As a seventh grader, Stephon Fitzpatrick was introduced to FFA. He didn’t know it then, but the organization would change the course of his life.
“I saw all these kids in their blue corduroy jackets going on field trips, and I decided to see if I could get in on what they were doing,” Fitzpatrick says. “The next year, as an eighth grader, I joined FFA — that was the beginning of my journey into ag education.”
Fitzpatrick went on to attend Polytech High School in Woodside, Del., in 2002, where he chose to concentrate on environmental science and joined the Polytech FFA.
In addition to competing in career and leadership development events, including creed speaking, he was elected his chapter’s first Black president, and in 2005, he became one of the first Black members of the National FFA Chorus.
“My experiences in FFA showed me that the agriculture industry was far more diverse than I thought it was, and there was plenty of room for someone like me,” Fitzpatrick says. “It quickly became clear that FFA was helping me become the person and leader I’d always known I could be.”
Although he was encouraged to run for an officer position in the Delaware FFA, Fitzpatrick declined; he was focused on pursuing a bachelor’s degree at Tuskegee University, where he earned a full academic scholarship.
As an undergraduate student, Fitzpatrick became involved with Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS), and in 2010, he graduated from Delaware State University with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture. In 2017, he obtained a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Wilmington University.
Fitzpatrick’s passion for ag education has prevailed throughout his professional career in various positions, but none has been more exciting than his current role as the first full-time executive director of the Pennsylvania Commission for Agricultural Education Excellence.
In this position, Fitzpatrick fulfills his mission to show the agriculture industry is for everyone by working to increase diversity, equity and inclusion within the Pennsylvania agricultural education system, which includes K-12 schools, colleges and universities, and youth organizations such as FFA, 4-H and MANRRS.
“I credit so much of my motivation to Karen Hutchinson, who now works with the National FFA Organization, and Susan Wujtewicz, my Polytech FFA advisor,” says Fitzpatrick, who will graduate from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore with a doctorate in philosophy in 2022. “Had it not been for them, I probably wouldn’t have gotten into ag as a Black student. I’m a product of what it means to learn, lead and succeed.”
