Lilly Endowment Awards $10M Grant to National FFA Organization

The National FFA Organization is one of six national organizations to each receive a $10 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. These grants are being awarded through the latest round of Lilly Endowment’s initiative, Character Development Through Youth Programs, which helps youth-serving organizations with a nationwide reach create, test, implement and sustain strategies that support character development in young people ages 5 to 18. This grant will enable National FFA to expand its current efforts of character development to regional and local levels that will benefit states, teachers and students.

“We’re deeply honored to receive this support from Lilly Endowment,” said Ambra Tennery, director of educational programs in the program and events division of the National FFA Organization. “Every day, across all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, our members are learning not just about agriculture, but about responsibility, integrity, and service. This grant reinforces the value of those lessons and helps us continue building future leaders who make a difference in their communities.”

In addition to National FFA, other organizations receiving funding in this most recent round of grants include: Camp Fire, Kansas City, Missouri; Outward Bound, Boulder, Colorado; Playworks Education Energized, Oakland, California; Positive Coaching Alliance, Oakland, California; and YWCA USA, Washington, DC. In 2024, Lilly Endowment made grants to eight youth-serving organizations through the first round of the Character Development Through Youth Programs initiative.

“These organizations have long histories of supporting young people and helping them grow into healthy, resilient adults,” said Ted Maple, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for education and youth programs. “With their distinctive missions and programs, they are embarking on new creative and strategic approaches to support youth in developing character traits that will enhance their prospects in life and help them develop into responsible citizens who will have a positive impact on the lives of others.”

In 2022, FFA received $3 million from Lilly Endowment to help strengthen Indiana FFA chapters through teacher professional development, recruitment and retention, curriculum development, and more. With that funding, FFA launched Grow With Us in 2024, a resource for students, parents, guidance counselors, teachers, and administrators interested in learning how agricultural education can positively impact students’ success in school and life after graduation, and how to offer it in their community.