Performing Department
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Non Technical Summary
There remains a critical lack of racial diversity across the agricultural sector and the organic industry, especially apparent in the population of organic certifiers, organic inspectors, and in the personnel of organizations and universities who provide much of the nation's technical assistance and educational programming in agriculture. The long-term goal of this project is to jumpstart participation and motivation for a diverse representation in future organic leadership that helps make the organic sector more inclusive, equitable, and just. To meet this goal, our project will develop and distribute innovative professional development and culturally relevant curricula that target 18 faculty members and 8 student fellows. Education modules including inspirational films developed by this project team will equip participants with foundational knowledge about organic through an Organic 101 type of training and offer exposure to a variety of professional career opportunities across the organic industry.This program will include a week-long learning exchange facilitated by The Organic Center and Organic Trade Association and an 8-week paid student fellowship to work with professionals across the industry. Held in parallel with Organic Week in Washington D.C, the learning exchange will expose participants to organic policies, processes, and challenges, and professional networking across the organic sector. Learning sessions/modules will be interspersed with workshops for professional development to help (a) faculty connect with minority students through culturally relevant pedagogy, and (b) prepare students for their fellowship placement with collaborating agencies and businesses committed to centering racial equity in professional development and the organic movement.
Animal Health Component
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Research Effort Categories
Basic
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Applied
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Developmental
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Goals / Objectives
CRITICAL NEED AND LONG-TERM GOALS:Through cohorts of inspired and empowered university faculty who will teach organic agriculture in ways that inspire students and offer a greater understanding of and broader participation in the organic sector, our long-term goal is to co-create culturally relevant content and experiential learning opportunities that accelerate an increase in the diverse representation across future organic leadership and workforce.U.S. organic agriculture is the fastest-growing sector of the U.S. farm-to-fork supply chain. Organic food sales continue to increase annually and have reached a substantial $69 billion per year.To meet industry needs, it is critical that we recruit and train students and other professionals to enter the organic workforce.The vision of a future organic sector that is more just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive is shared by faculty, businesses, federal and non-federal entities, and students across the country. Inspired by the USDA's Federal Equity Commission recommendations for investments in minority-serving institutions better positioned to reach a diverse and historically underserved population, we will target and recruit faculty and students across minority-serving institutions across the country to help pilot a professional development workshop and experiential learning fellowship that are featured in this project.OBJECTIVES:We believe that empowering educators who are best positioned and prepared to reach a diverse set of students and leveraging a willing set of stakeholders and potential employers committed to centering racial equity in the organic movement, will help tackle the distinctive challenges encountered by growers and other stakeholders in the organic industry, especially farmers of color. In this regard, we propose three key objectives as part of our project:1a. Implement professional development training for agriculture faculty employed at federally designated minority-serving institutions, including 1890 Land Grant colleges, 1994 TCUs, and 2009 HSACUs. This intensive training will aim to facilitate sensitivity to, awareness of, and effective teaching pedagogies that help dismantle deficit thinking, build and nurture cultural competencies, and develop a critical consciousness and awareness in faculty and students. The main goal of this objective is to task and empower faculty to better support a diverse workforce that helps ensure agricultural education and its opportunities are equitable, resilient, and prosperous for all.1b. Develop culturally relevant curricula to include Organic 101 to increase faculty and student competence in organic practice standards, certification process and basic rules, organic program governance and the holistic benefits of organic. Some of these modules will be co-designed by faculty participants (objective 1a) and will be made available on a publicly accessible website (see data management plan p 25).2. Develop and implement inspirational professional training for meritorious students interested in experiential learning in the organic sector. This student internship program leverages the tremendous stakeholder interest and commitment to racial equity in organic and will continue to build on this interest to (as a continuation for this project) eventually host a clearing house for student internships across the organic sector. Students will receive coaching from project personnel to explore ways to receive university credit for the summer-long internship to facilitate progress toward their degrees.
Project Methods
Activities proposed:1. Strategic Planning with Advisory Committee Engagement (supports all objectives)In Year 1 PD Sciligo and the Manager of Science Programs will join four advisors and Co-PD Racelis at UTRGV for a 4-day planning session where the objectives, goals, activities proposed and timeline will be revisited and refined. A detailed plan of action for the first two years will be developed and by the end of the summit the whole team will have gained solid grounding in what a culturally relevant curriculum should look like.2. Curriculum Development (Obj. 1a and 1b)Faculty Development WorkshopsWeek-long learning exchange for university faculty and educators and student fellows, will occur in the summer of Years 2 and 4, to coincide with OTA's annual Organic Week in Washington D.C. This event will bring in professional and community voices who can provide baseline knowledge and common language around issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion across the organic community.3. Organic 101 Curriculum DevelopmentFaculty participants each summer will develop inclusive, culturally-relevant teaching modules and pedagogies for effective minority student engagement in organic agriculture or sustainable agriculture-related courses. New or redesigned teaching modules, along with redesigned syllabi for each participant, will be curated and made available online.4. Professional Development and Leadership Skills Training with Experiential Learning Fellowship (Obj. 2)Professional development workshops.Week-long learning exchange for university faculty and educators and student fellows, will occur in the summer of Years 2 and 4, to coincide with OTA's annual Organic Week in Washington D.C. Student programming will focus on leadership skills training and learning about organic, its policies, challenges and opportunities, network building and exposure to various career opportunitiesOrganic Student Fellowship programFollowing the week-long professional development workshops in D.C. students will be placed with their organic sector host to participate in an 8-week experiential learning opportunity.5. One-on-one coaching with professionals, advisors, and mentorsThroughout each year of a student fellowship, following the summer experiential learning opportunity, fellows will have the opportunity to build their networks and professional skills through one-on-one mentoring with industry professionals including advisors.6. Filming and production of an inspirational documentary sharing a relatable journey along the student-to-organic-industry pipeline to be shared with student fellows and incorporated into the organic curriculum modules for faculty.In Year 1, before the Organic Week workshops, production of an impactful series of short mini-documentary features will be filmed and produced. Four vignettes will tell the singular, but universally relatable stories of a cohort of young Latinx organic leaders who emerged from communities like those targeted by this emerging curriculum. Through immersive storytelling, viewers will be able to see themselves with more clarity and confidence at the organic table.7. Project EvaluationThe evaluation plan includes measures of project execution and goal attainment, and measures for student and faculty-focused outcomes and impacts to determine the extent to which the stated objectives have been achieved. Group reflections will be facilitated annually to review individual experiences and measure goal achievement. These activities will help improve the project after each year of the grant period, following benchmarks that will be thoroughly developed in the planning summit in Year 1.