WFO Gymnasium Alumni Member Diana Lenzi to lead the European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA).

We are pleased to announce that Diana Lenzi, a young woman farmer from the Italian farmers’ organisation ANGA-Giovani di Confagricoltura and a member of the WFO Gymnasium Alumni, is the new President of the European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA).

“Congratulations to the young farmers’ new leadership in Europe! May you have the courage and wisdom to broaden the horizons of the agricultural landscape!” said the WFO President Theo de Jager, welcoming Diana Lenzi’s election as CEJA President.

Former delegate of ANGA-Giovani di Confagricoltura at CEJA since 2019, Diana Lenzi succeeds Samuel Masse, who took over in January 2021 from Jannes Maes, member of the WFO Gymnasium Alumni as well.

Born in Rome, Diana Lenzi has been managing the family winery, the Fattoria di Petroio in Castelnuovo Berardenga (Siena), since 2008.
In 2012 she joined ANGA-Giovani di Confagricoltura of which she was national vice president for three years.

From 2017 to 2020, Diana Lenzi took part in the first edition of the Gymnasium, the high-level capacity building program launched by WFO in close partnership with Bayer to train young farmers worldwide to become future leaders in the agricultural sector.

“I had the privilege to be one of the young farmers’ leaders selected for the first edition of the Gymnasium program. This incredible experience exposed me to the reality of the global negotiations on agriculture while enriching me with leadership soft skills and gifting me with a sense of entitlement to fight for young farmers. I can say most definitely that the Gymnasium made me the courageous person who jumped into the space built by Jannes and take up his hard work in representing the European young farmers“, stated Diana Lenzi, highlighting how such capacity-building programs are crucial for young farmers to understand their role in shaping the future of agriculture and find tools, skills and courage to speak up for themselves.

Sharing her ambitions for the future, the new CEJA President affirmed: “I am thrilled and proud to take up such a huge responsibility to lead CEJA from today. We are at the forefront of a season of great challenges, and CEJA will be ready and prompt to react and collaborate to build a stronger future for the young farmers of Europe.”

From the WFO International Secretariat side, we look forward to working together towards achievements and results for young farmers.