Linville accepted into national Food Systems Leadership Institute

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Ina Linville, state program director for University of Missouri Extension’s 4-H Center for Youth Development, has been accepted into the Food Systems Leadership Institute (FSLI), a top-tier leadership development program for academia, industry and government.

During the two-year program, Linville will work with expert instructors, leadership development coaches and a mentor, as well as meet with leaders of universities and university systems, political leaders and others. The program combines leadership theory with practical experience, often in the context of food systems and higher education.

FSLI’s stated mission focuses on “advancing and strengthening food systems by preparing a cadre of new leaders with the skills and knowledge necessary to invent and reinvent the food systems of the future.” The FSLI experience prepares these individuals for upper-level leadership roles in food systems programs and for broader leadership responsibilities within their organizations.

“We live in a global society and it will nice to challenge myself over the next two years to explore how we can connect youth to careers in food and fiber in the global economy,” Linville said.

Linville has more than 30 years of experience serving in various roles with MU’s 4-H program, including assistant director, and regional and state specialist. She has served on editorial boards for the National School-Age Care Alliance’s journal and the national land-grant universities’ Children, Youth and Families Education and Research Network. From 1996 to 1998 she was a curriculum specialist for the USDA/Army School-Age and Teen Project. She has helped garner and supervise more than $6 million in grants and contracts to support youth programs, including those for after-school, military, summer and public service activities.

Linville earned a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from MU in 2001. She also has a bachelor’s degree in animal husbandry and a master’s degree in animal science from MU.

Previous FSLI participants from University of Missouri Extension include Mary Leuci, extension assistant professor of community development; Jo Britt-Rankin, associate dean for extension in the College of Human Environmental Sciences; and Michael Ouart, vice provost and director of extension.

Linville said their encouragement motivated her to pursue an FSLI fellowship. “They said it was one of the best and most challenging opportunities they had experienced.”

FSLI, based at the University of North Carolina, is a program of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, with funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. For more information, go to www.fsli.org.