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by Megan Karlin, Agriculture Future of America
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A
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& F
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KNOWING THE SUCCESS
of a venture
is entirely on one’s shoulders pushes
people to invest more of who they are
into what they do. This is likely why many
driven, creative individuals are drawn to
the idea of entrepreneurship. Yet, starting
a company isn’t for everyone, and there
are plenty of projects that are better
accomplished by an established team.
Is there a way to harness the creative
energy and drive of personal ownership
within the structure of an already-
existing company?
BLOOMING WHERE PLANTED
Intrapreneurialism is a word of increasing
popularity. As the need for innovation in
companies grows, so has the interest in
harnessing the entrepreneurial mindset
within existing companies and roles.
“Intrapreneurialism is a concept we’ve
believed in at Agriculture Future of
America for the last two decades,” said
Mark Stewart, AFA president and CEO.
“While building transformational leaders
in food and agriculture, we foster this
intrapreneurial spirit. Our founders would
call it, ‘blooming where you are planted’
or ‘rising the tide.’”
At the heart of it, an intrapreneurial
mindset acknowledges that you get out
of every position and situation what you
put into it. Since 1996, AFA has seen
many alumni take this concept to heart.
PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE
Jake Worcester, CEO of the Kansas 4-H
Foundation, was a student at the first
AFA Leaders Conference, AFA’s flagship
leader development experience. Since
then, he has continued his involvement
with the organization in a variety of ways
as a participant, a staff member, a speaker
and now a facilitator for the capstone
experience at Conference – Track 4
focused around lifelong learning.
“Early on, I saw folks from the industry
engaged with AFA asking and
encouraging young people to come to the
table looking to create value, innovate
and do things differently,” he said.
Later as a member of the AFA staff,
Worcester had a conversation with AFA
founder, Sandy Kemper, that influenced
his approach to intrapreneurialism further.
When Worcester approached Kemper,
who is an entrepreneur in his own right,
about a situation he saw happening
in rural America, Kemper suggested
Worcester look for a solution himself.
“Sandy said, ‘What do you think? Go
prove it.’ He told me to come back and
discuss how we could do something like
that. Since then, that’s how I approach
those types of conversations with
folks that I’ve looked up to,” Worcester
said. Today, Worcester always brings a
possible theory backed by research when
asking for feedback rather than asking
for a solution.
Another AFA alum, Emily Peters,
had that creative entrepreneurial spark,
but didn’t think about using it within a
company until her involvement with AFA.
“Learning about intrapreneurialism
at AFA helped me see I could take
ownership for the benefit of the
company and still utilize entrepreneurial
skills,” said Peters, agriculture sales lead
for Union Pacific Railroad.
Peters has been with Union Pacific
since graduating from The Ohio State
University seven years ago. In that time,
she has pursued and taken on a variety
of intrapreneurial projects she wouldn’t
have been able to accomplish otherwise.
These ventures have involved transport
of food and fuel into Mexico.
“We were opening a brand-new
market in a different country with a
different culture. There were so many
things we had to learn and understand,”
she said. “It was a benefit to do this
Intrapreneurialism
Fostering your entrepreneurial drive within an existing organization or community