GW FEATURE
AGJA Builds Leaders by Laura Handke
O
n the heels of the National Gelbvieh Junior Show, it’s easy to reflect on the fun times, the camaraderie and achievements that naturally come from a week spent with friends. But as American Gelbvieh Junior Association (AGJA) members, have you taken the time to think about the long-term investments being made? What investments are you making in the AGJA, and what investment is the association making in you? For this special AGJA-focused edition of Gelbvieh World, we caught up with longtime American Gelbvieh Association (AGA) and former AGJA members, Callahan Grund and Jana Powles-Jensen, to learn more about the investments they exchanged with the AGJA and the dividends they received.
Planting Roots Both leaders in the agriculture industry, Grund and Powles-Jensen remain active contributors within the Gelbvieh and Balancer® breed and share that their time within the association has offered opportunity far beyond their AGJA membership eligibility. “[AGJA has] truly been a family event for us from day one. Our family joined the breed about 40 years ago, and my dad and his sisters were on the junior board,” Grund says. “I joined AGJA in 2003 and I got to experience my first junior nationals in 2005. Our family has always been heavily involved in the junior association.” Grund says that the relationships he developed through the AGJA, at a young age, have been integral in shaping both his educational and professional careers. “To this day, some of my best friends are kids that I met through AGJA. It is such a tight-knit group, not just AGJA, but AGA, as well. It’s like a family,” he says. “We always pushed one another to do our best and be our best, and we always had great role models to look up to both in AGJA and the AGA.” AGJA has also been a steadfast component of the Powles family, with Jana and her brother, Bryon Powles, both serving on the AGJA board in the 1980s and ‘90s, building friendships and skills along the way. “My brother and I attended national shows for many years, traveling all over the country and meeting new
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people within the breed,” Powles-Jensen says, “and you know, some of those friendships that you develop become lifelong friendships that span not just the cattle industry, but your life.”
Growing Leaders While the junior association helped to build lifelong friendships for both Grund and Powles-Jensen, the communication and networking skills both gained also continue to serve them. Today, both Grund and PowlesJensen serve the agriculture industry and its members through outreach, development, and communication. As executive director of the national cattle traceability group, U.S. CattleTrace, Grund, serves as a liaison between the CattleTrace board of directors and the cattle industry to carryout the mission of cattle traceability on a national level. “I think the biggest thing for me, professionally and especially in my current position within the cattle industry, was being on the junior board and ultimately getting to serve as the board president my last year as a junior member. The leadership and the knowledge gained of working as a board on behalf of an association of members has been really valuable,” Grund says. “I learned how to communicate between boards, make sure that everyone was on the same page and then execute the action plans that were discussed. That’s what I do every day in my current position.” Today, Powles-Jensen serves as affiliated fund development coordinator for the Nebraska Community Foundation and fundraising coordinator for the Nebraska Cattlemen Research and Education Foundation. She also previously spent time with the Baldridge Company, a purebred livestock marketing company, and the Nebraska Cattlemen’s Association in the role of vice president of member services. She says that the experiences and activities she was able to garner through AGJA helped prepare her for all of the jobs she has had and certainly her present career. “AGJA provided me a leadership role on a national level,” she says. “The experiences I gained through the association made me comfortable talking to people of all
