Susan Reynolds-Porter, chief executive officer of the Progressive Agriculture Foundation, was honored as the recipient of the Maynard Coe Professional Achievement Award. Reynolds-Porter received recognition during the 2016 International Society of Agricultural Safety and Health (ISASH) Conference banquet held in Lexington, Kentucky, in June.
The criteria for the prestigious award includes demonstrating achievement in the practice of agricultural safety and health over a period of several years. Achievements may be in the realm of research, outreach/extension, administration, resident education or some combination, and may involve state, national or international efforts.
"Susan's passion for the mission to provide education, training and resources to make farm, ranch and rural life safer and healthier for children and their communities is contagious. She is able to have all this impact because she knows everyone who has ever done a Safety Day on a personal level. She connects with them and shares her passion to help children and create a safer future," said George Cook, ISASH Awards Committee chair. "Whole communities are impacted and strengthened because of Progressive Agriculture Safety Days and the diversity of the program's volunteers is quite remarkable."
The award's namesake, Maynard Coe, served as director of the Farm Division of the National Safety Council for 20 years, and in that capacity he enlisted the help of dedicated people at universities and farm and agricultural organizations in establishing farm safety as a recognized profession. From the beginning, he was an inspiration to farm safety specialists and educators, giving them advice and encouragement. Later, when numbers increased, he urged the group to form their own professional organization.
As noted in the award application, the parallels between Coe and Reynolds-Porter are intriguing. In 1995, when Reynolds-Porter helped form the Progressive Agriculture Safety Day program, formerly known as the Progressive Farmer Farm Safety Day Camp program, a mere 2,010 participants were reached through 19 Safety Days in 11 different states. Currently, the program reaches more than 100,000 participants each year throughout North America and has expanded into Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil through license agreements. For more information about the Safety Day program, visit www.progressiveag.org.