WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Farm Bureau Federation will host two sessions of Women’s Communications Boot Camp in 2020 – June 9-12 and Oct. 13-16. Most recently, Dotty Jensen and Delaney Nalder participated in the training. The training is open to all female members interested in building skills needed to communicate about agriculture and for Farm Bureau. The deadline for applying for the program is March 28, 2020.

Women’s Communication Boot Camp is an intensive training opportunity for any female Farm Bureau member interested in building skills needed to communicate about agriculture and for Farm Bureau. To date, 210 women from 44 states – including several from Utah – have graduated from the program and provide Farm Bureau with a group of passionate and persuasive members who lend their voices and advocacy, connecting with influencers at the local, state and national levels. 

Participants will receive training on advocacy, public speaking, communicating with elected officials, social media strategy, targeted messaging and working with the media. Only 15 participants are selected to participate in each class of Women’s Communications Boot Camp. 

All applications are reviewed and scored individually by a panel of judges providing a select class with an experience of a lifetime. Successful applicants must complete a pre-training coaching session with AFBF staff and come prepared to present a brief speech on one of AFBF’s current priority issues. Participants will complete an intensive round of media interviews and learn how to advocate with action. Feedback is given throughout the training to assist participants in becoming stronger Farm Bureau advocates.

Women’s Boot Camp graduates use their training:

  • by positively influencing elected legislators
  • by creating or acting upon local media opportunities to support Farm Bureau’s policy work
  • by joining social media campaigns to share positive messages about agriculture
  • by influencing consumers when planning and implementing outreach events
  • by speaking about agricultural innovations and enterprises with a variety of audiences, community groups, in classrooms and with neighbors.

"Engaging with consumers to build their trust in agriculture is more important than ever,” said Sherry Saylor, an Arizona crop farmer and chair of the American Farm Bureau’s Women’s Leadership Committee. “Food remains a hot topic in our society, which presents a tremendous sharing opportunity for farmers and ranchers.”

Applicants will be notified of their status by e-mail on or before April 24. Applicants will have the option to have their application carried over to the fall session application pool (Oct. 13-16) if not selected for the summer session. Program fees will be covered by the Utah Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee if a Utah applicant is selected. 

For more information and to apply, visit the Women’s Communications Boot Camp page on the AFBF website, https://bit.ly/381f8F8.

Applications for both sessions can be found during the corresponding application period at: http://bit.ly/WLCommBootCamp, but only applications for the summer session are being accepted currently. Handwritten and/or scanned entries will not be accepted.