March 30, 2018

Northwest student selected to serve as AFA campus ambassador

By Hannah Brod, media relations assistant

Katie Haase

Katie Haase, a freshman animal science major at Northwest Missouri State University, has been selected as a 2018-2019 Agriculture Future of America Campus Ambassador.

Haase, of Lathrop, Missouri, is one of 16 students selected through a competitive application process to represent AFA on their respective campuses and to AFA’s corporate partners. The group will meet the AFA Student Advisory Team April 12-14 in Kansas City, Missouri, to kick off their year of service and go through training and goal setting exercises.

“As an organization, we value students as leaders,” AFA President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Stewart said. “This group of young men and women selected as AFA student leaders play an important role in everything we do. They are our student voice and influence the direction of our programs.”

Haase said she looks forward to connecting students at Northwest with AFA opportunities.

“I am very excited to receive this position because of the doors it will open, not only within AFA but within the entire agriculture industry,” Haase said.

Throughout their year of service, Haase and her fellow ambassadors will foster AFA’s relationships with students, faculty and staff on their campuses. AFA is a non-profit organization providing leadership development, internship support, and leadership and academic scholarships to young men and women pursuing careers in the agriculture and food industries.

“AFA has already helped me in so many ways after just one year of being involved with them,” Haase said. “I went to my first leader’s conference last fall and it has already opened so many doors for me in the agriculture industry.”

AFA Campus Ambassadors also help staff the AFA Leaders Conference, Nov. 1-4. The event is AFA’s core leader development program and draws more than 500 collegiate leaders from across the nation. More than 150 industry professionals will engage with Haase and her peers throughout the conference environment.

“This position will help me grow within the AFA organization, in the agricultural industry and as a leader,” Haase said. “This position will also allow me to help other students interested in agriculture get involved with this organization.”

This summer, Haase plans to prepare for the 2018 AFA Leaders Conference. She also will work in the University’s Office of Financial Assistance and continue her coursework at Northwest.

In addition to her involvement with AFA, Haase is a member of the Sigma Alpha agriculture sorority and a Northwest student ambassador.

For more information about AFA, visit www.agfuture.org.