Future of 4-H

The National 4-H Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) was invited to present to Extension Committee on Policy’s 4-H Leadership Committee (ECOP). With a goal of reaching 10 million members by 2025, 4-H is looking to be at the forefront of innovation and engagement. Therefore, they pulled together youth and professionals from all across the country in effort to see how to best serve youth. YAC was a large part of the conversation. Noor Alshafie and I presented at a meeting in Columbus, Ohio at the Joann headquarters.

One of the first questions we posed to this group is, “What is a 4-H norm that could be done away with or altered?” This created a lively conversation, opened many minds, and allowed for creativity to flourish.

Some of the items that YAC recommended to be evaluated included a consistent definition to be create to answer the question “What is 4-H?”, creating a variety of content and opportunity, integrating a more diverse audience both within a member and professional context, and also evaluating the program structure and what is best for the members vs tradition and how they play together.

Another group of YAC members proposed having more of an urban focus. To do this, one may consider creating a larger buy in and revamping projects/ curriculum. They even suggested reevaluating the motto. Is “to make the best better” resonating with today’s youth? To some on the committee, this sounded as if you already had to be the best to join, and that is simply not the case. They also looked at redefining the definition of member. There are many people that are participating in 4-H without even knowing. If they are utilizing curriculum and being taught by professional in the program, then they are members, should be aware of that, and allowed to benefit from it. Another focus area is alumni re-engagement. There is a rather large disconnect for young alumni due to the lack of awareness. This is already being addressed by YAC through the creation of a transition packet. It would also be beneficial for there to be easier funding opportunities. They also suggested partnering with the Department of Education. This is something that a group of National 4-H Conference delegates also suggested within their roundtable. This would allow for even more youth to be connected to the program and for knowledge to be extended further.

There were many great points mentioned. Change is scary, but necessary. It does not all need to happen at once, however, we need to progress to continue to be at the forefront of positive youth development and serve this population.