The Central Plains Dairy Foundation has selected the winner of the Lon and Kathy Tonneson Dairy Leadership Scholarship for 2021.
Established in 2019 by Tracey and Brian Erickson, the Lon and Kathy Tonneson Dairy Leadership Scholarship honors Lon and Kathy for their dedication to growing the dairy industry. The 2021 winner is Ashley Hagenow, a student at the University of Minnesota. Ashley is a top student studying Agricultural Communications & Marketing and involved in several extracurricular activities, including the collegiate dairy judging program at the University.
Ashley was described as an impressive leader, an incredible scholar, a wonderful communicator, and a top sportsman who carries herself in a confident and professional manner. Ashley will serve as a leader in the agricultural industry – she describes her dream job as a career that “involves positively impacting the agricultural industry and its people.” This drive to have an impact is not only shown through her words, but through action and experience. In Ashley’s application, she writes “…it takes courageous and driven leaders who are willing to connect with people outside of agriculture for advocacy work to have the greatest impact.” Based on her resume and letters of recommendation, Ashley lives up to these words every day.
“The future of agriculture and our dairy industry lies in the hands of our young leaders,” says Chris Maxwell, Executive Director of the Central Plains Dairy Foundation. “We are very grateful to the Ericksons for providing this wonderful opportunity to Ashley and supporting her in the pursuit of creating a strong future for our industry.”
For additional information about the Central Plains Dairy Foundation, call 605.412.8403 or email [email protected].
The Central Plains Dairy Foundation is an independent 501(c)3 organization committed to investing in proactive programming to support the dairy industry along the I-29 corridor in South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, and Minnesota.