WOMEN CHANGING THE FACE OF AGRICULTURE ANNOUNCES 2023 EVENT 

The 2023 Women Changing the Face of Agriculture career exploration event will be held in- person at Carl Sandburg College located in Galesburg, Illinois on March 3, 2023. Registration for the event will open December 15, 2022. 

Each school or organization is limited to 8 student registrants and 1 chaperone registration. Registration will close on February 17, 2023 or earlier if the maximum capacity of 400 students is met. To register for the event, please visit Registration – WCFA (womenchangingthefaceofagriculture.com) for more information.  The event is still open to professionals of agricultural related careers to be part of the event as career panelists or as sponsors.

This year’s event will include a keynote speaker, rotation through five career panels, an etiquette session, and opportunities to network with professionals. A new addition to the career panel rotation this year are incorporated hands-on sessions which feature engineering, soil health, tractor and equipment design and service, and drone technology. In addition, we will recognize scholarship recipients as well as other award winners during our program.

Our 2023 event keynote speaker is Miriam Hoffman of Earlville, Illinois. Miriam Hoffman is a 22-year-old driven by curiosity and a love for people. Currently a senior at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, she will graduate in May of 2023 with a degree in agribusiness economics and a minor in marketing. Her love for agriculture began on her family’s small, diversified crop and livestock farm in north central Illinois, and she has continued to develop that passion through her time in FFA where she served as the 2020-2021 National Eastern Region Vice President. Her long-term career ambition is to help build businesses which contribute to more resilient farms and rural economies and she plans to begin her career in agricultural sales and marketing.

Women Changing the Face of Agriculture event was first held in 2010. In the last 13 years, more than $50,000 in scholarships have been awarded and more than 6,500 high school girls have attended. Gayle Baker, Illinois Agri-Women member and co-chair of the event has been involved in the event since 2015. She said, “Our committee has had so much fun this year developing new ideas to incorporate into this event, such as hands on activities and an etiquette session, which only provide more opportunities for attendees to see and experience hands-on activities to the wide range of careers that are available in the industry of agriculture.”.

Women Changing the Face of Agriculture is a project of Illinois Agri-Women (IAW) which showcases a career exploration event for young women interested in agriculture. This event strives to give women the opportunity to explore different career paths, interact with industry professionals, and receive accurate information first hand from women in agriculture. For more information visit WCFA – Interact, Learn, Network (womenchangingthefaceofagriculture.com).