The 2024 Youth Leadership Conference (YLC) took place July   16-18 at UW-Stout, Menomonie, WI with about 70 future leaders from electric cooperatives across the state in attendance including Owen Klussendorf, son of Taylor Electric’s Secretary/Treasurer Cheri Klussendorf and her husband, Ryan of Medford. Teens ranged in age from freshmen to seniors in high school.

                  YLC is aimed at building leadership skills while ensuring attendees leave with a solid understanding of what electric cooperatives are, and the potential career opportunities they offer. They also have the opportunity to enter WECA’s essay contest for scholarship funds.

This year the teens were split into six districts and competed against each other in various challenges, including a TikTok challenge, where they each created a video demonstrating electric cooperative principles. There was also a web presentation and Q & A session with lineworkers from Central Wisconsin Electric Cooperative about their recent work with the Light Up Navajo! Project, which was an effort to electrify rural homes on the reservation for the first time in history.

One of the highlights of the event was a presentation by current and past attendees who spoke about the experiences they had at YLC, serving as members of the YLC board, traveling to D.C. with the NRECA Youth Tour, and more, which helped form their path to electric cooperative careers.

YLC Board Elections are also a main event. This year thirteen teens threw their hat in the ring in the hopes of securing one of six coveted seats on the board. They each delivered an energetic speech with their own creative influence demonstrating their personality, co-op knowledge, and leadership skills.  Taylor Electric’s Owen Klussendorf earned a spot as an alternate on the Youth Board and will be involved with many activities over the next year.

The YLC Board members will work to educate peers about electric cooperatives and will be invited to travel to the nation’s capital next summer for the 2025 NRECA Youth Tour. They will also be instrumental in planning the 2025 YLC. One board member will be selected to represent Wisconsin at NRECA’s 2025 PowerXchange in Atlanta in March.

—excerpts from the WECA Condenser, July 19, 2024