Dylan Gentry, Kentucky 4‑H
Dylan Gentry, raised in rural Central Kentucky, loves 4‑H and personal development. His experience in 4‑H culminated in 2018-2019 as he was elected Kentucky 4‑H Treasurer and awarded the title of Honorary Commissioner of Agriculture by current Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner, Dr. Ryan Quarles. In his last year of 4‑H eligibility, he was an ambassador for the States’ 4‑H International Program. As an ambassador, he traveled to Seattle, Washington, to orientate inbound Japanese and Korean youth before their yearlong foreign exchanges in America.
Dylan Gentry is a senior at the University of Kentucky, where he is pursuing a dual degree in Family Sciences and Community & Leadership Development. In addition, he has minors in Appalachian Studies and Agricultural Economics with a certificate in Business. Upon graduating in the spring of 2022, Dylan plans to attend law school and finish a doctoral program. With this extensive education, he hopes to better himself and his future job performance. His dream job is to work as an assistant dean for Extension or department director for 4‑H Youth Development at a land-grant university.
Dylan’s past work experience includes working under Dr. Rachel Noble as the state intern for 4‑H Leadership and International programs. As an intern, he authored the 2019 National State Officer Report, a first-of-its-kind report which reached out to all 50 states’ 4‑H programs to capture information about their state officer programs. He also co-authored 4‑H international programming curriculum focusing on the country of Brazil. Other experiences include interning under Dr. Jennifer Hunter, Assistant Director of Family and Consumer Sciences Extension. In addition, Dylan currently works part-time with the Globalizing Extension Innovation Network, where he works with Extension professionals to incorporate global perspectives into local programming opportunities.
Katie Pascavis, Illinois 4‑H / Arizona 4‑H
Katie Pascavis was raised in Bloomington, Illinois, and joined the 4‑H program when she was five years old as a Cloverbud, but she considers herself a 4‑H’er for life. As a 5th-generation 4‑H’er, the program is truly in her blood. Katie’s family moved to Arizona, where she continued her participation in 4‑H. She began organizing community service projects for her club, including local nursing home visits and food drives.
Katie served as President of the Queen Creek 4‑H Club and the State 4‑H Dog Committee, where she taught younger 4‑H’ers how to train dogs and small stock at weekly meetings. In addition, she started her county’s first 4‑H STEM project club. Katie was selected for the 2017 National 4‑H Congress Youth Leadership Team and was the Mistress of Ceremonies for the National 4‑H Gala. Through 4‑H, she competed in public speaking at National Western Roundup and represented Arizona at National 4‑H Conference. There, she worked with a team of 4‑H’ers to create a youth policy proposal that they presented to the U.S. Department of Health.
Currently, Katie is a junior at Arizona State University majoring in Mechanical Engineering and Global Health with a certificate in Sustainable Food Systems. She continues the 4‑H mission of service-learning through ASU’s Engineers Without Borders international team designing rainwater catchment systems. Katie is also a researcher for the Luminosity Lab, an interdisciplinary research and development lab on campus. In addition, she works on various COVID-19 response projects, including the XPRIZE Next Gen mask and the Fulbright Post-COVID challenge. Katie also continues to volunteer with both the Arizona and Illinois 4‑H programs.
Recently, Katie started as a Sustainability and Impact Analyst for Biomass Controls PBC, which provides eco-friendly solutions to global agricultural, water, and sanitation challenges. She aspires to focus her career on increasing access to clean water, food, and sanitation worldwide, a passion that she discovered through 4‑H.
