Leadership at its best 2025 – Washington, DC
Attendee Portal
Prepare to Grow
This page will serve as your gateway to preparation, completing your program pre-work, and scheduling your Capitol Hill appointments. These preliminary steps will ensure you make the most of your agricultural leadership experience and leave an indelible mark on the industry.
Program Prep
Capitol Hill Visit
Meet Your Cohort
Photo Share
Program Prep
To get the most out of your experience, we encourage you to review the following handouts and resource pages prior to the program start. In addition, please complete the form below after scheduling appointments with members of Congress.
A few things to keep in mind:
- Winter in Washington, D.C. can get chilly at night. Pack a warm jacket and gloves as we will be outside during some events. If you’re a freeze baby you might consider wearing thermal underwear.
- Please make arrangements to and from your local airport.
- You will receive a Visa gift card to reimburse your checked luggage fees and transportation to and from the airport. *Please plan to cover additional expenses on your own or with your association.
- We are unable to make any reimbursements outside of the program. For example, if you plan to park your vehicle at the airport, parking expense is not a reinbursable expense (however, you may use any extra funds allotted on the Visa card if you like.)
- FRIENDLY REMINDER: Your travel confirmation from FCM must match your READ ID/Passport.
- DOCUMENTS: you must have a valid passport or real id to travel
- If you haven’t received your hotel confirmation number, contact Macie: macie.o’shaughnessy@syngenta.com
Please review the ALL materials below prior to program kick-off to prepare for media and leadership development training.
Take a quick personality quiz!
Take a short, 2 minute, leadership style quiz. Then upload your results with the link below.
Storytelling Workshop with Aaron Putze: Prepping Your Story
Prior to Aaron Putze’s storytelling workshop on Tuesday, it will be helpful to begin thinking about your story in agriculture. You will refine your story during the Storytelling workshop and then share your personal agriculture story share on Capitol Hill.
Utilize the worksheet and visuals to start preparing your story. This will help you to begin fleshing out the components of a strong story to maximize impact.
Media Training Prework: Handout and Practice Questions
Get ready to take your interview skills to the next level with our Tuesday’s Media Training with Aaron Putze.
Please download materials below to prepare for this portion of the program.
Gettysburg On-the-Road Leadership Workshop
LEARN FROM THE PAST… PREPARE FOR THE FUTURE
We will be participating in Diamond 6’s Gettysburg On-the Road Leadership Workshop.
Click below link to learn more about Diamond6 and how to prepare for your session, and valuable resources for understanding the Battle of Gettysburg, military hierarchy, and more!
Meet with a U.S. Representative or Member of Congress
Throughout the week, our team will work with your to fully prepare you to confidently engage with U.S. leaders on issues that matter to you and agriculture.
This is the moment many participants say is the most powerful!
Understandably, many people feel a little nervous when doing this for the first time—and that’s completely normal. Remember, you’ll be speaking with the staff who manage the schedule, and your representatives work for you! There’s no reason to feel anxious.
We ask you to set up a meeting as part of your pre-work so you can experience making an appointment and later coach others in your network on how to do it.
It can also be a good idea to meet with representatives who may think differently than you on some issues. The goal of a Hill visit is to build relationships, educate, and share your ask. Your state association can help you prepare and understand the issues you’ll be representing on the Hill
STEP 1: Please reference the Find Your Representative website to identify your congressional district and U.S. Representative and the States in the Senate website to identify your U.S. Senator.
STEP 2: After finding your Congressperson, please navigate to their respective website to complete a scheduling request form for Thursday or just call the office, ask to make the appointment anytime before 2pm on Thursday.
STEP 3: After you’ve scheduled your appointment, complete the form below to share your plans with the Leadership At Its Best team.