The Agricultural Leadership Foundation of Hawaii has posted recruitment and application materials on its website, www.agleaderhi.org, for its next class.
The postmark deadline is Friday to mail in applications available online. Interviews take place next month and require references. Tuition is $5,000.
This will be the foundation's 14th class since the mid-1980s, according to a news release.
The classes are open to at least a dozen people and last 16 months, from January to May 2014. The subjects cover multiple agricultural disciplines found across the state.
The program includes teaching or improving business, nonprofit and community organizational skills, networking and public policy. The leadership training includes a two-week trip to Washington, D.C., and visits to the state Legislature.
The program requires attending seven seminars, each lasting three to four days. It exposes students to the inner workings of various agricultural disciplines, preservation or watershed management, government agencies and community collaborations. The classes emphasize innovation and problem-solving.
Program organizers said they are looking for potential class members that come from large to small for-profit agricultural operations and resource management companies. They also want to have some students from related government or nonprofit agencies.
The instructors have decades of private- and government-sector experience. And those who complete the class are expected to stay involved with the leadership foundation by giving back both time and money, according to the website.
"I have both a broader and deeper understanding of current agriculture and the people farming, ranching and improving their communities because of this program," said Kevin Kinvig of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a recent graduate. "The value of this program to my job is worth many times the time and dollars it costs to be a participant."
For more information, go online to www.agleaderhi.org or call Kim Coffee-Isaak at (808) 947-2914 or email her at kim@agleaderhi.org or Pauline Sato at Pauline.Sato@gmail.com.
