by Paul Lehman, public affairs officer, FSA West Region
Brenda Farias has been selected as one of 24 participants in 2012-2013 class ofthe California Agricultural Leadership Program. Leadership seems to come naturally to the downtown Los Angeles native who grew up in the inner city thinking about becoming an animal doctor and is now the county executive director of the busy Santa Maria FSA office.
“Early on in college I knew I wanted to work for the United States Department of Agriculture,” notes Brenda. “Although I didn’t grow up in a farm, I visited my grandparents’ farm each summer in Mexico and learned to love the animals.” Brenda shows a passion for meeting challenges, team-building and bringing people together. Through the Ag Leadership Program she hopes to expand her personal skills to be a more effective and influential leader in her community.
Agricultural leadership development programs like this are conducted in several locations in the U.S. with the support of the agricultural colleges. In California the university partners are Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly Pomona, California State University Fresno and University of California–Davis.
In monthly three-day seminars the California program focuses on communication skills, strategic thinking, leadership theory, ethics, political / legislative systems and current national and international issues. During the two-year program commitment, class members will travel to Detroit and Washington, D.C. for a 10-day food and society seminar and will travel internationally for 15 days visiting farms and ag production facilities and learning about world food and diplomacy issues.
Brenda has already seen the other side of the planet, visiting the Olympic Games in Greece (2004) and China (2008) and countries nearby each location. “At the Olympics, you can meet an awesome variety of people all over the world in one place,” said Brenda. “My future plans include a trip to the 2014 World Cup competition in Brazil.”
Upon entering the current class in this 42-year California Ag Leadership Program, Brenda joins a well-respected set of colleagues who have benefitted from this post-graduate level educational experience. Alumni include a former USDA Secretary, former USDA Chief of Staff, several California State Secretaries of Agriculture as well as State Senators and Assembly members and leaders from business, industry groups and the academic community.
“Brenda is an energetic young CED who does a great job leading our Santa Maria staff working with farmers and ranchers in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties,” said Val Dolcini, California State Executive Director. “We are proud of her accomplishment in being selected for the Ag Leadership Program and know she will be a valuable member of her class.”
