2026 class set for Potato LEAF’s Leadership in the Field program

The 2026 class for the Potato Leadership, Education, and Advancement Foundation (Potato LEAF)’s Leadership in the Field program is set.

Participants in the program, in cooperation with the Gettysburg Foundation’s Higher Ground Leadership, will gather July 13-16 at the Gettysburg National Military Park for an immersive lesson in leadership centered around ordinary people who were asked to do extraordinary things during the battle of Gettysburg.

Character, communication, team building, humility, flexibility, resilience, strategic or visionary thinking, problem-solving under pressure and accountability are lessons the foundation believes can be learned at Gettysburg.
 
“We had a great set of candidates to consider for the program that reflects the diversity of the U.S. potato industry,” Wendy Dykstra, a Potato LEAF board member who served on the selection committee, said in the release. “The board looks forward to hearing about their experience and seeing the participants put their new skills to work to further advance the U.S. potato industry.”
  
The 2026 participants include:

• Sergio Duran, Allied Potato, California
• Eric Ortega, Farm Fresh Direct, Colorado
• Katrina Ivanovic, Potatoes USA, Colorado
• Adam Lytch, L&M Farms, Florida
• Travis Horkey, Horkey Brothers, Michigan
• Connor McGovern, RD Offutt Farms, North Dakota
• Chris Hansen, CSS Farms, New York
• Ryan Matter, Sterman-Masser, Pennsylvania
• Mikayla Davidson, Frito-Lay, Texas
• Brittany Bula, Bula Land Company, Wisconsin
• Jeffery Suchon, Bushman Riverside Ranch, Wisconsin
• Douglas Posthuma, Alsum Farms & Produce, Wisconsin
• Jason Karpinski, Wysocki Family Farms, Wisconsin
• Keith Glodowski, Wysocki Family Farms, Wisconsin