Calgary (Rural Roots Canada) – Over 100 4-H volunteer leaders from across Canada gathered in Calgary this month for the 2026 Leadership Summit, a three-day event focused on strengthening communities and preparing youth for future opportunities.

The summit was held February 6 to 8 and co-hosted by 4-H Canada and 4-H Alberta. It brought together volunteers, professionals and members of the 4-H Canada Youth Advisory Committee with the theme “Boots on the Ground, Eyes on the Horizon.”

“We talked a lot in the beginning phases about the imagery and the concept and what kind of direction we wanted to send,” said Leslie Noble, program director at 4-H Canada, who helped plan the event. “I think it ties really nicely to the direction of not just 4-H here in Alberta but 4-H Canada and across the country.”

The theme reflects both Western Canadian culture and the work 4-H leaders do every day. They are focused on immediate community needs while preparing young people for educational, career and life opportunities ahead.

For Monique Cote, a new leader from New Brunswick, the summit gave her a chance to connect with an organization much larger than her small 12-member club back home.

Cote became a 4-H leader just last September after her daughter completed a rabbit project the year before.

“This year she wanted to be part of a poultry project and we didn’t have a poultry leader,” Cote said. “So I decided that I would step up.”

Now she leads both poultry and rabbit projects for her club.

She arrived in Calgary knowing only one person from her provincial delegation. By the end of the weekend she was taking home new ideas and feeling welcomed into a network across Canada.

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“I think that resource sharing, knowledge sharing, is such an important part of keeping an organization alive,” Cote said. “No two clubs are alike. No two clubs operate the same way.”

Her favourite session focused on six-week introductory programs designed to hook new members and families. It’s an approach she hopes to bring back to New Brunswick to grow her club.

The summit held workshops across three main areas. Program excellence, leadership excellence and professional development. Sessions covered topics ranging from positive youth development and youth-adult partnerships to program evaluation and community engagement.

Leaders also heard from two keynote speakers. Sara Austin, one of Canada’s leading voices on children’s and youth rights, and mental health advocate and former Humboldt Bronco Tyler Smith.

On Saturday evening, leaders travelled to Kananaskis for 4-H Night in the Country. The evening featured the variety of programs available through 4-H Alberta. Youth members demonstrated their projects, from blacksmithing to dirt biking. This gave leaders from across the country a glimpse into how 4-H operates in the host province.

Noble said the goal of the summit is to equip leaders with practical skills they can use immediately while also reminding them why they volunteer.

“If one volunteer leader goes back to their club and just says that phrase of I’m here for you if you need to talk, the impact that that can have. Those little tiny nuggets, if one person takes one thing from one session, the ripple effect that that will have across the movement,” said Noble.

For Cote, the investment in leaders is paying off.

“My daughter has autism, and I’ve already seen the growth in her just through a year and a half,” she said. “I really enjoy mentoring kids. I really enjoy seeing their growth. I can see how if I had been a leader for several years, I would feel reinvigorated after coming to one of these summits where I could go back home with new knowledge, new ideas that I could implement in my own club.”