Alumni Survey
“I think The Food Project gave me a place to develop my voice and be more confident. When I show up in these spaces, I’m making sure that I’m heard and not overlooked. ”
Over the past 30 years, nearly 2,000 youth have graduated from The Food Project’s nationally recognized youth development program. We’ve kept in touch with alumni, and have watched as they become agents of social change in their communities. This year we designed a comprehensive alumni survey to formally quantify our impact. What we discovered reaffirmed what we already knew — a high percentage of our alumni are leading social change.
We conducted a mixed methods study in which we engaged more than 100 former youth employees who had completed at least two tiers of our program. Our evaluation team, including High Meadows Fellow Curtis Leonard, synthesized the survey results and conducted one-on-one interviews with twenty alumni representing youth crews from the past three decades. The results showed just how much The Food Project is empowering young people to cultivate meaningful change in the world.
“Our alumni shared just how much their experiences building confidence, problem solving with proactive action, and participating in and leading diverse groups on our farms matter,” Leonard said. “The results show our methodology is working to prepare young people to build a better future for themselves and their communities.”
We see the influence of our alumni everyday as two board members, five full-time staff members and one seasonal grower were once youth in our programs. Alumni are also frequent participants in our fellowship program.
We couldn’t be prouder. Come back and visit anytime!
“You can be a part of something that is larger than yourself and develop close relationships through it. The Food Project shifted my worldview and made me hopeful for and excited about going into the field I ended up going into.”