La. Country-Aug.
PCEMC page
Youth Council

PCEMC member Katherine E. Robillard of Morganza will be representing Louisiana on the Youth Leadership Council (YLC) on the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA).

Katherine attended the YLC Conference, July 20-25, in Washington, D.C. The conference agenda included leadership and team building exercises, meeting with Capitol Hill staff members who are "alumni" of NRECA's Electric Cooperative Youth Tour, and a competition to select the NRECA's National Youth Spokesperson. One special "alumnus" who will be addressing the students will be U.S. Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) who is a former Youth Tour Chaperone from Nebraska.

While in Washington, the YLC members will gain a broader understanding of cooperatives through their discussions with Glenn English, CEO of NRECA, along with Sheldon Peterson, Governor of the National Rural Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC), and Bob Phillips, CEO of the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC). Also addressing the students will be Adam Schwartz, Vice President of the National Cooperative Business Association.

"This is what it's all about," said Katherine, a Pointe Coupee Electric Co-op (PCEMC) member who was sponsored during the 2007 Rural Electric Youth Tour by the Association of Louisiana Electric Co-ops (ALEC) in cooperation with Louisiana 4-H.

"We are preparing ourselves for the future with peers from across the country, thanks to ALEC, PCEMC and NRECA. We will expand our knowledge of the American political system, broaden our understanding of cooperatives and develop our leadership skills," Katherine stated.

Katherine's electric co-op experience began in June when she attended the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour in Washington, D.C. with nearly 1,500 high school students sponsored by their local electric cooperatives. ALEC sponsored four students selected from among Louisiana 4-H students to take part in the tour. PCEMC also sent two local students on the tour. Louisiana Generating sponsored two other local students to take part in the annual event. The students themselves selected Katherine to serve on the YLC representing Louisiana and to attend the Leadership Conference.

All 45 members of the YLC, including Katherine, will participate in the 2008 NRECA Annual Meeting in Anaheim, California. They will provide assistance to the NRECA staff and co-op delegates; participate in the Parade of States at the opening General Session and take part in a variety of educational activities.

NRECA is the national service organization representing the nation's more than 900 private, consumer-owned electric cooperatives, which provide electric service to 40 million people in 47 states.