The National 4-H Council's board of trustees unanimously selected Jill Bramble as the organization's new president and CEO.
Bramble currently serves as executive vice president and chief growth officer of the National 4-H Council and will step into her new role Aug. 18. She'll replace outgoing President and CEO Jennifer Sirangelo, who is departing to lead civic engagement group Points of Light.
The decision to hire Bramble, a fourth-generation 4-H alumna with more than 18 years of experience within the organization, comes after what 4-H described as “an 18-month, externally led executive succession process.” National 4‑H Council is the private sector, nonprofit partner of cooperative extension’s 4-H program.
According to the council, “Bramble brings a wealth of experience and a deep commitment to the organization's mission,” having first started as a grant writer before moving to the top leadership position.
“We are fortunate to have a leader of the caliber of Jill Bramble who is prepared to build on the organization’s growth and continue championing the importance of cooperative extension’s 4-H programs for the nation's youth,” said Krysta Harden, chair of National 4-H Council’s board of trustees, in a release. “We are deeply grateful to Jennifer for her outstanding leadership and contributions to National 4-H Council and America’s young people. She will be missed.”
Sirangelo described the transition as “bittersweet,” but one made easier knowing that “Jill is the best person for this role. I have the utmost confidence in her and know the future is bright with her at the helm.”
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Sirangelo has been an executive leader at 4-H for 17 years, including nearly 10 years as its president and CEO. A council release credits her with growing revenue 10-fold and launching a brand and purpose platform that prioritized diverse 4-H youth and alumni voices and attracted new multimillion-dollar investments. For example, Sirangelo oversaw the controversial decision to sell the National 4-H conference center in 2021 and attracted major donors like billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, who made a $50 million donation last year.
In an interview with Agri-Pulse, Bramble said she’s devoted the last several years since the 4-H conference center was sold “overseeing the transformation of our business model” and believes that she is taking the reins of the organization at a time when “we have a lot of momentum.”
“I am really excited to dig in and partner with cooperative extension on accelerating that momentum to have the greatest impact,” she said.
Bramble says the 4-H Council is currently focused on a number of priorities, including:
- The Council's unique role in helping to drive investment in 4-H so extension programs have the ability to create opportunity for all of America's youth.
- The digital transformation of 4-H utilizing their e-learning program, Clover. “That local in-person connection provides a lot of benefit to young people thriving, but if you combine extension’s footprint with the Council’s digital expertise, we have an opportunity to connect 4-H members from across the country and to elevate extensions content beyond their state,” she said.
- The Council plans to be a “catalyst” with cooperative extension programs' intent to launch a national workforce readiness initiative. “We know that college and career pathway programs are happening in pockets across extension and we see a significant responsibility to deliver a workforce-ready generation to our country,” Bramble said. “We know that 4-H helps build those hard skills like ag science, computer science, engineering, coding, and electrical, but we also have research that proves that 4-H really helps develop soft skills from positive youth development like decisionmaking, resetting goals after a setback, problem-solving and strategic thinking.”
- To execute a big vision for America's kids, “We must continue to collaborate with extension to modernize the 4-H program,” Bramble said. “Part of that is digital and part of that is ensuring that extension has the next generation workforce and that the program is relevant for the needs of young people today. Continuing to modernize both the program and ensuring a strong workforce pipeline for extension is also an area where the Council can help be a catalyst.”
Hailing from a rural agricultural family, Bramble said she brings “a deep passion for the roots of agriculture.” But as a 4-H alumna and mother, “I also see how relevant the core impact of 4-H is to kids regardless of where they live. I feel a deep responsibility to ensure that all kids have access to the same life-changing programs that I had.”
However, Bramble said the issues facing kids today are different and more challenging than the ones she experienced, and the 4-H model “needs to evolve as the needs of kids evolve.
“4-H is a really critical, positive youth development program that can help put them on a pathway with caring adult mentors and connected to our land grant university system to thrive into the future,” she said.
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