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Three women whose future plans include service, communications and science have been selected as the first recipients of the new Women’s Leadership in Agriculture Scholarship Program from the Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation.

Brooke Jolly, daughter of Dean and Peggy Jolly, Highland County, is enrolled at Mt. Vernon Nazarene University pursing a degree in business and missions service. A mission trip to Ecuador and work with vocational agriculture helped Jolly create career goals. She hopes to promote better conservation practices and the use of improved fertilizers and seeds to "help others through agriculture and afford everyone a better standard of living."

Annie Specht, daughter of Steven and Michele Specht, Tuscarawas County is pursing a dual degree in agricultural communications and English at Ohio State University. Specht grew up on a dairy farm and is interested in communications. "I attended a largely suburban school district – my family was one of a handful involved in agriculture on a full-time basis – and I realized just how little the community at large knew about farming," Specht said. "I realized early on that communicating the importance of agriculture was going to be a part of my life."

Bethany Frew, daughter of Dr. T. David and Susan Frew, Carroll County, is pursuing a degree in bio-environmental engineering at Ohio State University. Life on her family’s sheep farm and interest in science has helped shape Frew’s career goals. She intends to help develop emerging energy technologies so they have, "a stronger impact on improving the environment, agriculture and the lives of others throughout the world."

The foundation established an endowment for the new Women’s Leadership in Agriculture Scholarship Program with a grant from the Charlotte R. Schmidlapp Fund, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee. The fund supports academic institutions, social service and charitable organizations providing opportunities "to ennoble, to uplift and to strengthen the lives of young women." For more information on the Women’s Leadership in Agriculture Scholarship Program, visit the Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation at www.ofbfoundation.org.