2024 Cohort
In December 2023, NCF announced the names of the five participants of the 2024 Next Generation Leadership Institute (NGLI) program! The 2024 cohort started its journey in February 2024 with an in-person meeting at the NACD Annual Meeting in San Diego, California.
NGLI participants will meet for four training sessions throughout the year, with a capstone session at the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) Annual Meeting in 2025. The NGLI curriculum will equip these leaders with skills and resources for personal, civic and organizational leadership development.
This comprehensive training will help participants rise to meet the future needs of natural resources management, preparing them to navigate and manage complex conservation challenges – both current and future – at the national level.
Kelli Bowen
North Dakota
Kelli Bowen is a lifelong North Dakotan. She grew up in a very rural area – a small ranch between two towns with a combined population of only 126 people. Living next to a waterfowl production area, her love for both agriculture and conservation began in that rural setting from a very young age.
Kirk Daniel
Tennessee
Kirk Daniel is a native of West Tennessee. He spends his days operating the family farm, which consists of cows/calves, backgrounding feeder calves, and pecans. Kirk has been married to his wife, Glenn, for 30 years. They have spent many happy years raising their sons, Sam and Alex, on their family’s farm. Kirk is a member of First Baptist Church of Covington, Tennessee, where he enjoys singing in the choir.
Excell La Fayette, Jr.
Oklahoma
Excell is a native son of Tulsa, Oklahoma. He has raised two adult sons and serves as a dedicated mentor for several other youth here in Oklahoma. Excell currently resides with his wife in Bristow, Oklahoma, where he enjoys being a small-scale farmer and rancher in his rural conservation district with a personal passion for photography and an occasional motorcycle ride in the country.
Glenn Takai
Guam
Glenn Takai is 44 years old and is married to Marcela Takai. They have two daughters, 24 and 10 years old, respectively. He is also a grandfather to a one-year-old baby girl named Ezra. Takai’s current profession, outside of being a district director, is an eighth grade science teacher. He has been teaching for 18 years. Aside from teaching, he also owns and manages a farm part-time because he has a background in the field of agricultural sciences, specifically tropical horticulture.
Vincent Thompson
Kentucky
Vincent Thompson is a 43-year-old widowed father to his 10-year-old daughter, Finley Rose. He is chairman of the Hardin County Conservation District Board and owner of a historic venue known as Bethlehem Academy.