WASHINGTON D.C. — Applications will be accepted through Dec. 17 for a program designed to provide additional training for young professionals in the apple industry. Recipients of the NextGen Apple Fellowship will be announced Feb. 1, 2025. The program is sponsored by the U.S. Apple Association. 

Lynsee Gibbons, director of communications for U.S. Apple, wrote that the NextGen fellowship replaced the organization’s Young Apple Leaders program, and is considered more extensive than the YAL program. 

“(The NextGen fellowship has) much more comprehensive programming,” Gibbons wrote in response to an email from the Basin Business Journal. “The YAL used to attend our annual Capitol Hill Day. The NextGen group attends Capitol Hill Day as well as two other travel events and monthly virtual meetings.” 

The kickoff meeting for participants is in Washington D.C. in March. That’s followed by attendance at the organization’s annual Apple Outlook conference, which is in Chicago in 2025. The location of the third meeting will be announced later. 

The program is open to apple industry employees 35 years of age and younger who are starting out in their careers. Applicants must work in the apple industry in some form or capacity. 

Previous fellows have worked throughout the industry from production to financing. Some were growers, others were consultants, others worked for apple packers and processors. One is the CEO of a company that makes applesauce; another worked for a company that manufactured packaging. Others worked for financial institutions, software designers or other industry organizations. 

Most of the nation’s apples are produced in Washington, Michigan and New York, and many participants are from those states. But others were from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Texas.  

Along with the in-person and virtual meetings the program includes working one-on-one with an industry professional who acts as a mentor. Fellows learn about regulatory and legislative issues and meet with industry leaders nationwide. 

Participants are required to work together on a group project. They’re also required to film a video for USApple’s video series and be part of the organization’s social media. They are asked to participate in the mentorship program and will have individual projects assigned. 

Applicants should submit a video, one to two minutes, explaining why they want to participate in the program. The video should include details on what the applicant hopes to learn. A letter of recommendation is required from an industry, community or academic leader.