INDIANAPOLIS (Tuesday, June 4, 2024/National FFA Organization) – For more than 50 years, thousands of FFA members from across the country have converged in our nation’s capital each summer to engage with legislators, hone civic engagement and leadership skills and create community impact projects to take back to their cities and towns.

The National FFA Organization’s Washington Leadership Conference (WLC) will take place from June 4 to July 20 at the Omni Shoreham. Six weeklong sessions will be offered to FFA members. More than 1,700 FFA members from throughout the country are expected to attend the 2023 conference, the second-largest student experience that the National FFA hosts each year, only behind the National FFA Convention & Expo, which draws more than 70,000 attendees.

FFA members will spend the week under the guidance of agricultural and leadership professionals, facilitators, and FFA staff who will guide them through workshops, seminars, small group activities, and visits to national landmarks such as the National Mall, Arlington National Cemetery, Smithsonian Museums, and the U.S. Capitol. Each day of the conference focuses on a different principle taught through the context of our nation’s capital: exploration, encouragement, advocacy and service.

FFA members will have the unique opportunity to participate in congressional visits during the week with legislators from their states. Members can share concerns and challenges from their communities and discuss agricultural-related legislation.

Living to Serve

The capstone of the conference is the development of a Living to Serve Plan, a civic engagement project that participants will implement in their communities after returning home.

To develop this Living to Serve Plan, members are asked to analyze the needs of their communities before attending WLC. Upon returning home, students can lean on their FFA chapter advisors to implement the plan. Examples of projects in recent years include promoting agricultural literacy, bringing attention to abuse, collecting and distributing shoes to individuals in Haiti, and creating a hunger awareness plan.

 2023-2024 Living to Serve Success Stories 

CALIFORNIA – WLC inspired Patrick Palmer of the Clovis FFA Chapter to create Agriculture on Wheels, where he travels to Fresno-area elementary schools and teaches science lessons related to the students’ current subject matter. Palmer’s lessons are designed to be fun, hands-on and engaging.

FLORIDA—After Hope Storter of the Strawberry Crest FFA Chapter in Hillsborough County attended WLC, she was driven to educate young people in her community about agriculture. She started an interactive program at a local elementary school, teaching monthly lessons on different topics in agriculture and equipping students to start their own home produce gardens.

MICHIGAN – Karlie Goble of Michigan FFA designed her Living to Serve plan centered around educating young minds in her community about the Power and Structural Systems pathway of agricultural education, including welding and industrial trades.

The 2024 Washington Leadership Conference is sponsored by Farm Credit, Growth Energy, Rabo AgriFinance and Syngenta. For more information, visit FFA.org/WLC.

The National FFA Organization is a school-based national youth leadership development organization of more than 945,000 student members as part of 9,163 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

# # #

About National FFA Organization
The National FFA Organization is a school-based national youth leadership development organization of more than 945,000 student members as part of 9,163 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The FFA mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. For more, visit the National FFA Organization online at FFA.org and on Facebook and Twitter.

About National FFA Foundation
The National FFA Foundation builds partnerships with industry, education, government, other foundations, and individuals to secure financial resources that recognize FFA member achievements, develop student leaders, and support the future of agricultural education. Governed by a 19-member board of trustees composed of educators, business leaders, individual donors and FFA Alumni, the foundation is a separately registered nonprofit organization. About 82 percent of every dollar received by the foundation supports FFA members and agricultural education opportunities. For more, visit FFA.org/Give.