USDA Outlook Forum 2025

Congratulations to the 2025 USDA Future Leaders in Agriculture Program Winners

UNDERGRADUATE

Name	Hometown	University	University Type
Accalia, Jayme	Santan Valley, AZ	Arizona State University	Hispanic Serving Institution
Ahumada, Regalado	Salinas, CA	California State University, Chico	Hispanic Serving Institution
Barerra, Sebastian	San Luis, AZ	University of Arizona, Yuma	Hispanic Serving Institution
Carter, Christopher	Charlotte, NC	North Carolina A&T State University	1890 Land-grant University
Chandley, Peyton	Lake Wales, FL	University of Florida	1862 Land-grant University
Demby, Jr., Tarik	Houston, TX	Prairie View A&M University	1890 Land-grant University
Duarte, Christian	El Centro, CA	University of Arizona, Yuma	Hispanic Serving Institution
Ducey, Isabella	Tucson, AZ	University of Arizona	1862 Land-grant University
Freeman, Abigail	Bakersville, CA	California State University, Chico	Hispanic Serving Institution
Heard, RobinAmara	Boston, MA	University of Massachusetts, Amherst	1862 Land-grant University
Kaba, Mouhamed	Newark, NJ	University of Maryland Eastern Shore	1890 Land-grant University
Kuhn, Sierra	Chandler, AZ	Oregon State University	1862 Land-grant University
Smith, Kayli	Gadsden, AL	Prairie View A&M University	1890 Land-grant University
Waters, Kayla	Baltimore, MD	University of Maryland Eastern Shore	1890 Land-grant University
Perry, Jaquez	Wadley, GA	South Carolina State University	1890 Land-grant University

GRADUATE

Name	Hometown	University	University Type
Arnedo, Doris	El Paso, TX	New Mexico State University	Hispanic Serving Institution
Blevins, Katelyn	Hobart, OK	Oklahoma State University	1862 Land-grant University
Schwartz, Jocelyn	Northfield, NJ	Cornell University	1862 Land-grant University
Starnes, Michael	College Station, TX	Texas Tech University	Hispanic Serving Institution
Tieu, Stiphany	State College, PA	Pennsylvania State University	1862 Land-grant University

About the 2025 Future Leaders Program

The program targeted 20 students—15 undergraduates and 5 graduate students—from fields such as agriculture, agricultural business, agricultural economics, communications, nutrition and food science, or pre-veterinary studies, who demonstrated leadership at their universities or in their communities. Selected students were drawn from Land-Grant Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and Non-Land-Grant Colleges of Agriculture. For undergraduate selection, students submitted an application, college transcript, and a one-page essay titled “Agriculture as a Career” to their respective institution representatives, who conducted a pre-selection process to identify the two best essays among the applicants. Similarly, graduate students submitted an application, college transcript, and an essay titled “The Greatest Challenge Facing Agriculture Over the Next 5 Years” to their institution representatives, who also performed a pre-selection process to choose the top two essays.

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