Assistance program
From Learning to Leading: Cultivating the Next Generation of Diverse Food and Agriculture Professionals
$265.0 Million committed in FY2023–FY2023
- Agency
- National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Agriculture, Department of
- Assistance
- Not Applicable
- CFDA number
- 10.237
- What it does
- The Next Gen Program represents one part in a series of efforts led by USDA to achieve equitable participation of farmers, ranchers and forest land owners in USDA programs and services through an array of targeted technical assistance and outreach activities; to foster equity through meaningful, sustained engagement with diverse stakeholders to inform USDA policies and programs; and to support and prepare diverse students for future careers in agriculture through Section 1006 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 The Next Gen Program is focused first and foremost on supporting and preparing students at MSIs for careers in the food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences across research, education, and extension, with an emphasis on federal government sector employment. The goal of this program is to enable a specific set of minority-serving institutions to engage, recruit, retain, train, and support students in order to help build and sustain the next generation of the food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences workforce including the future USDA workforce. NEXTGEN Evaluation Program (NEXTE) is established to determine the impact and effectiveness of the NEXTGEN investment. Through a cooperative agreement, NIFA will collaborate with and fund the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) to perform a suite of evaluative activities to determine the effectiveness of the NEXTGEN program and inform USDA’s career development and training initiatives.
- Who benefits
- Not Applicable
- Who applies
- The MSI/Next Gen Program encourages implementing innovative and culturally responsive strategies and partnerships to inspire youth, adult learners, and other targeted audiences to pursue career paths in food, agriculture, natural resources and human sciences. Based on a wide range of diverse stakeholder engagement and feedback, as well as lessons learned from previous efforts in and out of USDA, expanding partnerships and investments with minority-serving institutions will result in cooperative and sustained development of the current and future workforce. Applicants are encouraged to collaborate with 1862 Land Grant Universities, certified Non-Land Grant Colleges of Agriculture (NLGCA), Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities, community colleges, technical and vocational schools and other academic institutions with food, agriculture, and allied disciplines programs, as appropriate and beneficial to meeting the objectives of proposed projects. It is also recommended that applicants propose efforts designed to build and sustain partnerships with organizations who have a vested public interest in developing a diverse workforce in food and agriculture. These entities serve as connectors between MSIs, their students, and USDA. Examples of these ‘connector organizations’ include MANRRS, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), the Association of 1890 Research Directors, and the Association of Extension Administrators for the 1890 Land-Grant Universities.
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- Committed through this program
Money committed under this assistance listing (its CFDA program), counted in the year each action happened.
- How it's paid
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Direct payments