Don Floyd
President and CEO
National 4-H Council

Don has been associated with innovative leadership of youth serving non-profits for more than 25 years. In his current leadership role, he provides facilitative stewardship of National 4-H Council. National 4-H Council is the private sector, non-profit partner of America's largest and most diverse youth organization -- 4-H, serving 6.8 million young people this year. At its September 2000 Annual meeting, the National 4-H Council Board of Trustees adopted a new mission for National 4-H Council: "To advance the 4-H youth development movement to build a world in which youth and adults learn, grow and work together as catalysts for positive change." Don works diligently to ensure that Council's new mission honors shared leadership and supports the National 4-H Strategic Plan and consistently explores opportunities to enhance the 4-H shared leadership structure and advance the 4-H youth development movement. Under Don's leadership, Council is embracing its role as a true partner in the 4-H youth development movement. With Don's commitment to the concept of a shared leadership, he has been instrumental in the creation of a new national deliberative body, called the National 4-H Youth Development Leadership Trust, which provides a forum in which the 4-H partners can convene and work together.

In addition, Council operates a premiere youth conference center in the Washington, D.C. area, manages the national 4-H brand enhancement program which includes a $130 million pro bono ad campaign, and a large catalog/e-commerce business for 4-H members.

Prior to joining National 4-H Council in 1991, Don spent two years as a full-time dad caring for his two young children following the death of their mother. For 17 years he held local and national level jobs with Junior Achievement (an international non-profit teaching economics and business to youth). His career started as an executive director in Reading, Pennsylvania. In 1976, he moved to the National Junior Achievement office to lead Junior Achievement's first venture into classroom-based programming. That program (Project Business) is today Junior Achievement's largest program. Design and early funding for Project Business was provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Don spent over five years as President of Junior Achievement's New York City operation. New York was historically a poor performer, but using innovative programming, new management systems and working with a strong Board (chaired by IBM Chair Frank Cary), New York became the best Junior Achievement franchise. In 1985, Don became National Executive Vice President. In that capacity he led Junior Achievement's new image campaign, its re-engineered and customer focused field operations and launched its international expansion.

In addition to Don's innovative leadership, he volunteers his time to work with emerging youth movements to share learning about innovative organizational designs to encourage collaboration, clarity of purpose and significant learning and impact. He is a Director of the National Center for Small Communities; serves on the International Leaders Committee for the Applied Developmental Sciences Initiatives, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development, Tufts University; and serves on the International Advisory Committee, Space Day. In January 2001, Don joined the Advisory Board of the National IMPACT Center. Don also served on the Alumni Board of Albright College until April 2001.

Don also serves as: member of the National 4-H Leadership Trust; National 4-H Council's Liaison to the NAE4-HA Board of Directors (1999 to present) and as liaison to ECOP (Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (1998 to present). He is currently chair of the ECOP Budget Committee's Program Resource Committee's Children, Youth and Resilient Families Task Force. From 1992 to 1998, Don served on the National 4-H Strategic Directions Team and also was a member of the 4-H Experiential Learning Design Team (1997 to 2000). Don has been a member of the 4-H State External Review Teams for Tennessee, Colorado and New York. He also coaches AAU youth basketball and is active in church leadership.

Don is a graduate of Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania, and continued his learning at the IBM non-profit leadership school, and The Center for Creative Leadership. He lives in Highland, Maryland, with his wife Carolyn, daughter Jordan, sons Jacob and Matthew and stepsons Patrick and Bryan Orwig.

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