The Young Farming Champions program is well known for creating confident agricultural advocates and equipping them with the skills to expand and continue their leadership journeys
Recognizing people are our greatest resource and leadership is a key component of business and industry success, as well as achieving sustainable development in regional communities we are excited to announce Young Farming Champions Dione Howard and Katherine Bain have been selected for the AWI Breeding Leadership course.
The week-long course, to be held in South Australia’s Clare Valley from Feb 20-25, is designed to empower young people in the wool industry. AWI acting CEO John Roberts says this is all about fostering the next generation of leaders.
“The Australian wool industry has a bright future and we need to continue to attract smart and enthusiastic young people to it. I am impressed by the high quality of participants representing all facets of the wool industry and AWI is looking forward to boosting their industry involvement via this valuable program.”
Twenty five participants have been selected from across Australia and through the course will develop skills and knowledge in personal leadership as well as strategic planning and team leadership.
AWI sponsored Dione through her initial YFC training and she feels ready to take the next step in the wool industry.
“I believe that for me the time is right to focus on developing the strategic, interpersonal and business skills that are offered by the intensive week-long program. I am also looking forward to expanding my industry networks and (as a bonus) visiting the beautiful Clare Valley.”
Former business analyst with Paraway Pastoral Company, Katherine Bain has now returned to her sixth generation family sheep station in western Victoria and is looking forward to applying knowledge derived from the course to her own operation.
“I am excited to join the Breeding Leadership course to improve my communication and leadership skills for my own business to ensure I can run it to the best of my ability. I am excited to meet people from the wider wool industry who are passionate and excited about its future. During this course I look forward to discussions about potential changes to the industry in the future and how we can best adapt to these changes on farm. I hope to come home with a better idea of how to implement strategies successfully to build a better farm.”
Dione and Katherine will be joined by Tom Steele, Nicole Davies, Alex Lewis, Ellie Bigwood, Bridgitte Brooks, Luke Button, Bridget Pullella, Alex Brinkworth, Shannon Donoghue, Declan Harvey, Genevieve Kelly, Monica Ley, Kara Murphy, Duane Simon, Tom Taheny, Jesse Moody, Alec Merriman, Matthew Martin, Bea Litchfield, Nick Kershaw, Sally Crozier, Jackie Chapman and Jock Cartwright.
Congratulations everyone, people are our greatest resource
Keeping pace with this rapidly changing environment requires us to have a stronger capacity to analyse, innovate and respond. If we want to transform our agri-food systems to be more productive, sustainable, inclusive and equitable, we need to invest in the people behind them.
#YouthinAg #BreedingLeadership