Progress 06/01/24 to 05/31/25
Outputs
Target Audience:The NextGen Learning to Lead (L2L)workforce development project is the culmination of a 20-year industry-education partnership. In 2006 the fresh cut-leafy green food production industry turned to Hartnell Collegeto fill a need formore and better middle skill workers in areas like food safety and plant production.Now in 2025, with recent increasedmerging of agriculture and technology, we continue to evolve this partnership as more middle skill workers require further education like a Bachelor's degree to effectively enter the workforce. L2Lfocuses its efforts in the Salinas Valley in Monterey County, California, Imperial County, California, and Yuma, Arizona. L2L supports pathways in four high-skill agricultural disciplines with associate and baccalaureate degree programs leading to high growth occupations. The four pathways are: Agriculture Plant Science; Agriculture Food Safety; Agriculture Business Management; and Industrial Automation/Mechatronics. The project is designed to support success of students at the project community colleges (Hartnell College and Imperial Valley College) while building strong transfer pathways to project 4-year universities (CSU Monterey Bay and the University of Arizona, Yuma).With work-based learning and hands-on education, we bring practical application to the theoretical education provided at the universities. Through continued collaboration with the largest of America's fresh cut vegetable producers, theLearning to Lead programsuppliesa deeplyinformed workforceto grow the quality food needed to feed America. ____ Target audience for the main goals of L2L Outreach and engagement:Local agricultural community (producers, farmers, shippers, etc.), high/adult school studentsand community members Recruitment:high/adult school students, community members, community college & university students Experiences to increase employability skills(in collaboration with our agricultural communities- USDA, producers, farmers, shippers, etc.): high school students,community members, community college & university students Activities to increase enrollment, retention, transfer, and degree completion:community college & university students Changes/Problems:Several factors impacted Learning to Lead(L2L)in year 2. Year 2 L2L participant recruitment had some problems. We recruit new students year-round into L2L. Recruitment was curtailed in the spring of 2025, as we did not want to recruit actively for a program we were uncertain would continue due to budget stability concerns. In particular at Hartnell we would have liked to recruit another 35-40 students in the spring. Regardless, as an overall picture, we are still on track to meet our participation numbers by the end of L2L in 2028. But year 3 recruitment will be particularly critical because of these problems. We had several other L2L activitity shrinkagesin spring 2025. For a second year, wehad recruited a team of students to participate in the 2025USDA Foreign Foreign Ag Service (FAS) Agriculture Export Market Challenge. But before they could start, the Challenge was postponed and did not resume. In year 1, Challenge participation led to an opportunity for four of our studentsbeing placed as 2024 summer internsat FAS. So without the Challenge, this possible path was also not availalbe. Relatedly in the summer of 2024, we were able to place 10 students in nation-wide USDA internships collaborating withNextGen efforts. This broader effort was also put on hold during what would have been the recruitment period for Summer 2025. This will likely led to smaller numbers of L2L placements inUSDA internships for year 3. We will have some, as we were able to do some USDA placement locally. Total L2L intern numbers for the 2025 summer will likely not suffer, as we adjusted placements into other opportunities. Regardless of these situationsin year 2, L2L is on track with our goals, objectives, and outcomes. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During year 2, the Learning to Lead (L2L) partners provided extensive professional development opportunities to our participants. From June 2024 to May 2025, L2L students did 187 internships and participated in 51 other career development activities. A key recommendation from our year one L2L Evaluation was to ensure all L2L participants gain meaningful value from the program, particularly since most will not receive ascholarship. Learning to Lead professional development is an important way we do this. As a through-line across our professional development activities, we discuss the benefits of mentorships and networking so participants get this message while they are able to see mentors and networking opportunities in real time. Additionally, the L2L team is working to keep students in L2L transfer cohorts actively connected and engaged with one another, within an institution, across institutions, and intentionally for all our transferred students regardless of where they go. As they finish their educational goals and move into the workforce, we will work to keep these networks active to continue providing this supportive connection. We believe this connectedness will serve the leafy green- fresh cut vegetable workforce for years to come. Internships From Summer 2024 to Spring 2025, Learning to Lead (L2L) placed students in 187 paid internships. Impressively, Imperial Valley College's program grew from 12 placements in year one to 48 in year two. Of the187 internships, 29% were 240 hours or longer. The remaining were shorter 75-hour internships. We continue to find this length to be short enough to provide flexibility to students and mentors, long enough to build solid mentee-mentor relationships, and a good amount of time to engage a topic in a meaningful way. In year 2 we bought on a new type of internship- the transfer internship. Through this program we place students in opportunities in their transfer summer at the institution where they are transferring. This allows them to get a head start in getting to know campuses, professors, students, communities, while providing midsummer financial resources to cover unexpected bills that can be a transfer barrier. We placed a total of 21 Transfer Interns in Summer 2024, with 11 students at CSUMB, 8 though UA-Yuma, and 2 at Fresno State. An intern working with ag tech at CSUMB described: "My internship taught me how to work with new technology like field robots, which are being tested to help with labor shortages in farming. I learned how to set them up, monitor their work, and report any problems to the team. This showed me how technology and agriculture can work together to help farmers. I also gained skills in data collection and organization by managing data. Most of all, I learned how to communicate better with both researchers and farm workers. I had to listen carefully, ask questions, and work as a team--skills that are very important when working with growers and producers. These experiences gave me the confidence and knowledge to keep learning and helping others in agriculture." Though students learn a multitude from internships, they specifically become more ready to join the workforce. A student from one of our skill-centered internships reported "My drone internship gave me a new perspective on an up & coming industry. This internship showed me the new possibilities with drones. Be that from spraying crops to maintenance inspections in hard to reach places. Once I gained the skills to fly a drone and got my license. I dabbled in the drone job market and got a job doing field surveys for a company. Thanks to this internship I was able to expand my connections, so I am truly grateful for that!" A second-time intern said: "I feel that I have been able to make a difference in my communities already! For example, last summer when I interned with the USDA APHIS department, I helped them make an onboarding packet for interns, being that I was their first intern ever. I also helped update a lot of their data for past pests they track. Now I am interning with Driscoll's, helping conduct multiple experiments on various pests this summer. I have learned so much and feel that I can take these skills anywhere in the Salinas Valley." Across the 187 opportunities industry hosts included: USDA Agencies (NCRS, FNS, FAS, APHIS, ARS), ALBA (Ag & Land-Based Training Assn), Farm-ng, Monterey & Imperial Food Banks, Imperial Valley Ag Commissioner, Imperial Valley Sheriff, Sabor Farms, D'Arrigo, Taylor Farms, Earthbound, Sakata, Syngenta, UA Ag Research Center Farm & Cooperative Extension, UC ANR & Cooperative Extension. Career Development Activities In year two of the Learning to Lead Project (L2L), the cross-institution team provide 6 orientations, 26 monthly meetings, 8 community college to university events, and supported 8 conference teams. A key anchor of the L2L program is the monthly participant meetings. 26 meetings were held across the four institutions this year, with 2 of them on zoom to allow cross-institution participation. Topics included internship preparation, transfer exploration, and industry speakers. The orientations varied by school and time of year. In the summer leading to 2024 matriculation and transfer,orientations occurred at most schools. At Hartnell (HC) there was a 3-day summer bridge that included working for a half dayat the food bank farm, student success workshops, and a number of panels/industry speakers. At University of Arizona- Yuma (UA-Y) and CSU Monterey Bay (CSUMB) transferring students have an orientation that leads into their summer internship placements. Imperial Valley College(IVC) does not complete their registration until after the first week of school, so they do an introduction event a few weeks into the school year. L2L participants (#) attended several key USDA webinars, including an info session that introduced USDA internship pathways through HACU (75), a Storytelling Presentation on Professional Communication (32), and a USAJobs Webinar hosted by OPPE office (50). As a partnership we had 8 College to University events to engage community college students with possible transfer campuses encouraging them to take this next step in their education. These included joint career fairs, university visits, and a residential program at UA-Yuma. Both UA-Yuma and CSUMB have a frequent presence at their nearest college, and we have begun visits during which groups of students from one of the community colleges visit the further university partner. L2L students participated in a number of industry/agency tours this year. 12 HC students went on a drone tour with Guardian and Wilbur-Ellis. They got to see drones work in the fields and development of new drone technology. 11 IVC students did a half-day USDA APHIS visit to broaden their understanding of the rolekey agency. 8 students participated in the California Seed Association Salinas Valley Seed Tour, visiting a number of seed companies to learn about what each has to offer. L2L students attended the ¡Adelante! Leadership Institute at the 2024 HACU Conference in Colorado. One student presented her internship work at SACNAS. Students from both HC and IVC attended the Southwest Ag Summit in Yuma. Teams also attending the MANRRS Annual Training Conference and Career Expo. During a USDA State Secretary visit to Imperial Valley, several IVC/UA-Yuma students attended. One reported out "During the roundtable discussion I was impressed by the amount of farmers in the Yuma community. I became knowledgeable about the irrigation problems the farmers face. I feel like I was able to speak for minority groups whom seek an opportunity to grow within USDA." Taken as a whole, this professional development helps L2L participants understand the diversity of career opportunities in the leafy-green industry and to see themselves joining this workforce. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The Learning to Lead (L2L) community colleges topped last year's extensive outreach by nearly doubling the number of contacts in year 2. In year two, 9,668 high school students and community members were exposed to new career options in agriculture, new learning tools like internships, and new educational paths including certificate, associate degree, and transfer options. Outreach is key to our efforts as the youth and other potential workers in the rural communities of the Salinas and Imperial Valleys often get negative messages about local agricultural careers. They frequently see or experience firsthand the difficulties of working in the fields and processing facilities. L2L focuses its outreach to provide a much broader view of the high-wage, high-demand, high-skill careers available in our agricultural industries and at the USDA. This career exposure encourages the workers of tomorrow to seriously consider local agricultural opportunities that will keep our rural communities strong. Community Through engagement opportunities like workshops, demonstrations, and event tabling, 589community members were engaged learning about educational pathways and ag careers. Tabling events ranged from speaking with workers at the Monterey Dia de Trajabador, fair goers at the CTE Showcase at the Imperial County Fair, and interacting with families at the UA-Yuma Farm to Family day. We also presented our programs to groups like the Monterey AgKnowledge Cohort 10, the Imperial County Farm Bureau, and various Adult Ed groups. On October 3 students from Imperial Valley College (IVC) spoke with the USDA Deputy Secretary at a Round Table event. They got to hear from a number of farmers from the Yuma community speak about problems they have with irrigation. They got to speak about their interest in jobs and internships with the USDA in the future. Across activities like college tours, open houses, and school visits, 9,079 high school students learned about agriculture careers, opportunities in higher education, and the L2L grant. When possible, students were engaged in career-relevant, hands-on activities. A student reflected on one of these experiences"The first meeting introducing L2L was the first time I ever went to a college campus alone. All the things we did and talked about helped me see that College wasn't scary, but that it is full of experiences, opportunities, and help." Industry We have also started keeping track of the participation we get from industry partners across some of our larger events like career fairs. In year 2, we brought in at least 156 industry partners to interact with our programs and participants. In April, HC hosted the California Seed Association/Seed Central for a "Last Year I Was You" panel and career fair. Eight seed companies sent recently hired employees to interact with the participants. CSUMB hosted 2 Career Fairs where 50-55 regional agricultural employers and USDA agencies interacted with over 300 students. Though these experiences industry professionals get to know our campuses, hear about our programs from the students in them, and get a deeper idea of the caliber of students as they are ready to enter the workforce. From the student side we hear things like "This program is always helping me reach my career goals by providing opportunities to talk to agriculture professionals and allowing me to learn more about the career I am interested in". High School Outreach Across activities like college tours, open houses, and school visits, 9,079 high school students learned about agriculture careers, opportunities in higher education, and USDA opportunities. When possible, students were engaged in career-relevant, hands-on activities. Using L2L resources, Imperial Valley College was able to increase their high school outreach almost tenfold in year 2. They did extensive tabling at their regional high schools during the fall and spring Higher Education Weeks. They also hosted the 2025 Agri-STEM Field Day: Cultivating College and Career Readiness" with the USDA and UA-Yuma. Eighty participants attended sessions such as "How to Turn Data into Dollars- Agriculture and Resource Economics" and Agriculture Technology". At Hartnell L2L staff and mentors spoke with over 800 entering students at the Panther Prep days, where graduating seniors come on campus to learn about college resources and register for Fall classes. HC also hosted a December Openhouse where over 900 high school students came on campus to see our Ag-supporting educational programs and labs face to face. In total, theseengagements were nearly 10 times over our annual goal of 1000. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?By the end of year 2, all Learning to Lead (L2L) components are in place, so year 3 will be focused on continuing and improving our efforts and activities. This is key timing as in year 3 we will bring in the last L2L cohort that can have NextGen support starting at the community college, participate in the wrap around supports, and go on to a year of transfer- if that is their goal. We will have our second round of formative evaluation, with the L2L evaluation team and evaluator working to deepen the effectiveness of L2L to meet its goals. Year 3 will also be the first year L2L participants will graduate with bachelor's degrees, leading into careers and/or possible graduate school. As one student reports: "Agriculture is more than a profession for me - its my calling. With the knowledge and skills, I've gained, I've proudly opened my own business-Imperial Valley Farm to Barn, where I specialize in growing hay for local livestock and equine farms." Our upcoming work on themain Learning to Lead Goals will be: Outreach and engagement (high school and community). We have hit a stride with outreach that far exceeds our planned yearly goals to expose high school and community members to new career options in agriculture, new learning tools like internships, new educational paths including certificate, associate degree, and transfer options. We anticipate we will easily achieve our grant annual goal for 1000 engagements of outreach and engagement in year 3 of L2L. Recruitment to partner community colleges. We are currently recruiting incoming students for the 2025-26 academic year. Increased enrollment will be a focus at both L2L community colleges this year, as we have an eye toward ensuring we meet our overall participation goals by the end of the L2L grant in 2028. Having completed 2 years of targeted outreach, we believe the Learning to Lead programs is becoming more known in our communities and reports of L2L successes are getting back to entering and continuing students. The L2L partners have had some coordinating conversations about onboarding processes, and in year 3 we will welcome new participants to the 4 institutions with orientations, summer bridges, and other events designed to connect students to their academic programs, each other, and their schools. Participation in employability experiences (like internships) Having seen a significant uptick in internship placements in year 2, we plan to continue to grow in year 3. We recently asked 21 students who had been in the L2L program for 2 years to describe how L2L has helped them. Nearly all described increased knowledge, skills, and/or understanding (90%), 86% cited improved communication, connection, and/or networking. 57% described increased leadership skills. As a highlight, 43% specifically indicated the supports of L2L will allow them to go further with their goals than they had originally planned. We also plan to continue to engage the majority of L2L students in educational and professional enrichment activities and internships that support career readiness and the timely completion of their goals. Completion of certificates/degrees and transfer to a four-year program. By the end of the second year of Learning to Lead (l2L) activities, 61% of the active L2L participants had transferred and another 9% have reached a goal like earning a certificate or degree. For year 3, HC and IVC will continue to provide L2L programming, such as career development activities and internships to move more students to their goals. Year 3 will be the first year L2L participants will graduate with bachelor's degrees move into their first jobs. We will start to have data from these participants to track their careers and beyond. For the first two years of Learning to Lead, transfers have tended to be within the region, either Hartnell to CSUMB or IVC to University of Arizona, Yuma. In year 2, we brought HC students to UA-Yuma and plan in early summer bring a group of IVC students to visit CSUMB. We plan to continue these and other efforts to increase cross-region transfers. Retention Now that we have students at all 4 institutions, we need to dive deeper into our retention data to address some key L2L metrics. A key retention strategy we use is peer mentors. HC will increase its team to 5 over the summer. They will all be trained in mentoring skills, like open ended questions and supporting students by knowing their background. IVC had a peer mentor in year 2, but there are discussions for increasing this to 2. We will do joint trainings with both groups. Relatedly, we started a L2L Transfer Learning Community with 3 peer mentors in mid-fall 2024. This supports all L2L transfer students, regardless of which community college they went to and where they have transferred, with study sessions, panels, and connections. For year 3, this program is already up and running so it will be able to provide key support over the summer and early weeks of transfer- a particularly difficult time for transfer students. ___ In summary in year 3, we plan to continue to support students toward experiences that elicit quotes about the L2L journey like this one "The Learning to Lead (L2L) program played an important role in helping me enter the local agricultural workforce with confidence and purpose. Through workshops and mentorship, L2L helped me clarify my career goals in sustainable agriculture and agribusiness. The program also connected me with local organizations like ALBA, where I've had the opportunity to work as a Food Safety Assistant and intern in pest management."
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In Year 2, Learning to Lead (L2L) Project activities continued to focus on building and supporting student pathways at the two project community colleges: Hartnell College (HC) and Imperial Valley College (IVC). With our first program transfers to The University of Arizona- Yuma (UA-Y) and California State University- Monterey Bay (CSUMB), in year 2 we have made great progress toward our overarching objective to help students reach their educational and career goals. Outreach and engagement (high school and community) The L2L partner community colleges did extensive outreach inyear two of our grant, doubling the number of contactsfrom last year. Through our outreach and engagement activities, 9,668 high school students and community members were exposed to new career options in agriculture, new learning tools like internships, new educational paths including certificate, associate degree, and transfer options. Through engagement opportunities like workshops, demonstrations, and event tabling, 589community members were engaged learning about educational pathways and ag careers. Across activities like college tours, open houses, and school visits, 9,079 high school students learned about agriculture careers, opportunities in higher education, the USDA, and the L2L grant. When possible, students were engaged in career-relevant, hands-on activities. Additionally, across some of our larger events like career fairs, we brought in 156 industry partners to interact with our programs and participants. Though these experiences industry professionals get to know our campuses, hear about our programs from the students in them, and get a deeper idea of the caliber of our students as they ready to enter the workforce. In total theseengagements were nearly 10 times over our annual goal of 1000. Recruitment to Learning to Lead Program at the community colleges Our USDA Learning to Lead External Evaluation- Through September 2024 highlighted the importance of clear onboarding and examined the onboarding processes at each institution. In response the evaluation team discussed this key process and worked to develop consistency in the orientations and agreements we use with students joining L2L leading to uniformity across the 4 partner institutions. For the 2024-25 grant year, we had 191 students in the Learning to Lead (L2L) program. This was a growth of 36% at Hartnell College (HC) and 53% at Imperial Valley College (IVC). Entering students have the following proportions in these majors: 58% Ag Plant Science, 35% Ag Business, with the remainder in majors like Mechatronics and Food Safety. We also brought on transfers at the university partners with 10 L2L transfers to the University of Arizona-Yuma (UA-Y), and 11 to CSU Monterey Bay (CSUMB). We recruit new students year-round to L2L. Recruitment was curtailed in the spring of 2025, as we did not want to recruit actively for a program we were uncertain would continue due to budget stability concerns. In particular at Hartnell we would have liked to recruit another 35-40 students in the spring. Regardless, as an overall picture, we are still on track to meet our participation numbers by the end of L2L in 2028. Improve student retention Student retention is being supported by a slate of the components of the Learning to Lead program. With the success of peer mentors at Hartnell, all 191 L2L participants had access to a peer mentor in year 2. IVC has been able to bring this support to the students in their program, and we have developed the L2L Transfer Learning Community to support our transfer students with networking and access to 3 transfer mentors. Each institution offers monthly meeting to support cohort development and college connection. Topics covered include campus resources, career speakers, and job search tools like resume and interview skills. We also had two cross-institution meetings with an Internship Panel in February and a Transfer Panel in March. L2L Scholarships were a key retention strategy to keep our participants engaged in their educational programs. In 2024-2025 we awarded 21 Transfer Scholarships to L2L participants transferring to CSU Monterey Bay (CSUMB) and University of Arizona- Yuma (UA-Y). These scholarships are designed to help students with their unmet financial need in their two years after transfer. By the end of the 2024-25 academic year 90% these recipients were retained. Two quotes from recipients: "Being a first-generation student can be overwhelming, and there have been times I worried I wouldn't be able to keep going. I'm so thankful for the L2L scholarship. It's made a real difference. I also really appreciate how L2L continues to look out for us, even after transfer. That kind of support means a lot." "Receiving the L2L Scholarship has been a turning point in my academic journey. It not only eased the financial burden of transferring to a University but also gave me confidence and support to fully dedicate myself to the Agricultural Plant and Soil Science program." L2L students at the partner community colleges are eligible to apply for emergency scholarships substantial enough to surpass a financial bump. We awarded 25 emergency scholarships this year. One story was: "My current loss of income has resulted in unexpected financial hardship. Losing my job has deeply impacted my ability to support myself while pursuing my education. This scholarship provided the critical assistance I needed to continue pursuing my academic goals during this challenging time. This scholarship has aided me in covering my tuition fees, and without it I would not have been able to register for spring 2025." Participation in employability experiences (like internships) From Summer 2024 to Spring 2025, Learning to Lead (L2L) placed students in 187 paid internships. Impressively, IVC's program grew from 12 placements in year one to 48 in year two. We also started our Transfer Internship program with 11 students place through CSUMB, 8 though UA-Yuma, and 2 at Fresno State. One student reported "When I did my internship at UC ANR, I was exposed to real-life hands-on projects-from being out in the field to being in a lab to testing out the final product. By having this experience, I feel confident in my ability to grow crops and conduct research to better help our farmers on certain situation that will better the yield of their crops given the environment they are in." Completion of certificates/degrees and transfer to a four-year program Of the 113 L2L community college participants who have been in the program for two years, 61% have successfully transferred to a four-year university. An additional 9% have achieved another academic goal, such as completing a certificate or a degree. When we include students who are still actively enrolled at the community colleges, the success rate rises to 94%--meaning they have either transferred, completed a goal, or are still on track to do so. 30 L2L students have been accepted as Fall 2025 transfers, to schools including UA-Y, CSUMB, Fresno State, Chico State, and Cal Poly SLO & Pomona.
Publications
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Progress 06/01/23 to 05/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:The NextGen Learning to Lead (L2L) Project focuses its efforts inthe Salinas Valley in Monterey County, California, Imperial County, California, and Yuma, Arizona. L2L supports pathways in four high-skill agricultural associate and baccalaureate degree programs leading to high growth occupations in which Latinx students and women are severely underrepresented. The four pathways are: Agriculture Plant Science; Agriculture Food Safety; Agriculture Business Management; and Industrial Automation/Mechatronics. The project is designed to support success of students at the project community colleges (Hartnell College andImperial Valley College) while building strong transfer pathways to project 4-year universities (CSU Monterey Bayand the University of Arizona, Yuma). All project institutions are Hispanic Serving Institutions. Target audience of main goals of L2L Outreach and engagement- high school students and community Recruitment-high school students, community, community college & university students Experiences to increase employability skills-high school students,community, community college & university students Activities to increase enrollment, retention, transfer, and degree completion-community college & university students Changes/Problems:Several factors impacted our L2L expenditures in year 1. Both community colleges have emergency scholarships to award designed to ensure students can maintain enrollment uninterrupted when faced with financial bumps. In year 1 we put in place award processes for these scholarships, but we look forward to year 2 when we can fully utilize these scholarships to support students. We had great connections with our high schools in year 1, but we are looking forward deepening engagement with more and earlier visits, tighter support of high school teachers, and increased work with FFA. Delays in hiring: support staff needed to be hired at all four L2L partner schools, a significant task. Delays occurred due to avariety of institution-specific issues and processes. In year 2 and ongoing, maintaining full staffing will be a priority. Regardless of staffing gaps in year 1, L2L is on track with goals, objectives, and outcomes. Unexpected outcomes For internships, our proposal called out a few specific types of internships. During our first year, we have found a new internship modality particularly effective. These internships are approximately 75 hours of work with a stipend of $1,200. This amount of time is flexible around a student's schedule, is long enough engage a topic in a meaningful way, and is a comfortable amount of time for new industry and government partners. Some examples are students working with local food banks, growing and/or distributing food, students studying to take their FAA Part 107 drone test with hands-on experience, and first-time USDA placements in the Imperial Valley area. As we enter our first full summer, we willcontinue to work to align, build and find internships and internship structures that meet allstudent needs, progressing from high school to career. The L2L project is heavy on student support, and ensuring effective communication with students can be challenging. Utilizing and evaluating the effectiveness of a variety of communication with students will be an on-going part of our program. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During year 1, Hartnell College and Imperial Valley College provided 65 internships and 34 other career development activities. Internships In year 1, Learning to Lead (L2L) placed students in 65 paid internships. IVC colonized new ground with their new Ag internship program, with many new partners and placements. Hartnell surpassed its first-year goal for internships by 280%. Placements included: USDA Agencies ((RD, NRCS, FSA, APHIS, ARS), ALBA (Ag & Land-Based Training Assn), Farm NG, Monterey and Imperial Food Banks, Bio Bee, Sabor Farms, Green Rubber, Rio Farms, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. Short Internship Modality- 75 hours: Of the 65 internships, 66% were quite short term. These internships are approximately 75 hours of work with a stipend of $1,200. We found this effective internship modality a bit by accident. The first NextGen summer was a bit truncated, but offering early internship opportunities was a key goal of our program. To bridge that gap, we quickly worked with an existing partner, ALBA, to place students in a 75-hour seed to harvest experience. Subsequently, we have used the 75-hour internship to build the new ag internship program at IVC, to place students at regional foodbanks, and to train students in drone skills. 75 hours is flexible around a student's schedule, long enough engage a topic in a meaningful way, and a comfortable amount of time to start off with for new industry and government partners.We have found this to be an effective length to teach a set of skills, provide hands-on learning, give context to academic learning, and develop confidence to pursue longer-term internships. A student described their 75-hour experience "The internship at the Foodbank of Monterey County allows students like myself to gain hands-on educational experience, teaches the value of community support, and cultivates meaningful relationships. I performed tasks essential to farm operations, including pre-harvesting duties, installing irrigation drip tape on raised row beds in preparation for planting, direct seeding and transplanting several crops. Throughout my internship, nourishing vegetables were successfully harvested, providing the warehouse with fresh produce inventory." Longer-term Internships: The remaining opportunities were more traditional 6-8 week, full-time experiences. Partners where we placed students include: Farm NG, Bio Bee, Sabor Farms, Green Rubber, Rio Farms, USDA FAS and APHIS. As we enter our first full summer, we willcontinue to work to align, build and find internships and internship structures that meet allstudent needs, progressing from high school to career. USDA-focused Highlight: Hartnell College launched a team of 5 to participate in the 2024 USDA Foreign Foreign Ag Service (FAS) Agriculture Export Market Challenge. They worked with one Hartnell and 2 FAS mentors on a case study and were recognized for a high level of interest. Subsequently, FAS reached out with an interest to bring one of the students on for a 10-week, full-time internship in the summer. After reviewing resumes of possible students, in the end 4 Hartnell students were offered 2024 summer internship opportunities with USDA-FAS. Career Development Activities A key anchor of the L2L program is the monthly participant meetings (15 held across colleges in year 1), with topics like internship preparation, transfer exploration, and industry speakers. One student identified an industry speaker as particularly important: "A specific moment/experience that has had a significant impact on me from the L2L program would be the seminar that was hosted by a Food Safety Specialist for Driscoll's company. This seminar introduced me to the career path of Food handling, Shipping, transportation, and everything else involved with providing safe-to-eat produce. This introduction made me interested in pursuing a career in this field." College to University events (11 in year 1) engage community college students with possible transfer campuses encouraging them to take this next step in their education. Industry tours and skills workshops (8 in year 1) provide students with information and role models toward their possible careers. Conferences and Summits Our students attended the ¡Adelante! Leadership Institute, a three-day event filled with presentations, workshops, luncheons, and a town hall meeting, part of the 2023 HACU Conference in Chicago. One of the students was sponsored by USDA-OPPE. They also had the opportunity to network with conference exhibitors and recruiters. This event is designed to enhance the career and leadership skills of undergraduate students. More than 700 students from across the U.S. and Puerto Rico participated. 6 HC and 3 IVC students attended the 2024 Spring NextGen Student Summit in Washington, DC. Students got deep exposure to structure and functioning of the USDA, networked with other NextGen students, and in all cases visited our national capital for the first time. A student reported the impact on the group as "We joined students from other schools that are part of the same scholarship program that funds L2L. Seeing the resources they invest in us to pursue careers in agriculture was truly impactful. The whole trip was incredibly bonding for us as students and it really motivated us to work harder and move forward." How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The L2L community colleges did extensive outreach in the first year of our grant. In the agricultural communities of the Salinas and Imperial Valleys, youth and other potential workers often are discouraged from considering agricultural careers when they see or experience the difficulties of working in the fields and processing facilities. Through our outreach and engagement activities, L2L is looking to provide a much broader view of high-wage, high-demand, high-skill careers in agriculture. In our first year, 4,726 high school students and community members were exposed to new career options in agriculture, new learning tools like internships, new educational paths including certificates, associate degrees, and transfer options. High School Outreach Across activities like college tours, open houses, and school visits, 3608 high school students learned about agriculture careers, opportunities in higher education, and the L2L grant. When possible, students were engaged in career-relevant, hands-on activities. A typical college tour at Hartnell College was a four-hour visit. Participants engaged with college faculty, staff, and students in 3-4 career-technical labs, including options like mechatronics, welding, diesel, and our simulation room where they could practice driving heavy-equipment like loaders and semi-trucks. The Agriculture/L2L session of the tour was designed to get participants to think about their personal career goals in the context of agriculture with discussion questions like "is ag a business?", "does ag need lawyers?" They then learned a bit about soil science and did a hands-on activity taking cores from a small candy bar as a model of soil cores. When surveyed, more than 90% of participants indicated they had learned about a new job in agriculture. Another highlight: Imperial Valley College hosted the 2024 Agri-STEM Field Day: Cultivating College and Career Readiness with the University of Arizona- Yuma. More than 200 regional students attended sessions like "AgriKOOLture- Ag is For You! In agriculture there is a career for everyone" and "Engineering and Technology- Come explore the crossroads where Agriculture and Engineering meet with exciting possibilities for the future". Community and adult populations We engaged 1118 community participants in opportunities like workshops, demonstrations, and event tabling to learn about educational pathways and ag careers. We tabled at local adult schools and gave campus tours for community organizations, like Young Farmer and Ranchers. As drones are becoming increasingly important for local agriculture, L2L helped support several 4- to 20-hour drone events where participants learned about local uses for drones, earned their certificate to fly for personal use, and got some hands-on flying time. Two of the participants have gone on to do an 8-week, half-time internship at a local company that uses drones to deliver beneficial insects, and 13 did a 75-hour internship where they learned about mission planning, date acquisition/mapping, and earned a certification that allows them to use drones for commercial use With these 4,726 total engagements, the Learning to Lead project exceeded its annual goal of 1000 outreach and engagements by 473%. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Year 2 be the first time our incoming community college cohorts will have access all of the planned project activities. With transfer of our first cohorts in the summer of 2024, in year 2 all four L2L partners will be engaged in supporting students. A through line across all institutions will be the monthly participant meetings. In the summer and fall, our external evaluator will work with the L2L evaluation team to complete a formative evaluation on the effectiveness of L2L to meet its year 1 goals. Upcoming work on main goals Outreach and engagement (high school and community). Year 1 had a larger than anticipated level of outreach and engagement, but most/all events and activities will carry into year 2. The yearly goal for outreach and engagement is 1000 per year. Recruitment to partner community colleges. We are currently recruiting incoming students for the 2024-25 academic year. We anticipate having at least a 10% increase of L2L students at both HC and IVC. Incoming L2L students will start their participation with the Learning to Lead Institute, a bridge-type activity designed to provide college success skills, career exposure, and networking/leadership skills. Participation in employability experiences (like internships) In year 2, we have a significant scale planned for the number of community college students placed in internships, with at least a 50% increase from year 1 to year 2. Additionally, summer 2024 will place students into transfer internships, where student intern at their transfer institution scaffolding the transition between institutions- 10 students have already been placed within the L2L pathway universities. Other summer placements are being finalized, with some particularly exciting opportunities gellingwith the USDA. Completion of certificates/degrees and transfer to a four-year program. By the end of the 2024-25 academic year, HC and IVC will have completers that have benefited from 2 years of L2L programming, such as career development activities and internships. For year 1, transfers tended to be within the region, either Hartnell to CSUMB or IVC to University of Arizona, Yuma. For year 2, we will look toward getting increased cross region transfers. Retentionwe will have our first retention data in year 2.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In Year 1 Learning to Lead (L2L) Project activities focused on building and supporting student pathways at the two project community colleges: Hartnell College (HC) and Imperial Valley College (IVC). Outreach and engagement (high school and community). The community colleges did extensive outreach in the first year of our grant. Through our outreach and engagement activities, 4,726 high school students and community members were exposed to new career options in agriculture, new learning tools like internships, new educational paths including certificates, associate degrees, and transfer options. Across activities like college tours, open houses, and school visits, 3608 high school students learned about agriculture careers, opportunities in higher education, and the L2L grant. When possible, students were engaged in career-relevant, hands-on activities. Through engagement opportunities like workshops, demonstrations, and event tabling, 1118 community members were engaged learning about educational pathways and ag careers. These 4,726 total engagements were 473% over our annual goal of 1000. Recruitment to Learning to Lead Program at the community colleges. For the 2023-24 academic year, we had 77 students in the Learning to Lead program at Hartnell College and 36 at Imperial Valley College. Students are in the following majors: 47% Ag Plant Science, 37% Ag Business, 10% Mechatronics. 94% are working an associate, while the remaining 6% are focusing on a certificate. In the words of 1st year student: "When I went to the first meeting introducing L2L, was a significant time for me. It was the first time I ever went to a college campus alone, fresh out of high school. I was extremely nervous but when I showed up I was able to feel comfortable with the campus and more prepared for school to start. That L2L meeting also made me excited for school, all the things we did and talked about helped me see that College wasn't scary but that it is just full of experiences, opportunities, and help." Improve student retention Student retention is being supported by a number of the components of the L2L program. We have monthly meetings to support cohort development and college connection. In year one, 77 students had access to peer mentors, who they meet with at least monthly to get a peer perspective on challenge, resource suggestions, and increase connection. The remaining 36 students were supported by a dedicated staff member, filling a similar role. One student reported, "The support from the L2L community has motivated me to strive for excellence. Overall, L2L has equipped me with the tools, connections, and confidence needed to succeed in my academic journey and future career in agriculture." As another retention tool, the L2L students at the community colleges are eligible to apply for emergency scholarships of up to $2,000. Though the financial amount may seem small, the stories we are hearing about the impact is significant. Student 1 was laid off from her job due to restaurant going out of business and she was worried this would force her to drop out of college. As a result of receiving an emergency scholarship, the student was able to finish her classes at IVC and complete an internship with UDSA APHIS at Calexico Border Crossing. For 2024-25, she will transfer to University of Arizona, Yuma to pursue her bachelor's degree with a $30,000 transfer internship. In another case an L2L staff was following up with student 2 when he disclosed he had lost his job, left school, moved out of the area, and was living in his car. He was unsure what would happen regarding his education as he had significant financial hardship. The student was advised to apply for an emergency scholarship and was approved. With the funds, he was able to return home and register for classes. Situations like these can divert students away from higher ed forever; these investments allowed the students to stay on their path. Participation in employability experiences (like internships) In year 1, Learning to Lead (L2L) placed students in 65 paid internships. IVC colonized new ground with their new Ag internship program, with many new partners and placements. Hartnell surpassed its first-year goal for internships by 280%. Placements included: USDA Agencies ((RD, NRCS, FSA, APHIS, ARS), ALBA (Ag & Land-Based Training Assn), Farm NG, Monterey and Imperial Food Banks, Bio Bee, Sabor Farms, Green Rubber, Rio Farms, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources. As we enter our first full summer, we willcontinue to work to align, build and find internships and internship structures that meet allstudent needs, progressing from high school to career. Completion of certificates/degrees and transfer to a four-year program. We have 29 Learning to Lead students transferring from community college to university for Fall 2024. Continuing in the L2L pathways, 11 are transferring to CSU Monterey Bay and 7 to the University of Arizona, Yuma. Students who transfer to L2L-partner universities are eligible to apply for $30,000 to use to complete their bachelor's degrees, as well as an opportunity to participate in transfer internships the summer before their program starts. We look forward to data about degree-completion once the 2023-24 school year completes for both community colleges.
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