NORFOLK, Neb. – In 2021, a Northeast Community College agriculture instructor was selected as one of 40 individuals to participate in the Nebraska LEAD (Leadership Education/Action Development) program. LEAD is Nebraska's premier two-year agricultural leadership development program, with each participant involved in production agriculture and/or agribusiness in Nebraska. Dr. Trentee Bush will be sharing her experiences as a LEAD Fellow with students and the public this Tuesday on the Norfolk campus. Her presentation will be the first in the College’s Agribusiness Club’s Professional Development Speaker Series.
Bush and other LEAD Fellows participated in 12 monthly three-day seminars across Nebraska, a 10-day national study/travel seminar and a 14-16-day international study/travel seminar. The goal of the program is to develop problem solvers, decision makers and spokespersons for Nebraska agriculture and beyond.
Bush’s presentation on Tuesday will include her experiences from an international study tour of Costa Rica, Colombia and Panama, as well as a discussion on the value she gained from participating in the program. She will also speak on the application process of the LEAD program.
“The Nebraska LEAD Program has four decades of success at preparing the future leaders of the Ag Industry,” Bush said. “I look forward to sharing my experience with the public and helping people have a better understanding of this great resource and opportunity.”
The Nebraska LEAD Program began 40 years ago to develop agricultural leaders from Nebraska's future generations. Hejny said constant changes that occur in agricultural policy, marketing, economics and technology point to the need for strong leaders to advocate for the heart of Nebraska's economy--agriculture. Now in its third decade of forming pioneering agricultural leaders, it has have evolved into one of the nation's premier agricultural leadership development programs.
Seminar themes include: leadership assessment and potential, natural resources and energy, leadership through communication, agricultural policy, international trade and finance, Nebraska’s political process, global perspectives, nuclear energy, social and cultural issues, understanding and developing leadership skills, agribusiness and marketing, information technology, advances in health care, the resources and people of Nebraska’s Panhandle and other areas designed to develop leaders through exposure to a broad array of current topics and issues and how they interrelate.
Bush grew up on the family ranch near Whitman. She attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she earned a bachelor’s degree in horticulture and a master’s degree in Public Horticulture Administration and Leadership Studies (minor). She completed her PhD in Educational Administration in 2019.
She taught horticulture, math, and a variety of other courses at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Curtis from 2010 to 2019. In 2019, she transitioned to Northeast Community College to teach horticulture and agriculture courses.
Bush’s presentation on her Nebraska LEAD Program journey will be held this Tue., Feb. 7, at 5 p.m., in the lower level of Union 73 on the Norfolk campus, 801 E. Benjamin Ave. It is free and open to the public.
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