This is Behind the Clover: Real 4-H Talk with Real 4-H Pros. A look at 4-H from the perspectives of 4-H professionals from Illinois and beyond with your hosts, Henry Craft, Amy Henschen, and Ryan Littlejohn.
Ryan Littlejohn: 00:32Welcome back as we continue our conversation with doctor Lisa Diaz, director of Illinois 4-H. I like how you mentioned that that post high school. Right? We're preparing them for their post high school experience. And I know that you've just taken an assignment from National 4-H as part of the work readiness initiative.
Ryan Littlejohn: 00:53So could you tell us a little bit about that and what you'll be doing?
Lisa Diaz: 00:56Yes. So I think this is a perfect example of if you're passionate about something and ask a lot of questions, people are like, you're it. You're nominated. You get to lead that initiative. So I am really honored and excited to be a part of that.
Lisa Diaz: 01:18I I think we're at this moment in time where four h, as you know, is led by a land grant. In our case, we only have one land grant in Illinois. Some states have multiple land grants. But by and large, there is a state level four h program, and they each kinda have their own flavor. It can be very decentralized.
Lisa Diaz: 01:44And, you know, there are some of those core things elevating youth voices, civic engagement, the head, heart, hands, health. You know, there are things that unite us, but a lot of what we do is very individualized and tailored to the state. And then we know even, like, within Illinois, four h is very tailored to each of the communities in which we work. But we're at this moment in time post COVID. Well, there are a couple things that are unique about this moment.
Lisa Diaz: 02:15One is post COVID and seeing elevated changing new needs that our youth are facing in terms of mental health, in terms of just hopefulness as they look around them and look at the world and where they see themselves in it. And then we have an a workplace in a world that is changing every moment with the advances in AI and and automation that the research is telling us right now that upwards of 80% of the jobs that are gonna exist in 2030 don't even exist today. And that's just mind blowing. If I'm a young person, how do I prepare for a future career or job if I know that the majority of the opportunities out there, we don't even know what they are yet? And so that kind of unique moment in time has been recognized by the four h leadership across the country and our our national partners and our our donors.
Lisa Diaz: 03:21There's just this kind of alignment of saying, four h has always been about preparing youth for post high school success. But at this time when there's it's an even a bigger need and challenge than ever before, four H is the preferred youth organization. Four H is the organization that can figure this out and that can leverage all of the distributed expertise and insights and innovation and know how from across that rich system, you know, there are things that Ohio four h has figured out that we can learn from. There are things that Georgia four h has figured out that we can learn from. And we know that there are innovations in Illinois four h that can be of value and benefit other states.
Lisa Diaz: 04:11So my job really is just the convener of that conversation of bringing diverse voices to the table to say, how are we gonna mobilize around this? What is that gonna look like? And then helping to kind of, like, little bit project manager, a little bit kind of curmudgeon asking the hard questions, a little bit of cheerleader, a little bit of networker. I think there'll be a a variety of things that are are the kinds of things that I do every day as a four h director in Illinois that are just gonna get applied at a a a different a different stage.
Henry Craft: 04:51You said something that made my mind start spinning, which was how how do we teach kids how to be prepared for jobs that don't exist? And I'm just like, man, that's too true. Like, what yeah. Mind blown. Exactly.
Henry Craft: 05:06Because, I mean, you almost have to lean into teaching kids to be lifelong learners and to train towards a moving target and really keep your skills in an evolution stage because, I mean, how else would you do it, man? I mean, other than just really leaning into basic skills because, I mean, a lot of all those jobs have at least the elements of basic that just get built on with more complexity. So, man, that's a that's a mindblower. Thank you for that. True form, doctor Diaz right there.
Henry Craft: 05:40So
Lisa Diaz: 05:42I Henry, you just sparked something for me too that I I think, yeah, it does kinda blow your mind to think about how you approach that and and lifelong learning and the skills are that are related to to that, I think are are really central to what we're articulating and envisioning as a place for four H is building those lifelong learners. I'm also just reflecting personally, I don't know if the three of you have had this experience in in your career. It's like you do a thing because it made sense at that point, and it it it excited you. And then at some point, that's not the right thing anymore, and then you go to the next thing. And if you get old enough like me, you've had enough of those chapters in your life.
Lisa Diaz: 06:35And I remember a moment in time, it was actually when I was at the University of Pennsylvania, and when you're working on tenure, you have to kinda develop this, like, story about how all the parts of your life have come together and why they and I was telling a mentor, none of these things match. They're, like, all, like, different. And the response was you are the common denominator. You have to find that thread that linked all those things together because it was you. And when I started thinking about that, I guess my whole point in saying that is we need young people.
Lisa Diaz: 07:10You hear me talk about sparks a lot, but today's spark might not be tomorrow's spark, or it's gonna be a spark with different packaging or extra arms or appendages that grew onto it over time. However you wanna think about that analogy, but lifelong learning and also resilience and willingness to just kind of keep finding yourself and keep on that evolving path to be listening to what brings you joy, what particular skills you have to bring to the table. I think it's so many of those, you know, we talk about work ethic, but I'm also thinking about the internal stuff that we carry. Our self worth, our self confidence, our listening to our own self identity and and awareness of our self that I think those are all elements to that lifelong learning that are part of what it means to be ready for work and ready for life.
Henry Craft: 08:12I hesitate to make this comment because that was super awesome. And my intrusive thoughts were sparks with skin tags. They just show up. You know, it just changes. That'll probably get
Lisa Diaz: 08:23I love an analogy, and it always goes, like, off a deep end. It's like, oh, yeah. That that landed me in a place where I wasn't sure that was what I envisioned.
Henry Craft: 08:33That's how my brain works. Sorry. Anyway, let's take it back more serious again here. So doctor Lisa, this this job can be complex. It can have some things that behoove us to know where to find that thing to keep us going.
Henry Craft: 08:52And so my question to follow-up that silly comment was, what brings you as the director of four h joy in your work?
Lisa Diaz: 09:05I find joy in helping other people find their joy. And as you said, this is a job that has a lot of complexities. I mean, think about the weight of the aspiration to help all young people be prepared for a future that we can't even imagine or see. And we know the complexity of of challenges that our young people live in. And and and, you know, there's there's just a heaviness to kind of aspiring to help them navigate all that and and and come through that those challenges.
Lisa Diaz: 09:50And then there's all of the there there's always gonna be more work and potential than we have time. We could work ourselves to the bone twenty four seven and still not get everything done that we might imagine for ourselves. So my personal joy is in helping other people find their joy, while also helping them navigate those inevitable low points. And I don't know if we wanted to to to jump right into to segueing there, but but I do feel like I've come to a couple of at least Lisa's two cents on how to navigate this job when you're feeling particularly down. Because I care so much about people leaning and so my first advice always is revisit your spark, remember your why.
Lisa Diaz: 10:44And my second is find your people and build those networks and relationships with other people who will help you remember your why, who will help you remember that you can't do it all on your own, and you're not gonna do it overnight, and there's just some things you're not gonna get done. Finding people who help you be your best self. Sometimes you need a cheerleader, and other times you need a kick in the pants. Right? You need someone who's like, you got this, and you need to just keep going, or you need to go in this direction.
Lisa Diaz: 11:18So find your people, find your supporters. I think it's always about giving yourself grace of just we all have great intentions, and then there's reality. And there's just a lot we don't have control over. And I think the other part is I always like to encourage people to innovate and try something new with the acknowledgement that not everything is gonna be a home run. And that's okay.
Lisa Diaz: 11:52Because regardless of whether it was a home run or you stayed at home base, you walk away from that experience, that new thing that you did with a deeper understanding or an insight, a walk away that you can use the next time that you do something. So it's not the outcome that you might have imagined, but you're always gonna learn something from that experience. So it is just I can't stress enough the leaning on each other and the amazing network of people that we have in the four h team to help us in those those times when things are maybe a little rough.
Amy Henschen: 12:33I love that. That advice speaks to me so much because I do have just great folks all around the state who just can lend me the ear the right ear I need at the right time. Right? Because I have people in my own office. Have but sometimes you have a a low that's like, you know, I need to talk to this person over there.
Amy Henschen: 12:51So as the staff development specialist, here's my pitch. Come to regional and state things, sit by people you don't know. When someone presents something cool like a local program, send them an email and be like, hey. I wanna talk to you more about that. So you make those connections because you might find your, you know, your some of your soul your work soulmates might not be in your our office or your unit.
Amy Henschen: 13:16And if you don't put yourself out there, you might not find them. And I that just breaks my heart if you can't find like, find that person who's who's wants to be there for you, and you can be there for them out out that's somewhere else out in the state. So I just wanna say that. Because, again, my network here is a million I've I had great colleagues in Colorado, but I we have so many more opportunities to that I've had to touch base with people here in Illinois as an educator and as a specialist. And I just think, like, there's so many wonderful people here.
Amy Henschen: 13:43And we've all been through a lot of the same things. We'll when we're at our high, we can help you at your low and vice versa. So I think that that's great great piece of advice for folks.
Henry Craft: 13:54I will say, I think there's in this podcast series so far, there are probably two pieces that I needed at the right time and those were that was one of them. So thank you so much for sharing that because yeah. It's it's really it's just it's true. Like, revisit your spark, know why you did it, know why you even wanted to do this in the first place and you need those. So thank you for that.
Henry Craft: 14:20Much appreciated.
Amy Henschen: 14:22Alright. So, Lisa, you told us your four h story, and you told us about how, like, your family didn't know about four h in Iowa. And, like, we know in Illinois four h because we know who we reach. We know who we wanna reach. We wanna reach everyone.
Amy Henschen: 14:34We want everyone to know who we are. But we know the reality is that there's a lot of families in Illinois who haven't ever heard of us. Or if they they might have seen the clover somewhere, they might, you know, they might have some vague association, but, like, they don't really know what four h is all about. So if, you know, like, you have the opportunity. You're the face of Illinois four h in so many instances.
Amy Henschen: 14:53We throw you in front of the media. We throw you in front of, like, our other colleagues and at events, and you're talking to fun you know, funders, and you're talking to government officials. Like, if you were just talking to a family, you know, about what's four h and why should they get involved, what's your elevator pitch to a family that's unfamiliar with four h?
Lisa Diaz: 15:11Yeah. I love that question. And I actually have kind of probably different elevator speeches for the donor who doesn't know about four h or the partner organization that doesn't know about four h. But for a family, for a young person, I always say four h is in your community, four h is in every part of you know, so wherever I'm talking to them, it's like, you may not know it, but four h is in your community. And it's a youth program that isn't you're not just joining a program, you're joining a community.
Lisa Diaz: 15:49A community and the network that will grow with you and stay with you for life. You can go anywhere, anywhere in the country, and probably anywhere in the world, and say four h, and you will find someone who's like, I knew four h. I was connected to four h in some way, and that opens doors for you today and tomorrow. Like, that is with you forever. I also talk about four h just being it's like any interest you have, you can bring to four h and and be able to deepen and develop that interest with friends, with new friends, old friends, that being able to have fun with a peer group around something that and then you'll have a lot of chances to try new things and figure out what you don't already know that you might get excited about.
Lisa Diaz: 16:45So I think those are some of the things that I like to highlight depending on if it's a younger youth or an older youth, because I'm so passionate about youth voices. I always talk about four h is a place to develop and use your leadership skills. Four h is a place to get involved in your community. Four h is a place to build things and put them on your resume that will matter in whatever you're choosing as a post high school goal. So giving you, like, real world experiences that that you can speak to and talk about in future interviews or applications.
Lisa Diaz: 17:24So I'm always customizing it a little bit, but I think those are a couple of things that I would be part of my elevator speech.
Amy Henschen: 17:33I love see, love hearing these from other people, and that's part of the reason we've been asking this to everyone on this list because we talk to different audiences all the time, and that message does have to change. And sometimes you get your you get kind of, like, too comfortable with yours, and it's not fresh anymore. So it's nice to hear, some new perspectives, and I love that you really highlight some of those, like, leadership and service opportunities potentially for some older kids. I love that also you talk about bringing your own kind of spark to the table. Because that's one thing I always struggle with with four h.
Amy Henschen: 18:03It's like, four h is so many things. It's almost hard to talk it's this and that and this and that and this. So I like that you start with, what are you passionate about? You can grow that here and make friends and do all this cool social stuff, but also, like and find something new. So it's like you don't even have to get into, like, it's robots and it's egg and it's, you know, horticulture and it's you know, you can just start with, what are you interested in?
Amy Henschen: 18:25We can help you grow that. We can help you make pathways. We can help you connect. So that's a good a good one. I'm gonna, like, store some of that for the next time I get asked this or have to do my own pitch to someone locally.
Lisa Diaz: 18:37I love that you're asking people this, and I'm so excited to listen to the podcast series because I also am constantly learning from how other people are talking about four h, and that inspires me as well. So I'm delighted that you're you're asking that of folks as you're doing this podcast series.
Henry Craft: 18:58Alright. So doctor Lisa, we are gonna raise our altitude just a little bit here. Okay? And we're gonna gonna fly up to a little bit more of a a heady space. And I I wanna ask you a a pretty serious question here.
Henry Craft: 19:12And most people take this almost like they're you know, it's the last question you ever answered in your life. And that's that's seriousness of this. But what is the legacy that you want to be remembered for at Illinois four h?
Lisa Diaz: 19:28Yeah. That is an elevated question, Henry. I think it's a little hard for me framed as what do I wanna be remembered for? Because again, this isn't a position that I aspired to. It's a position that I found myself in because I care deeply about the mission and the potential of the work and the people involved in that work.
Lisa Diaz: 19:55So, you know, remembered for or things that were accomplished, I think because those are all collective lifts. So collective lifts that I was a part of. I think definitely we've seen a growth in the number of leadership opportunities for young people at a state level. For a long, long time, we had a youth leadership team, a state youth leadership team, where 20 kids could have an elevated opportunity to bring their voice and their leadership skills to things with impact at a state level. We now have upwards of six, seven more different kinds of of avenues for we have our state health ambassadors.
Lisa Diaz: 20:49We have our game design team who helps run the robotics competition every year. We and there there are so many new expanded diverse ways for young people to be involved and be influencers at a state level. And for me, that's that's what it's always been about is taking those local experiences that are grounded in the home community, but then four h showing how there is a pathway to continue building and expanding and applying those in larger spheres of influence at the state level and then at the national level. So I am proud of and have have been honored to be a part of the collective lift on expanding those opportunities. I also think putting resources where they can make a difference, I think that has included creating additional educator positions with geographic focus in parts of the state that we haven't historically gotten to.
Lisa Diaz: 21:59Because when we have state staff who are in charge of a whole county, we're not gonna get to all the kids in that county, especially if that county includes a highly concentrated, large populous area. I think related to that, we've also added some positions and capacity at the state level to support pathways and program areas that we know have been of high interest. Health has always been one of our high enrollment project areas, and we've never had a staff person with with dedicated responsibility to nurture the wide range of opportunities for young people who have a spark in that area. So creating some of those positions that can open up new opportunities for young people. And then I I think another one is work around diversity, equity, and inclusion in thinking about who benefits from four h.
Lisa Diaz: 23:03And just wanting to continue encouragement of us collectively as a team to think about who's not yet benefiting, and what can we do to help bridge that gap, to open that door for all youth in Illinois. And I've seen us make some major headway. And I think those are at least three things that I'm have really been honored to be a part of and work with others.
Amy Henschen: 23:35I have to say I am at the most excited. I've been at our potential right now in Illinois 4 H because of some stuff Lisa's done, like she said, to set us up with the team to kinda keep moving forward and and keep adapting to changes and to its needs in the state. And we've got a lot of great new like, Susan came on board as our health specialist and has been rocking and rolling. And we've got gangbusters on signature programs in the health area. We've got new healthy living ambassadors.
Amy Henschen: 24:06So much there and seeing that that was a need and then seeing what someone can do in that role, and then having new positions, to help support clubs. It just it's really great to to have a great team of folks at the top ready to help, everyone down in the field, on this journey together. So I really I think for sure you're you're on track, Lisa, to have a great legacy, because we're we're, you know, just and and it's gonna keep going, you know, and that's kind of the great part. It's like, you planted a lot of seeds that I'm excited to see where where they're where they're going in the near future and the long term.
Lisa Diaz: 24:42I'm excited too. And I think that that legacy again is a shared legacy. It's a you know, we've we've achieved some amazing things in Illinois four h, and that's one of the things that that also contributed to me saying yes to the national work. While it's horrible timing, just horrible timing with bringing in some new staff and wishing that they had more opportunity to kinda get their sea legs before I'm jumping off to do some other things, I'm excited about putting a spotlight on Illinois four h of elevating all of the innovation and the expertise that is here in our young people. I mean, we've gone five years in a row having an Illinois young person selected as one of four for the whole country.
Lisa Diaz: 25:34Every state can nominate as many exceptional young people as they want for this, like, highest four h award, and there's only ever gonna be four, and Illinois has been picked the last five years in a row. We have exceptionally young people, and that one who becomes the youth in action winner is just so I just I'm excited about where we've been. I'm even more excited about the potential for where we're going.
Ryan Littlejohn: 26:03So, Lisa, one of my favorite memories when I first met you, I was wearing a k state purple shirt and a k state vest, and you told me I needed to wear some more blue. And that was probably the best piece of advice you ever gave to me personally because even now, if I wear something k state, people are like, why do you wear something that's k state? And I'm like, well, I went to school there. They're like, but you're with the University of Illinois. Was like, yeah.
Ryan Littlejohn: 26:28I know. I know. I need to wear blue. So that's just I just had to put throw this in there on on my advice. So what advice would you give someone that's just started out working for Illinois four h?
Lisa Diaz: 26:40I'm laughing, Ryan, because I have zero memory of giving you that advice. And it's it's funny because and I'm the least athletic person in the world. So I someone asked me today, like, who are you reading for in the upcoming I don't even know which sport is playing. Is it basketball? It's like LAI.
Lisa Diaz: 27:01It's so off my radar. So wearing the blue, yes. We should all wear blue and orange and proudly represent that we are part of the University of Illinois. Isn't that funny that I that was memorable for you and I don't remember that? If if I were giving advice to people on how to get started in their four h careers, I think the number one thing is just immersing yourself.
Lisa Diaz: 27:33And this is something that it's a funny thing. My husband used to work for Illinois four h and still from time to time does consulting with other states around growing their four h programs, especially working with Latino audiences. But one of the things we like we're just silly geeks geeks in this way. When we go to a new town, we like to just do drive throughs or walk throughs to just kinda what is this community? What stands out?
Lisa Diaz: 28:03What kind of, you know, it's that that if you wanna form, if you wanna make it more academic, an asset map of the community. Is there a library? Is there a community center? My husband is always taking pictures of, like, inside the or the grocery store, any place that has a, like, community built board that you can, like, old school, that you can, like, put paper flyers on. Like, take pictures of them.
Lisa Diaz: 28:32You can learn so much about a community by just what you see posted in different public spaces. Going to a Walmart and you can learn a lot because Walmart is exceptional in their market research. They know who their their audience is, and you can see it reflected in what they put at the front of the store, the back of the store, what kind of products they're offering. You can learn all so just walking through your communities, immersing yourself, paying attention, meeting people, being visible in the community, looking for where youth are, looking for where adults are gathered who are thinking about youth, and advocating for youth needs and opportunities, and being part of those conversations. I think that's, you know, if I were starting a new chapter tomorrow and in charge of four h in particular geography, I think that's the first thing, networking and just immersing and learning the community.
Lisa Diaz: 29:35And of course, a big part of that is asking young people, what do you where do you go after school? What kinds of things do you get most excited about? What are some of your what do you wish you had more of in school, after school? Just listening to and talking to young people. And then, you know, I I keep going back to that spark.
Lisa Diaz: 29:58There's a lot of things that are new when you're starting out as a four H educator or program coordinator, whatever your role is on the four H team, there's gonna be a lot of new. So coupling that with something that's familiar that you're building on, back in my academic days, he actually just passed away. There's a doctor Luis Moll is someone who's really inspired me, and he's known for talking about funds of knowledge. That we all have funds of knowledge that we bring into whatever new spaces we're in. So that's kind of related to Spark, but building on our funds of knowledge, not getting stuck there.
Lisa Diaz: 30:43Because if we only do the things that we're familiar with and bring us joy, then we're not gonna be fully responsive to the diversity of needs and opportunities of the young people around us. But it's a great starting place to couple a new community, new audiences with a more familiar thing that you can bring some you can carry forward. Because you're bringing to your new position so much expertise and world experience and things that you know a lot about. And finding ways to build on that, I think, are great things to do in your your early days as a four h professional.
Amy Henschen: 31:27Well, Lisa, this has been a delight. Thank you so much for coming to join us. I think we just got a lot of good gems of wisdom and just a lot of that. I wish I talked to you, I always leave feeling validated about, like, the work I do matters. And I think Ryan and Henry probably feel that way too after after talking with you.
Amy Henschen: 31:44We just really and we know you're busy. We're all busy. Right? We appreciate you taking the time, and we're just so happy to have you advocating for Illinois youth, advocating for Illinois four h staff and, helping. We're excited to see what comes from this national initiative that you're helping lead.
Amy Henschen: 31:58And we're excited we still get to keep you 20% of the time too. Thanks so much for joining with us.
Lisa Diaz: 32:03Such such a joy. I again, I this this this has been the highlight of my week, I have to say. And so thank you for your affirmation. Thank you for what you're doing to advance that dream and vision for Illinois four H youth and for bringing this new way of inspiring and uplifting our friends and colleagues as four H professionals. Really grateful for the work that you're you're doing together.
Amy Henschen: 32:37Awesome. Thanks for seeing us. We appreciate you're seeing what that we what we do and what our dream was and then validating that. I love it. Well, everyone, thanks so much for joining us for this episode of Behind the Clover.
Amy Henschen: 32:48Join us next time for more real conversations with real four h pros.