Help Shape MFU Events, Policy

As a grassroots organization, Montana Farmers Union relies on engagement with you as members to help make programming as meaningful as possible.

Several opportunities are available for you to help shape upcoming events by participating in planning committees for the Annual Convention and the 2025 Women’s Conferences. Committee participation requires attending minimal virtual meetings to provide insight and ideas for staff to implement.

MFU also is asking members to participate in the 2024-25 Resolutions Committee, which requires a more sizeable time commitment of several hour-long virtual sessions to review and revise MFU’s policy book, as well as attend the Annual Convention to provide insight and answer questions about proposed changes to members.

While MFU does not provide compensation for committee members’ time, MFU will comp attendance costs for active participants to the respective event.

If interested, please fill out a brief form available at https://forms.office.com/r/bPzUdkaEsh by June 10. Questions? Contact Member Services Director Rachel Prevost at rprevost@montanafarmersunion.com or your regional Membership Ambassador.

The Annual Convention Planning Committee:

• Commitment from member: Just a little bit of your time and some ideas/brain power!
• This committee gathers via Zoom at most three times (throughout Spring/Summer/Fall at a time that works for most committee members).
• The meetings tend to be 30 minutes to one hour long and are moderated, notes taken by, and managed by an MFU staff member.
• The committee is tasked with providing ideas for breakout sessions, speakers, local food access, and wanted programming for the upcoming annual convention, among other ideas/details. MFU staff will take these ideas and do our best to distill and put it into action.
• It is appreciated if members of this committee plan to attend the MFU Annual Convention meeting (this year in Whitefish, Oct. 18-19), but not required to participate in this committee. If you participate in committee meetings and plan to attend the convention, MFU will provide you with a comped Convention registration and hotel room at the Convention.

The 2025 Women’s Conference Planning committee:

• Commitment from member: Just a little bit of your time and some ideas/brain power!
• This committee will meet roughly four times between summer 2024 and early Jan. 2025.
• The meetings are all via Zoom and tend to be 30 minutes to an hour long and are moderated, notes taken by, and managed by an MFU staff member.
• The committee is tasked with providing ideas for breakout sessions, speakers, local food access, selecting participants to attend with scholarship money raised at last year’s Women’s Conference, and wanted programming for the upcoming Women’s Conferences, among other ideas/details. MFU staff will take these ideas and do our best to distill and put them into action.
• It is appreciated if members of this committee plan to attend one of the Women’s Conferences (Fairmont – Feb. 7-9, 2025, Malta/Eastern MT – Jan. 31-Feb. 1). If you actively participate in committee meetings and plan to attend one of the Women’s Conference, MFU will provide you with a comped conference registration (which covers hotel room and food).

The MFU Resolutions/Policy committee 2024-2025:

• Commitment from member: Reviewing MFU policy book, participating in weekly review meetings in advance of convention, researching policies to ensure our policies are up to date and accurately reflect the needs of MFU members. Attendance at MFU convention to present, hear resolutions from members, and answer questions during the policy sessions.
• Multiple hour long Zoom meetings in the weeks before the Annual Convention.
• Policy members who attend the annual Convention will have their attendance costs covered by MFU.
• We will be putting out another ask for Policy Committee members later this summer so please watch for that. However, if you are interested in serving on this committee, please indicate interest on the online form linked below as well.