Final presentation for ALEC 646 Institutions Serving Agriculture in Developing Nations at Texas A&M University. This presentation was aimed at disseminating the knowledge gained during the semester to help people learn about the industry and how to find a job.
4. Course Objectives:
1. Increase knowledge about the missions and programs of selected
leading national (U.S.) and international (non-U.S.) governmental, non-
governmental, and private sector organizations that develop,
implement, and evaluate international agricultural development efforts
2. Increase knowledge about roles and responsibility of the staffs of
these organizations
3. Increase knowledge about recruitment, application, and selection of
staff of these organizations
4. Network with leaders of selected organizations for possible
internships and employment
5. Produce an extensive list and descriptions of selected organizations
5. Geoffrey Booth
Judson Brown
Blaze Currie
Ken Davies
Steve Hague
Mark Ivy
Bill Lazenby
Trent McKnight
Bobby Moore
Andrew Natsios
Jolyne Sanjak
B.B. Singh
Jill Urban-Karr
Larry Wu
6. Collection of organizations
International agricultural development
Each organization:
• Year founded
• Headquarters' location
• Phone number
• Website
• Type of organization
• Short description
• Location areas of interest
• Agricultural areas of interest
7.
8.
9. Type of organization
• Non-Government Organization
• Multilateral
• Government
• Foundations
• Faith-based NGOs
• Educational
• For Profit
Location areas of interest
• Africa
• Asia
• Europe
• Latin America
• Middle East
• North America
• Oceania
Agricultural areas of interest
• Agronomy
• Animal agriculture
• Commercial agriculture
• Conservation of national
resources
• Economic development
• Food security
• Policy
• Public health
• Relief and development
• Research
• Social justice
• Water
18. Time Mon 4/21 Tues 4/22 Wed 4/23 Thur 4/24 Friday 4/25
8:00 AM
8:30 AM
9:00 AM
ACDI/VOCA
9:30 AM
MCC
10:00 AM
10:30 AM
InterAction
11:00 AM
World Vision
IFPRI11:30 AM
Global Cold Chain12:00 PM
12:30 PM
1:00 PM
1:30 PM
USAID2:00 PM
Food for the
Hungry FAS Visit
2:30 PM
Chemonics
3:00 PM
NAFSA3:30 PM
4:00 PM
4:30 PM
Texas A&M Office
of Federal Relations
5:00 PM
Q&A with Alicia's
friends in
development5:30 PM
6:00 PM
Aggie Muster
6:30 PM
7:00 PM
NAFEO/ NRCS
Scholarship Dinner
7:30 PM
8:00 PM
19. We visited 13 organizations
3 Governmental International Ag organizations
6 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO)
2 Faith based Organizations
1 Multilateral Organization
And Texas A&M Office of Federal Relations
20.
21. MCC
• Completely funded by the U.S. government
• Works directly with developing countries governments
• International internships
• Internship doc- things you have accomplished, what you
learned and recommendations
FAS
• Promote international trade
• Inform trade policy & trade negotiations
• Cochran Program- 2 wk exchange program
• Pathways, International internships, Schedule B employee,
& GS9
22. USAID
• USA.Jobs
• Series of questions that are scored electronically
• For 20 positions interview 50 people (scores with
85-90 points)
• Subject matter experts select
• Written case study & 1 hour to present
• ½ hour individual interview
• Take those with highest points usually 4 (written
ability & persuasive argument key
• Language gives you credit of .15 on overall score
23. CHEMONICS OPPORTUNITIES
What they Do
• Tech work
• Backstopping
• Monitor & budgets
• Recruiting & Consulting
What they look for
• Leadership, versatility,
problem solving, relevant
degree, communication,
experience, and a team
player
• Entry level professional
program (create Profile)
• Standardized test, Language
test, face to face panel
interview, & final selection 4
weeks
• Training
• Extra support first year
• Frequent meeting with
cohorts
• Quarterly meetings to expose
you to practice areas
• 100% employee owned
24. WHAT NGOS ARE DOING!
Irrigation
Farm Training
Rural Finance
Ag Research
Land & Property
Nutrition
Infrastructure
Education
Disaster Risk Reduction
(DRR)
Agri Business
Community Development
Enterprise Services
Food Security
Soil & Water
Climate Change
Health
25. ACDI/VOCA
• Service Learning Corps
• 2wk- 6 months international
experience
• Be a qualified candidate (a
recent or current master's or
Ph.D. student in agriculture,
international business or
international studies;
see FAQ for other areas)
• http://www.acdivoca.org/site/I
D/volunteer-service-learning-
corps
Create an e-Profile on the
online recruitment system
and select "Service Learning
Corps" as a job category
• Visit their international
opportunities portal and click
the Service Learning Corps
link to see current openings
• Select the Service Learning
Corps assignment(s) for
which you qualify
• Submit your résumé, cover
letter and a recommendation
from your advisor
26. INTER-ACTION
ALLIANCE
GLOBAL COLD CHAIN
ALLIANCE
Largest U.S. based NGO
• Share & develop best
practices
• Influence policy
• Promote partnerships
• NGO aid map
• Foreign assistance Briefing
Book 19 sectors every 2
years
Idealist.org
A family trade association
(supply chain)
• Food distribution, storage,
design & build facilities
• Building an industry where
development did not exist
• Corporate responsibility-
People benefit because
food can be shipped at a
better price
• Work with governments &
NGOs
27. 10,000 Members
100 countries
Best practices
Training
Networking
Advocating
international Ed
Opportunities
• 2 day public policy &
advocacy program
• Departmental paid
internships with NAFSA
Other Opportunities
• Study abroad offices
• International Student
Services (ISS)
28. INTERNATIONAL FOOD
POLICY RESEARCH
INSTITUTE (IFPRI)
QUALIFICATIONS &
OPPORTUNITIES
13 countries
500 members in CIGAR
Staff based in 20 countries
What they do
Develop Strategies for
Governance
Environment & production
technologies
Market trade and Institutions
Poverty, health & nutrition
Community outreach
Phd/Master’s
Research Specialist
(Statistical software abilities,
GIS, Economics, Policy,
etc…
Internships
• Find a researcher that has
similar interest and send an
email!
29. • Lobbyist for higher
educations, specifically land
grant institutions
• Policy- accessibility &
credibility
• Make sure everyone is
saying the same thing
• $.75 of every dollar comes
form the government
30.
31. Ask yourself what skills you have
How do those skills fit with what employers
are looking for?
What relevant experience do you have?
Begin keeping track of all of everything you
have done in life (Your life’s CV)
33. Completed Course Work:
Ruminant Nutrition
Cow and Calf Management
Sheep Science
Beef Cattle Management
Genetics
Horse Breaking & Training
Animal Breeding
Cattle Marketing and Sales
Poultry Science
Meat Science
Coupled with:
• Experience working on a ranch
• Research on beef cattle abroad
• Livestock experience in FFA
• Grew up on a farm
• Internship with a veterinarian
34. Completed Course Work:
Ruminant Nutrition
Ag Econ
Sheep Science
Agricultural Leadership
Methods of Tech Change
Statistics
Project Management
Marketing
Grant Writing
Ag Policy
Coupled with:
• Internships with D.C. based
development organizations
• Experience writing grants
and/or evaluating projects
• Knowledge of another language
• Experience traveling and
working abroad
35. Completed Course Work:
Ruminant Nutrition
Ag Econ
Sheep Science
Agricultural Leadership
Methods of Tech Change
Statistics
Project Management
Marketing
Grant Writing
Ag Policy
Coupled with:
• Peace Corps or other long term
work abroad
• Internship with USAID
contractor
• Proficiency in some language
36. Completed Course Work:
Ruminant Nutrition
Ag Econ
Sheep Science
Agricultural Leadership
Methods of Tech Change
Statistics
Project Management
Marketing
Grant Writing
Ag Policy Coupled with:
• Published journal articles
• Experience using modeling
software
• Internship with a research firm
37. Completed Course Work:
Ruminant Nutrition
Cow and Calf Management
Sheep Science
Beef Cattle Management
Genetics
Horse Breaking & Training
Animal Breeding
Cattle Marketing and Sales
Poultry Science
Meat Science
Coupled with:
• Experience working on a ranch
• Research on beef cattle abroad
• Livestock experience in FFA
• Grew up on a farm
• Internships with veterinarians
38. Use your full CV as a source of information that
you pull from to create individualized resumes
Make it easy to read
Carefully read the job description
Mirror the wording in the description
You alone control the narrative that is you
Do not lie
39. Bring copies of your resume
Research the company
Think of stories from you past experiences that
exhibit the skills you have (situational interviews)
Develop a good handshake
Make eye contact
Be confident
Send a thank you card
40. Are there other aggies working within the
organization you are applying?
Take a trip to D.C.
Subscribe to email newsletters for the
organizations you are applying for
Make and use business cards
Join LinkedIn
Attend large development conferences
Editor's Notes
- Go around introducing ourselves.
- I’m not going to read the objectives verbatim. I will be doing a summary – similar to what we did for the DC visits.
“This project has truly been a collaborative effort. At this time, we would like to acknowledge the people generous enough to spend time visiting our class this semester…” Guests include professors and professionals from Save the Children, Millennium Challenge Corporation, AgriCorps, WFP, South Africa hunting operation, Christian Relief Fund
Through this HIE, we met with international agricultural development organizations and led focused interviews with targeted staff at the headquarters of 10 different organizations. Our goals included:Specifically, students will:a) Increase their knowledge about the missions and programs of 10 leading national (U.S.) and international (non-U.S.) governmental, non-governmental, or private sector organizations that develop, implement, and evaluate international agricultural development efforts b) Increase knowledge about roles and responsibilities of the staffs of these organizations c) Increase knowledge about recruitment, application, and selection of staff of these organizations d) Increase knowledge about qualifications and experiences that the organizations want in their staffs e) Develop skills for networking with opinion leaders and decision-makers in these organizationsf) Understand the methods and importance of the work of these types of organizationsg) Acquire internships at the headquarters or action-oriented, community-level projects in developing nations of these organizations in the short termh) Acquire employment for successful careers in international agricultural development in developing nations of these organizations in the long term
Reflection: We had initial pre-flection and reflection after each organization and after the trip. Every morning we had a student led organization overview before we went to that organization. It was interesting to see how much we learned from our own research and further gained from meeting with them. As I’m sure each of us agree our opinions of not only the organizations developed, but also our career and future goals.Bringing to A&M: The mission of this class and of this trip is to bring to knowledge we have learned to our fellow students and department. This can be seen in our catalogue and through this presentationStudent Led: This entire trip was student led under the facilitation of Dr. Pina. We each networked with organizations of our particular interest and set up meeting with multiple specialist. Culture: We were able to experience not only Washington D.C., which is the hub for multiple international development organizations, but we were also able to learn about the cultures of each organization. Personal Gain: We have each learned a great deal from each organization we met with, which will be discussed shortly. If you ask each of us, we would probably all have different answers for what we have learned from this trip and this
“It is equally important to emphasize that while this HIE will allow personal gain for the participating students, it holds enormous potential for shaping the future of many other students. For example, the expectation is that the students will share their experiences and information gained with other students through presentations in academic courses of the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications and the Bush School of Government and Public Service and the myriad of student organizations across the colleges of Texas A&M University. At the same time, faculty who teach international agricultural development will be able to share the catalogue which will be supported by rich anecdotes written by the students about the HIE. Furthermore, another expectation is that the students will share this experience at national meeting so such organizations as the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education and Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development.”