The Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative is hosting the 11th Annual Youth in Agriculture Leadership Summit. The summit brings together Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian youth ages 18-24 from across Indian Country to the U of A in Fayetteville. Participants spend the week immersed in specialized tracks, learning from industry professionals and collaborating on capstone projects. 

History of the Summit 

IFAI has always valued supporting the next generation of food and agriculture leaders in Indian Country. IFAI is housed within the U of A School of Law, a land grant institution on historic tribal lands. The organization recognizes the importance of fostering agricultural education to Native youth, which led to the creation of the youth summit.  

In 2014, together with the U of A School of Law's LL.M. Program in Agricultural and Food Law, the Intertribal Agriculture Council, National FFA and the Farm Credit Council, the IFAI launched the first Native Youth in Food and Agriculture Leadership Summit. With funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency, the first summit hosted 34 attendees from approximately 20 Tribal Nations and Native Hawaiian communities.  

"We recognized the responsibility and latitude we had to create educational opportunities with our resources and partnerships because of our home within the university system," senior managing attorney Erin Parker said. Parker helped IFAI develop the first youth summit in 2014, under the leadership of IFAI's co-founders, Stacy Leeds and Janie Simms-Hipp. "IFAI is uniquely positioned to understand both the challenges that agricultural producers face generally and the legal complexities that Native producers must navigate on top of that." 

The inaugural 34 students were outstanding young leaders when they arrived at the summit and have continued that tradition of leadership over the years. "It has been truly amazing to see the work they've gone on to do since 2014," Parker said. 

Today that first cohort of students have gone on to become farmers and ranchers, agricultural policy leaders at regional and national intertribal organizations, agricultural attorneys and Ph.D. holders in agricultural fields of study. 

This tradition of outstanding leaders has continued throughout the past 10 summits, and IFAI hopes to continue this legacy in perpetuity.

Evolution of the Summit 

The youth summit has evolved significantly in correlation with attendee feedback. Today's summit averages 40 students but has ranged from 34 to 134 in the past. The age range has shifted from being teen-focused to young adult focused.  

Additionally, the curriculum is refreshed annually to reflect innovations and changes in agriculture. Recently, to expand on the agricultural topics covered, IFAI introduced an animal science track last summer. 

While the summit has gone through many transformations over the years, the mission has stayed the same: educating and connecting the next generation of Native American agriculturalists. 

This year, the youth summit will take place from July 10-17, organized by IFAI's new youth coordinator, Whitney Nelson. 

"The theme for this year's summit is 'Grow Your Potential,'" Nelson said. "There is a need to get Native American youth involved in agriculture, and I'm really excited to get to plan this summit and continue on the tradition." 

The summit has always had a strong agricultural risk management presence, and this year will again be heavily focused on principles of risk management education, using the five areas of risk, as defined by the USDA-RMA, as a guide. Understanding all the risks involved in agricultural operations, whether legal, human, marketing, financial or production, is critical to producer success, and providing agricultural risk management education and training to young producers helps them plan and manage it early.

"We want attendees to leave with the knowledge that these risks are not insurmountable barriers to their success in agriculture. Hopefully, they will be able to identify both the resources and experts who can help guide them in their future endeavors," Nelson said. 

Find out more information about the summit or youth opportunities in general.