Female leaders graduate with high praise

NFF CEO Tony Mahar said this year’s cohort was ‘passionate, articulate and intelligent’.

“This exceptional group of women has worked extremely hard over the past few months and (has) already made a huge impact in the ag industry,” Mr Mahar said.

“Last night’s graduation coincided with the NFF’s members’ council; the perfect platform to showcase the skill set of our diverse ag leaders.”

Participants praised the initiative for developing renewed confidence and drive in their careers, with mentors appointed to each participant to help develop progress on specific project interests.

The program runs for six months and has involved 77 participants across its seven years.

Ms McClaren said the experience had been a good opportunity to have conversations with the heads of different agriculture sectors and bodies.

“We got sit in on the NFF members council and also participated in the Australian Farm Institute roundtable called ‘walk the talk’,” Ms McClaren said.

“It was all about looking at the challenges that ag faces at the moment.

“We also looked at the Australian Agriculture Sustainability Framework which was recently released by the NFF and others.”

Ms McClaren raised concerns about agriculture in education.

“I was able to highlight to leaders in the various sectors that we need their support of students and they need to look at ag education at secondary level,” she said.

“We need good people and we need good students.”

The program’s patron and former NFF president Fiona Simson praised the authenticity of the course and said she looked forward to follow the participants’ careers.

“It’s important to really embrace diversity in every format if we want to truly achieve equality,” Ms Simson said.

“I’m very proud that the Diversity in Agriculture Leadership Program makes a real difference to real women’s lives.”