National 4-H CEO Jennifer Sirangelo on CAUSES TV

On this episode of CAUSES TV, Dean Sabine O'Hara is joined by Jennifer Sirangelo, President and CEO of the National 4-H Council, and Rebecca Bankhead, Director of UDC's Center for 4-H and Youth Development.

4-H is the nation's largest youth development and empowerment organization, with more that seven million young members in rural, suburban and urban communities across the country. Children from elementary to high school have the opportunity to learn about science, citizenship, healthy living and food security. 4-H programs are designed to shape our future leaders. What makes the organization special is its reach-- 4-H has 540,000 volunteers, 3,500 professionals, and more than 60 million alumni.

According to the 4-H Positive Youth Development Report, students engaged in 4-H are:

• Four times more likely to make contributions to their communities (Grades 7-12);
• Two times more likely to be civically active (Grades 8-12);
• Two times more likely to make healthier choices (Grade 7);
• Two times more likely to participate in Science, Engineering and Computer Technology programs during out-of-school time (Grades 10 – 12); and
• 4-H girls are two times more likely (Grade 10) and nearly three times more likely (Grade 12) to take part in science programs compared to girls in other out-of-school time activities.

UDC is the only public university in the District of Columbia and also the only land-grant university. This means that we stand in the proud tradition of universities like K-State, Ohio State, Penn State and Virginia Tech. These are proud land-grant universities, located in rural communities, with large extension programs that educate farmers about the newest research crop production, or canning companies about the newest methods in food preservation or 4-H Club leaders about new programming ideas for rural children and youth. 

Learn more about D.C.'s 4-H program. Visit www.4-h.org to learn more about the national organization.