It's been an honor to be part of the American Farm Bureau Federation's Partners in Advocacy Leadership (PAL) Class 12. We began our two-year advocacy development journey as a hand-selected team of ten farmers, ranchers, and agricultural leaders from all corners of the United States. The PAL journey has sharpened our leadership skills as agricultural advocates across various platforms, including media/storytelling, policy/policymaking, engaging with stakeholders, and global perspectives that impact agriculture at home and abroad. At the forefront of our training has been the multifaceted agricultural workforce challenges that jeopardize the continuation of generations-long family farms as well as food and national security. Each PAL Class 12 member is as unique as the agricultural background from which he or she hails allowing us to be a dynamic advocacy team who aims to find workable solutions for the challenges that are crippling farms and ranches across our great nation.
Storytelling
@New York City
Your story is ust that: YOUR story. As all of the PALs convened for the first time in NYC, our storytelling training was nothing short of intense! We completed interview via various media platforms and we also spent time at the Wall Street Journal sharing our agricultural stories with journalist.
Policy
@ Washington, DC
Historical perspectives are often valuable, so we kicked off our policy training module touring Gettysburg as we received leadership coaching through a military leadership lens. We practiced our advocacy skills through mock congressional testimonies and engaging with policymakers. We also applied our storytelling skills through television interviews.
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Stakeholder Engagement
@Chicago
Positive relationships matter, no matter your industry. In this training module, we focused on understanding who our stakeholders are, how and when to engage, and strategies for fostering positive relationships. We explored agricultural stakeholder organizations to gain deeper perspectives and practiced our advocacy skills through mock dicussion panels and media interviews.
Global Perspectives
@South Africa
As a global traveler, I am excited to complete my PAL journey with an novel international experience. South Africa has a dynamic cultural history where agriculture is an essential part of everyday life. Mississippi & South Africa not only share a passion for agriculture, but they also get to work alongside one another thanks to the opportunities presented by the H-2A visa program.
