The NIAA Leadership Cohort is beyond what I imagined and has been a challenging and rewarding experience. You are able to plan your own experiences, have unique opportunities, network and travel.  I have loved meeting likeminded individuals from all different sectors of animal agriculture, networking, learning together and helping each other along the way. Travelling to different areas of the country to see the various perspectives and practices of agriculture has been really enjoyable. NIAA’s cohort is one of the few that lets you plan your experiences and is geared towards what you are interested in growing in and highly recommend participating if you are looking to grow in your profession and in your understanding of agriculture.

I’m a veterinarian in southwest Kansas. As a highly driven professional, I really appreciate the opportunity to come together with my cohort in the NIAA leadership class, so that I can be with like-minded, highly driven professionals in animal agriculture and learn from their experiences from around the country and their experiences with different workplaces and different expertise. I highly recommend this leadership cohort if you’re looking for leadership development in that space.
Tera Barnhardt

Part of NIAA’s mission is to foster collaboration and cooperation throughout the industry. This program was intentionally developed to build upon existing leadership experiences, so professionals advance their leadership and, specifically, collaboration skills. It was important to me to participate in the inaugural cohort and it has been an enriching experience for me and my fellow leaders.