Animal Agriculture Alliance News

NEWS

Grace Platte joins Animal Agriculture Alliance team. Platte will serve as coordinator, membership, and communications. The Animal Agriculture Alliance recently welcomed Grace Platte as coordinator, membership, and communications. In this role, Platte will assist in managing the organization’s membership and sponsorship processing, recruitment, and engagement. She assumed her new role on June 27.

Platte will also oversee operational needs for the organization and provide support to communications and issues management efforts. Additionally, she will serve as the first line of contact for Alliance members and other stakeholders and is responsible for facilitating the Alliance’s participation in a variety of events within the animal agriculture community.

Prior to joining the Alliance team, Platte served as the event and outreach intern for GreenStone Farm Credit Services, among several other internship positions within the agriculture community – including communications intern for the Alliance in 2021.

Platte will graduate from Michigan State University later this year with a B.S. in agriculture education and minors in applied international development in agriculture and natural resources and environmental and sustainability studies. Grace is a member of the university’s Sigma Alpha Professional Agriculture Sorority, the Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources Education Club, and the dairy judging team.

“Grace was an incredible asset to the Alliance team during her summer internship last year, providing support on various projects and initiatives, including the College Aggies Online program and developing new member resources,” said Hannah Thompson-Weeman, Alliance president and CEO. “Her experience in managing events, supporting campaigns, and member communications will lend itself well to her new position and bring considerable value to our members and the animal agriculture community as a whole.”

Platte currently lives in Michigan and will be relocating to the Arlington, Va., area upon graduation.

Advocate for agriculture and compete for scholarships through College Aggies Online. Scholarship prizes available each week throughout the student program. Everyone depends on agriculture in one way or another, but the average person continues to grow further removed from the farm. To bridge this communication gap between the agriculture community and the general public, college students from across the country are invited to come together this fall to do just that. Undergraduate, graduate students, and collegiate clubs and classes are invited to sign up for the 2022 College Aggies Online scholarship competition, kicking off on September 12.

“College Aggies Online was an invaluable experience that really opened my eyes to new opportunities both personally and professionally,” said Alexis Main, 2021 recipient of the first place overall scholarship prize in the graduate student division. “This was my first year participating, and I came into this scholarship program with zero communications experience. With help from the Alliance and our weekly mentors, I learned so much about different areas of animal ag[riculture] that I was not previously familiar with and was able to build the skills needed to effectively share our story.”

Individual participants have a number of opportunities to earn scholarship prizes. Each week, up to ten students are selected to receive mini-scholarships for their outstanding social media posts and challenge submissions. Throughout the nine week program, students gain points and climb the leaderboard. At the end, three winners are selected for the grand prize scholarships, bragging rights, and a trip to the Alliance’s annual Stakeholders Summit to be recognized on a national stage. Last year, more than $20,000 was awarded in scholarships. Additionally, students have the opportunity to network with social media savvy farmers and industry professionals while adding to their list of resume skills and experience.

“I loved getting to connect with other college students from across the country and learn from some great mentors,” said Sydney Mitchell, 2021 recipient of the first place overall scholarship prize in the undergraduate student division. “With their help, I was able to learn new things and discover my style of advocating for agriculture.”

Students interested in becoming confident and effective communicators for agriculture are invited to sign up today at https://animalagalliance.org/initiatives/ college-aggies-online/.

CAO would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. 2022 sponsors include Bayer, Institute for Feed Education and Research, Domino’s Pizza Inc., Ohio Poultry Association, and National Chicken Council. To become a sponsor of this year’s program, see our https://animalagalliance.org/wp-content/ uploads/2022/01/2022-CAO-SponsorLevels.pdf sponsorship opportunities and contact Casey Kinler, director, membership, and marketing, at ckinler@ animalagalliance.org.

About the Animal Agriculture Alliance. The Animal Agriculture Alliance safeguards the future of animal agriculture and its value to society by bridging the communication gap between the farm and food communities. We connect key food industry stakeholders to arm them with responses to emerging issues. We engage food chain influencers and promote consumer choice by helping them better understand modern animal agriculture. We protect by exposing those who threaten our nation’s food security with damaging misinformation.

NOTICE

Letters to the editor are welcome and we appreciate your input. HOWEVER, letters that are not signed will not be considered for publication.