Grainswest - Fall 2023

Fall 2023 Grains West 36 “I went in blind,” she said, referring to her first board position with (GRO). “I had no idea how a board worked, what a board did, the roles and responsibilities. It was all new to me. Maybe that’s my personality. I like those challenges.” Paly believes her parents shaped her fearlessness. They didn’t split roles on their mixed farm based on gender. “My dad treated us as equals,” she said. “There was no ‘A girl is meant to be in the house’ and ‘A boy is meant to be out in the field.’ When it was time to work on the farm, we all participated.” Her own two grade-school daughters haven’t yet shown great enthusiasm for farm work, but Paly said she may enroll them in a 4-H club to prepare them for leadership roles they may take on later in life, agricultural or otherwise. It’s an opportunity she wishes she’d had as a child. A non-profit, youth development program, 4-H participants aged nine to 20 perform community service and take on farm related projects such as raising livestock. They also learn skills such as public speaking, record-keeping and governance. Each 4-H chapter is led by a management committee composed of youth members elected by their peers. These bodies include a club president, vice-president, treasurer and secretary. “We have heard from a lot of youth, after they’re done in 4-H, how much that helps because they learned how to properly chair a meeting and communicate and move agenda items forward,” said Kurt Kinnear, CEO of 4-H Alberta. “The benefit I hear about most consistently is public speaking.” Many 4-H graduates have gone on to leadership roles in agriculture, he added. Though not involved in 4-H as a youth member, Connie Matson’s training and experience as a 4-H leader partially prepared her for work as an ag board member. A Sylvan Lake farmer and agronomist, Matson served as a club leader for 13 years. Asked to take on the role after just two months as a volunteer, the organization enrolled her in a now- defunct Alberta government agricultural leadership program. “It was excellent,” said Matson. “It really gave me a hand up as a leader.” Asked to stand for an Alberta Barley board position, she was hopeful she had the right skillset to assist with research projects. She believed her experience in commodity marketing and as an agronomist would be an asset. An Alberta Barley Region 3 delegate since 2017, Matson was elected director-at- large in 2021 and is now an Alberta Grains interim director and research committee chair. “We have stronger boards if we are willing to extend a hand and pull people in and work side by side with them,” she said. “We become stronger together when we include diverse backgrounds, experience and perspectives.” Alberta Grains extended such a hand to Tasha Alexander. The Brownvale area farmer hadn’t thought about taking on a leadership role until approached. She knew she could contribute and wanted to see more young people join the board. Alexander was appointed an Alberta Wheat Commission region five representative in 2021. In-person elections did not take place that year due to COVID. Distance from board meeting locations would have been a barrier previously, but Alexander was able to take on the role precisely because remote, online meetings became routine. Farmers in their 20s and 30s often have young families, which makes travel for meetings difficult, said Alexander, who is in her mid-40s. Making virtual meetings possible again could break down this barrier to entry, she suggested. Another impediment is not seeing oneself represented on the board. “When you see it’s all men, you think they just want the farmers, which are usually the men,” said Alexander. “What made the difference was seeing someone like Tara Sawyer doing a great job on the board.” She found working with her farm peers feeds her desire to learn more “We become stronger together when we include diverse backgrounds, experience and perspectives.” —ConnieMatson FEATURE