Farewell to Washington DC, Baltimore and Gettysburg and turn to our journey home. We would like to thank the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation for giving us this opportunity to experience leadership and personal growth through the lens of our nation's great history. This experience has left many impacts on our hearts and in our minds. We are all grateful to be coming home to our families where we will continue to process the lessons learned on this trip. By Beau, Erin & Jorge

We were fortunate to start our day out with Colonel Stephen Randolph, The Historian of the U.S. Department of State.  In the hour and a half we were able to spend with him, he shared with us key leadership heuristics he’s defined from his leadership experiences.  Among those that stuck with us were “People aren’t the only thing, but they are the most important thing” and “The opposite of leadership is pessimism.”  These resonated with us because in our own lives, personal and

“Whiskey is for Drinking, Water is for Fighting” - Governmental and Legislative Processes Take Center Stage By Gayle Holman, Sal Parra, Jr., and Christian VellanowethMarch 8, 2016 This was the quote that Senator Dianne Feinstein shared with us this afternoon during our visit with her to discussdrought legislation. We were thrilled to have about 30 minutes of her time. One of our fellows shared his personal story of the devastating effects of the drought—in 2009 he and his family lost their family farm on the Westside of Fresno

After a quick afternoon of sightseeing on Sunday, we were back to sessions this morning. Our day began with a panel of four agriculture and industry advocates who lobby in DC. They shared with us the legislative process and how they work both offense and defense on a variety of issues. We learned about a variety of issues they are currently working on including Water, GMO Labeling, Immigration and the Trans Pacific Partnership. While they shared the challenges of their work, they also motivated

Sunday March 6th, 2016 class 46 of the California Agriculture Leadership Foundation attending a service of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. This AME church is the oldest of it's denomination and services were attended in the past by Fredrick Douglass, which provided us not only a new experience, but also one based in history.  The church itself is beautiful, only surpassed by the welcoming members of the congregation.   Services started 7:45 and the singing started immediately.  Class 46 was welcomed into the

By: Erin, Shaun, DomenickWe woke up on a gloomy Saturday morning in beautiful Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This quiet little town was once the host to the bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil. The battle of Gettysburg was the turning point in the Civil War, which gave the Union huge momentum going forward. So many lives lost, so much blood shed, and so much history spread along roughly 6,000 acres of land. We started our day in the conference room of the historic Gettysburg Hotel, where our

We started the day off in a wintry wonderland as we made our way up Pennsylvania Avenue, Baltimore's premier locale for jazz and entertainment for black communities from the 1920s to the 1960s. The infamous Royal Theatre, long since razed, is now memorialized on the corner of the lot that remains. In the Baltimore neighborhood of Sandtown-Winchester we visited the Intersection of Change. At the Harris Marcus Center we met with founder Elder C.W. Harris who shared with us the extent of the