application Information:         The deadline for all applicants is June 1^st, 2015.

1st time attendees:         Complete the Student Application

2nd time attendees:        Complete the Summit Fellow Application
College-aged:                 Complete the Student Leader Application

Click the links above for .pdf copies of the applications. Need an email or print copy? No problem-- contact Rebecca at ras017@uark.edu.

The Summit 2015 staff can't wait to read your applications! See you this summer!

 

A look back at our first summer Summit for Native Youth

On July 25, 2014, we had to say goodbye to forty-four amazing youth who attended our first annual Summer Leadership Summit for Native American Youth in Food & Agriculture. The students, who represented twenty-one tribes, came from all over the country to spend a week on our University of Arkansas campus. During their intensive week of study, the students met and talked with leaders in the food and agriculture industry, learning about risk management, food and agribusiness, legal issues, and marketing of food products, with a particular emphasis on the unique problems that Indian Country producers face. Over the course of the week, they heard from national leaders on each of these topics.

Northwest Arkansas is home to a wide variety of food and agriculture industries, ranging from the smaller farms at the Fayetteville Farmers Market, who sell food to a local client base, to larger industry leaders like Tyson, WalMart, and Sams Club, who sell food on a global scale, and the students were able to engage with representatives from these smaller farms and larger companies while attending the Summit. Throughout the week, they also worked together in small groups to create a business plan and proposal for a fictional farm or agribusiness. The Summit was made possible by our generous program partners at Intertribal Agriculture Council, FFA (formerly the Future Farmers of America), the Farm Credit Council, and the Risk Management Agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Without their help, we could not have provided such excellent programming for the students.

To see some of their activities in action, check out this Prezi compiled by Elise Clote, one of our student leaders and Graduate Assistants to the Initiative:

Engaging the next generation of Native American farmers, ranchers, and agribusiness leaders is one of our primary goals here at the Initiative, as the future of food and agriculture in Indian Country is in their hands. It was a joy to watch this first class learn and grow over the week they were here, and we know these forty-four incredible students will continue to accomplish great things for Indian Country throughout their lifetimes. Stay tuned to our blog and Facebook for updates from the field as we keep up with our first class of future leaders!