- Female membership in FFA continues to grow nationwide
- This organization helps women develop leadership skills
- National FFA Convention will be held Oct. 19-21 in Indianapolis
GREENSBORO, N.C., USA, October 11, 2016 – When the 2016 National FFA Convention convenes on October 19 in Indianapolis, representatives from Syngenta predict they could see record numbers of female attendees. That’s because female membership in FFA grew from 26 percent during the1992-93 academic year to 44 percent during the 2015-16 academic year. Plus, females have risen to top leadership roles; this year, young women hold five of the six national FFA offices.
“Organizations like FFA and 4-H help foster leadership skills for all participants,” said Jenny Heaton, head of talent management for Syngenta, North America. “As more leadership opportunities open up for young women, these experiences should provide them with more confidence that the agricultural world is ready to accept them as equal partners.”
Megan Moll, a Golden Harvest
® Seed Advisor
™ manager at Syngenta, said FFA helped put her on a path to her agricultural career. As a young girl, she loved working on her family’s farm in Michigan. In high school, she became involved in her local FFA chapter by holding different offices and participating in activities, including the National FFA Convention and a leadership conference in Washington, D.C.
“I’m grateful for my FFA experience, because not only did it teach me organizational, team-building and public-speaking skills, but it also built my personal confidence to be able to talk in front of a large group of people,” said Moll. “Everything I learned from FFA has helped me become who I am today.”
Similarly, Darcy Maulsby worked on her family’s farm in Lake City, Iowa, and was an active participant in 4-H during her youth. But she didn’t think about joining FFA until an ag teacher recruited her. Only a few girls were in FFA then, and her experiences proved to be life-changing.
“I look back and think, ‘They were really on top of it for giving us an opportunity to do that,’” said Maulsby. “FFA pushed me in new directions and really helped me grow with communication and leadership skills I have used my entire life.”
Today, Maulsby operates her own ag writing and marketing business on the family farm, where she stays tightly connected to the farm business. She’s also very involved in Farm Bureau, Iowa Corn Growers and Iowa Soybean Association.
“There are a lot of smart women out there transforming agriculture, and it’s exciting to see that change,” Maulsby said. “I definitely encourage young women to get involved in agriculture.”
Syngenta encourages all National FFA Convention attendees to stop by its booth (Booth 535), where they can read other stories about being #RootedinAg or tell their own on a special digital wall. For the latest news and trends in agriculture, go to
www.syngentathrive.com.
About Syngenta
Syngenta is a leading agriculture company helping to improve global food security by enabling millions of farmers to make better use of available resources. Through world class science and innovative crop solutions, our 28,000 people in over 90 countries are working to transform how crops are grown. We are committed to rescuing land from degradation, enhancing biodiversity and revitalizing rural communities. To learn more visit
www.syngenta.com and
www.goodgrowthplan.com. Follow us on Twitter
® at
www.twitter.com/Syngenta and
www.twitter.com/SyngentaUS.
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