The Wallace Center’s Food Systems Leadership Network recently selected the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative’s Communications Manager, Tish Mindemann, for its 2024 fellowship program.

This fellowship includes 24 agricultural leaders from across Arkansas and will equip them with resources, training, and networking to help improve food and agricultural systems.

According to the Food Systems Leadership Network, “Across the state, leaders from frontline communities, food-focused organizations, and state-level agencies are demonstrating their expertise and commitment to transforming the food system through collaboration, resource sharing, and knowledge exchange.”

Through the next five months, Tish and the cohort will attend a retreat and participate in virtual sessions.

“I am very excited for the opportunity to work with a diverse set of individuals to develop new ways in which to create more resilient food systems for the people of Arkansas,” Mindemann said.

Goals of the fellowship include strengthening relationships, increasing individual capacity, increasing collaboration, and bringing new voices to the table.

“Fellows will examine the historical forces that shaped agriculture in Arkansas, explore what it means to take a systems-wide approach to change, and deepen their expertise on topics related to food systems change and organizational leadership,” according to the Food Systems Leadership Network.

Learn more about the fellowship at foodsystemsleadershipnetwork.org.