Brightmark and 4-H Announce National Partnership to Inspire and Educate Youth in Agriculture

New STEM partnership to focus on ag-science, career development for the next generation of leaders in agriculture

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Brightmark, the global waste solutions provider and 4-H, the nation’s largest youth development organization, announced a new partnership that aims to inspire young people to pursue careers in agriculture, particularly in agricultural science and technology.

As part of the partnership, Brightmark will sponsor 4-H's annual National 4-H Youth Summit on Agri-Science and will provide educational opportunities throughout the year for 4-H youth to learn about sustainable agriculture practices, such as natural gas projects on dairy farms.

“We’re thrilled to announce this new partnership with 4-H to help inspire the next generation of agriculture leaders,” said Brightmark Founder and CEO Bob Powell. “Agriculture is a cornerstone industry in the U.S. economy, and Brightmark wants to see the best and brightest pursuing career paths in ag, particularly as the field embraces and innovates sustainability practices like anaerobic digestions to reduce the environmental impacts of food production. I’m looking forward to meeting some of these youth leaders out on our project sites.”

Brightmark is a proven leader in sustainable agriculture technology solutions. The company has partnerships with 23 dairy farms in nine states for renewable natural gas projects featuring anaerobic digestion technology that drastically reduces the climate, air, and water impacts associated with animal manure. Brightmark recently announced a joint venture with Chevron that will build and own dairy biomethane projects across the United States, allowing the expansion of its anaerobic digestion project model to more farms in more states.

“Today’s youth will play a critical role in future ag innovation, forming a diverse talent pipeline that ensures a safe and sustainable food supply for future generations,” said Heather Elliott, Vice President, Development at National 4-H Council. “4-H’s collaboration with Brightmark provides even more young people the opportunity to experience hands-on STEM and agri-science activities, giving them the skills to innovate and create a sustainable future.”

4-H's 2021 National Youth Summit on Agri-Science will enable high school students to develop the skills and knowledge needed to tackle the challenges facing agriculture, such as food security and sustainability. Brightmark will host a workshop for summit attendees focusing on explanation of how anaerobic digestors work to produce renewable natural gas, personal professional power, and will also highlight ways participants can put their passion into action. The summit will be held virtually from March 5-7, 2021. Interested participants can learn more here.

ABOUT BRIGHTMARK

Brightmark is a global waste solutions company with a mission to reimagine waste. The company takes a holistic, closed loop, circular economy approach to tackling the planet’s most pressing environmental challenges with imagination and optimism for the future. Through the deployment of disruptive, breakthrough waste-to-energy solutions focused on plastics renewal (plastic waste-to-fuel) and renewable natural gas (organic waste-to-fuel), Brightmark enables programs specifically tailored to environmental needs in order to build scalable project solutions that have a positive impact on the world and communities in which its stakeholders live and work. For more information, visit www.brightmark.com.

ABOUT 4-H

4-H, the nation’s largest youth development organization, grows confident young people who are empowered for life today and prepared for career tomorrow. 4-H programs empower nearly six million young people across the U.S. through experiences that develop critical life skills. 4-H is the youth development program of our nation’s Cooperative Extension System and USDA and serves every county and parish in the U.S. through a network of 110 public universities and more than 3000 local Extension offices. Globally, 4-H collaborates with independent programs to empower one million youth in 50 countries. The research-backed 4-H experience grows young people who are four times more likely to contribute to their communities; two times more likely to make healthier choices; two times more likely to be civically active; and two times more likely to participate in STEM programs.

Learn more about 4‑H at 4-H.org, find us on Facebook at Facebook.com/4‑H and follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/4H.