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TID engineer selected for state ag leadership program
ag leadership pic
Turlock Irrigation District civil engineering department manager Brad Koehn will participate in the California Agricultural Leadership Program. - photo by Photo Contributed

Turlock Irrigation District civil engineering department manager Brad Koehn will join 23 other emerging agricultural leaders throughout the state during the California Agricultural Leadership Program, an advanced leadership development experience meant to form influential leaders and active volunteers in the industry.

 

“I am very fortunate to have been selected as one of the 24 members of Class 47,” said Koehn. “I have spoken to quite a few alumni, and each of them have nothing but great things to say about the program. A common phrase heard from alumni is ‘the program is truly life-changing.’”

 

Koehn will be the fourth representative from TID to be selected for the program. At TID, Koehn is a registered professional engineer, land surveyor and is responsible for irrigation capital improvements, irrigation supervisory control and data acquisition, district surveying and right-of-way, irrigation automation, on-farm conversions and general project management. He and 23 other fellows were recently inaugurated at the Clovis Veterans Memorial District.

 

“Class 47 is another outstanding example of individuals eager their leadership development so they can make a positive difference for California agriculture,” said Barry Bedwell, president of the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation, which operates the program. “With the valuable skills they develop during the program, these men and women will be better prepared to deal effectively and competently with issues affecting agriculture, business, organizations and communities.”

 

Over the course of 17-months, the California Agricultural Leadership Program will provide dynamic seminars to give participants an opportunity to study leadership theory, effective communication, motivation, critical and strategic thinking, change management, emotional intelligence, and complex social and cultural issues. Seminars are delivered by four partner universities: Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Fresno State and UC Davis. Fellows will participate in 56 seminar days, including an 8-day national travel seminar and a 15-day international travel seminar.

 

“I am really looking forward to each of the ‘experiential learning’ portions of the program,” said Koehn. “These are the interactive, field trip portions of the program. These types of experiences are the ones that I believe have the ability to really shape us as leaders.”

 

Since its inception in 1970, the California Agricultural Leadership Program has brought in more than 1,300 men and women, becoming one of the premier leadership development programs in the United States.

 

“This program ‘grows leaders that make a difference’ and I think that California could specifically benefit from leaders that have the confidence to step up and become engaged in the critical issues facing agriculture today,” said Koehn.