Women involved in the American Farm Bureau Federation had an opportunity to strengthen their leadership and advocacy skills during Farm Bureau’s Women’s ACE Summit in Washington, D.C., this week.

ACE — Advocate, Cultivate, Empower — focuses on inspiring and equipping women in agriculture to be strong leaders and advocates by offering advocacy training, networking and leadership development.

“ACE is a perfect example of a first step for leadership,” said Rosella Mosby, a vegetable farmer from Auburn, Wash., and president of Washington Farm Bureau.

Leadership is about stepping up when you feel you can contribute, she said, speaking to Capital Press during a break in summit activities.

Empowering women

The ACE Summit brings together a group of women from around the country to engage and advocate, giving them confidence and empowering them to do that, she said.

It helps women feel more comfortable with messaging and gives them a better understanding of policy. Women walk away feeling empowered to influence. It gives women the confidence to advocate and shows them the resources to set themselves up for successful advocacy, she said.

“When you’re able to provide leaders with the right tools and resources, it sets them up for successful engagement with decision makers,” she said.

There were inspiring speakers who talked about developing and fine-tuning the message to be more effective and help agriculture have a successful future. There were breakout sessions on the farm bill, farm labor and rural mental health, and members were able to visit with members of Congress, she said.

Networking opportunity

Through ACE, Farm Bureau provides an opportunity to grow a network focused on agriculture. It’s a way to engage and find out what issues other women in different areas and agricultural sectors are facing and what they’re doing, Mosby said.

“Everything is about building relationships,” she said.

The summit was well worth her time, and she was inspired to see a lot of newcomers at this year’s event, she said.

The summit is held every other year with the purpose of building a sustainable future by developing women leaders, engaging with lawmakers and advancing agricultural advocacy.