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Celebrating 20 Years of Annie’s Project

Ruth Hambleton, Karisha Devlin, Doris Mold, and Madeline Schultz

Summary

In 2003, Ruth Hambleton established Annie’s Project with a $2,000 grant from Deb Rood’s NC-RME Women in Agriculture program. From the humble start of one class in Illinois to today, Annie’s Project has grown to 38 states and one US Territory. This poster will highlight the growth of Annie’s Project and share the educational impacts of its programs. Annie’s Project uses a methodology that builds confidence, develops networks, and creates lifelong learners among women farmers, ranchers, and growers. In Annie’s Project programs, trained facilitators provide safe harbor, connection, discovery, and shared experiences utilizing locally vetted instructors and presenters who deliver unbiased research-based information to small, dynamic groups of women in agriculture. Participants are empowered to be successful through education, networks, and resources. The educational topics cover one or all areas of agricultural risk management including marketing, production, financial, human resource, and legal. Educational delivery methods include in-person, virtual live sessions, virtual self-guided recorded sessions, with many courses using a hybrid approach. With the help of 800 plus facilitators, Annie’s Project has reached over 18,000 women. The national Annie’s Project program evaluation includes a pre and post test to determine knowledge gain in risk management. The evaluation results show Annie’s Project risk management courses are effective in achieving the goal of improving women’s knowledge in all five areas of agricultural risk management.

Details

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