Now in its ninth year, the Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) from the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau (CIRB) continues to help build the next generation of crop insurance leaders. The ELP provides crop insurance and reinsurance professionals with the opportunity to increase their knowledge of advocacy and communications. It also provides networking experiences for participants with industry leaders through various meetings throughout the year, including a fall fly-in in Washington, DC, where the class had the chance to meet with members of Congress.
This year’s class is the largest since the program’s inception in 2015 and includes three FMH employees: Kate LeWarne, Assistant Vice President – BI Data Operations; Trevor Robins, Training & Education Manager; and Rafeeq Shaik, Assistant Vice President – IT.
All three employees appreciated the in-depth look the ELP provides at the legislative side of crop insurance. “It’s an excellent opportunity to learn a side of the business that you don’t see in your day-to-day job,” said LeWarne. “Being able to be exposed to some of the politics and lobbying that goes on with CIRB was very exciting for me to learn.”
Robins agreed, noting that “getting to see the processes behind the scenes and see how everything’s impacted” was one of his key takeaways from the program.
“As a person in IT, I have a lot of experience in how to implement a policy that’s been drafted in Washington, DC,” said Shaik. “Understanding the legislative process and what really goes on in policy making will help me provide a solution to keep crop insurance affordable for the farmers of the United States.”
This year’s ELP program will conclude in April with the Spring Fly-In and Policy Conference in Washington, DC. “I’ve learned so much in my short time [in the program], and I’m going to be really sad to leave it,” said LeWarne.
Hear what Kate, Trevor, and Rafeeq had to say about the program during the CIRB Annual Meeting in an interview with AgWired’s Cindy Zimmerman:
Source: AgWired