Summer Institute is GICL’s flagship program and will be held May 19 – 22, 2025 in Columbia, Missouri. It is a forum for the exchange of ideas and knowledge, bringing together leaders from the nation’s rich landscape of agricultural cooperatives to explore their commonalities and uniqueness as they delve into the challenges and opportunities facing today’s cooperatives.  Summer Institute’s program has roots in the novel “Life Cycle Framework” and uses it to explore both the fundamental dimensions and nuanced evolution of cooperative organizations and cooperative health.  

Participants of Summer Institute are hand-selected and represent diversity in cooperative roles and professional backgrounds.  Together, participants explore what makes cooperatives unique from other business forms and how those are leveraged to sustain long-lived, successful organizations that serve our nation’s producers.  Summer Institute participants become part of GICL’s legacy of developing and sharing knowledge to help improve cooperative performance, foster “cooperative genius,” and support each participant’s personal career growth.

The Summer Institute program explores the specific needs and challenges facing agricultural cooperatives and their members. Sessions are designed to enhance the participant’s leadership and strategic thinking within the cooperative context. While we primarily rely on and respect each cooperative’s assessment of who within their talent pool is ready to attend Summer Institute, individuals who meet the following criteria will feel prepared to contribute fully and gain the most from Summer Institute:

Experience Level: At least two years of experience working at a cooperative is recommended, giving participants a foundational understanding of “cooperative issues” that arise and a sense of how the cooperative is different from a non-cooperative business.

Career Stage: The Summer Institute program is designed for talented individuals who show exceptional promise and potential within the cooperative community, and who have taken on (or soon will) significant responsibilities indicative of those at the manager, director, or higher levels.   

For more information about the Summer Institute Program, please contact Jill Moreland at MorelandJ@Missouri.edu.