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We welcomed our new executive director to Agriculture in the Classroom Canada (AITC-C) on November 6. Based in Quebec, Mathieu Rouleau brings a combination of leadership, agriculture and finance experience to the role. We sat down with Mathieu to learn more about his lifelong ties to agriculture and vision for the organization.
Can you tell us about your background in agriculture?
I was born and raised on a dairy, cash crop and maple syrup farm and have been involved in agriculture ever since. After graduating high school, I did my degree in agricultural economics at the University of McGill in Montreal and then worked in finance doing agricultural and commercial lending. During that time, I co-founded Agriculture in the Classroom Quebec as École-O-Champ.
What is it about the industry that keeps drawing you in?
I'm still in the agriculture industry today because of the passionate people, the sense of community and the great experience I had growing up. I had many opportunities through 4-H Quebec, including growing a garden and showing a calf, and that led to being involved in the community and giving back. The innovation and the passion in agriculture drive a very important part of who I am, and I want to be surrounded by people who share that interest and passion. I want my future children and grandchildren to have those same experiences and appreciate agriculture like I do.
As a co-founder of École-O-Champ, what drove your decision to step away and join the team at AITC-C?
I have been working collectively to help the national organization grow and have a strong impact in Quebec. I’ve met passionate people from coast to coast and, with the challenges our industry faces, I want to contribute and help bring agriculture to more classrooms across Canada. We create over two million student experiences each year and that's having an impact. I’m excited to take on a broader role working with and supporting our 10 member organizations across Canada.
Can you explain how that relationship between AITC-C and the member organizations?
AITC-C is the national organization that supports our 10 member organizations, who deliver programs and resources to teachers across the country. We develop national initiatives, such as Canadian Ag Literacy Month in March and Career Month in Canada in November, which are delivered by the provinces. We also co-create programming that the provinces can deliver to increase their impact and ensure there is a provincial lens, everyone's voice is heard and we're creating something that is useful and easy to use in the classroom for teachers.
Why is it so important there are programs and resources available to continue to educate and connect Canadian youth to the food and agriculture industry?
We produce a lot of resources and programs for teachers across the country. We regularly review and update our programming to make sure we're bringing new information to youth over the span of their elementary and secondary schooling. The science is evolving, and it's our job as leaders of agricultural education to ensure they have the most current, accurate and balanced information.
What are you looking forward to in 2024 as executive director?
I'm looking forward to many new things at AITC-C. We're excited to grow and expand our partnerships so we can build on the great things we already do and develop new programming. We're embarking on a journey to bring more equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility to our organization and resources. I think it's very important for us to continue to make sure everything is bilingual and I’m looking forward to bringing more industry partners on to join our quest for ag literacy. Our partners are very supportive and committed to ag education. Their contributions have allowed us to successfully build a national organization, along with the leadership of Johanne Ross, our foundational Executive Director, and Sara Shymko, our outgoing Interim Executive Director. They were both instrumental in growing our organization and I look forward to building on that for the future.
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