Telling the story of agriculture is as essential to many FFA members as memorizing the FFA Creed. For these 23 FFA members who were recently named 2021-22 #SpeakAg Pioneers, it’s a critical part of being official advocates for agriculture, education and FFA on behalf of the National FFA Organization.
The name #SpeakAg Pioneers may sound a little familiar. Back in 2019, for the first time in the organization’s history, 12 state FFA officers (pictured above) were tagged #SpeakAg Ambassadors. These newly minted ambassadors created a new community of advocates around #SpeakAg. They hosted workshops in their states and at the National FFA Convention & Expo, created vlogs and blogs, and posted on various social media topics to increase advocacy and literacy for members and the public.
In early 2021, the program received a face-lift, including being renamed #SpeakAg Pioneers. The Pioneers will lead the way for agricultural advocacy and literacy by hosting workshops, creating content for social media, and attending events such as National Ag Day. The newly selected Pioneers, join the 12 ambassadors and 35 that were selected in January of this year.
“The #SpeakAg Pioneer program was created to provide students with the chance to grow in the areas of agricultural advocacy and literacy, as well as policy,” said Celya Glowacki, the advocacy and literacy officer for FFA and who oversees the #SpeakAg Pioneers program. “These students leaders taking the step to join this program and take part in the provided trainings, provides them with a better foundation to take with them through their careers. I couldn’t be more excited to have this group join the club.”
Congratulations to this year’s crop of #SpeakAg Pioneers.
Bryson Bonnette | Nicholas Bradley | Cade Conrad | Jared Dunn |
Louisiana | Tennessee | Texas | Ohio |
Emily Eberhardt | Abbey Goodenough | Emma Jackson | Amara Livingston |
Massachusetts | New Jersey | Virginia | Wisconsin |
Emmerson Lyons | Kendall Metz | Jayci Mitchell | Charlie Moser |
Louisiana | Delaware | Maryland | Virginia |
Nicholas Neuman | Abigail O’Neill | Brianna Payne | Anna Ridenour |
Indiana | Pennsylvania | Alabama | Minnesota |
Eva Scollo | Rachel Sebesta | Hannah Shanks | Claire Shelton |
Massachusetts | Kansas | Missouri | Idaho |
Ellie Vance | Lashawna Vogel | Katie Zimmer | |
Virginia | Wisconsin | Wisconsin |
For more information on the #SpeakAg Pioneers, visit FFA.org. The Level One sponsors for the agricultural literacy and advocacy platform are Domino’s and Merck Animal Health.