April 15, 2025
Beyond Ready, Bold Goals, and Strategic Planning for Kansas 4-H
We are excited to launch a strategic planning process to imagine the future for Kansas 4-H as we strive to help youth be Beyond Ready for life and work. For those of you who attended the 2025 4-H Program Rally in Great Bend, you heard an introduction to Beyond Ready. The national level has initiated a bold plan to grow 4-H from 6 million to 10 million youth by 2030. This effort aims to leverage 4-H’s scientifically proven approach to youth development to help young people achieve their full potential, tackle today’s challenges, and shape the future.
This ambitious initiative builds on the great work of 4-H programs nationwide. Kansas 4-H is contributing through these three Bold Goals:
- Engage every Kansas youth in a 4-H experience at some point during their childhood.
- Increase traditional 4-H enrollment by 10% by 2030.
- Increase engagement beyond traditional enrollment by 10% by 2030.
For over a century, 4-H has grown confident, capable leaders through hands-on learning and community connection. This positive youth development organization has continuously evolved to meet the needs of young people and the communities they call home, ensuring its programs remain relevant, inclusive, and impactful.
Over the next few months, the programming and philanthropic side of Kansas 4-H will be conducting 15 stakeholder interviews. Individuals invited to participate in these interviews include 4-H members, parents, volunteers, business & industry, young alumni, Extension professionals, and professionals at Kansas State University who may or may not have an Extension appointment. We will meet with these groups to explore their insights on how best to position Kansas 4-H to meet this ambitious call.
In late summer, a task force made up of members of our stakeholder groups will convene and propose the start of a strategic plan. If all goes as outlined, the strategic plan will be unveiled around the start of the new 4-H year in October.
Thank you to those who have accepted the invitation to participate in the stakeholder groups and those who have provided suggestions on who we should invite to participate.
I’d encourage you to reflect on the bold goals for Kansas 4-H. Consider your current role and how you can actively contribute to these goals. What programming and outreach is going well, and where can improvements be made? We cannot keep doing what we are doing and think we will meet these goals. As mentioned earlier, we have continuously evolved to meet the needs of young people. What must be improved or changed to help Kansas 4-H achieve these bold goals?
This is an exciting time where not only everyone on the national level is moving in the same direction, but Kansas 4-H and the Kansas 4-H Foundation are intentionally doing the same. Let’s embrace this time and continue to move forward together.