New 4-H director to youth: ‘You are worthy and you are valuable’

Holmes brings a lifetime of service, mentorship to California 4-H program

Growing up in rural Alabama, Kimberly Sinclair Holmes - the new statewide director of California 4-H - experienced firsthand the enduring value of youth development programs in a limited-resource environment.

From first grade through seventh, Holmes participated in a summer program hosted by nearby Tuskegee University, a historically Black land-grant university. Every day, Holmes would play sports like kickball and softball, enjoy craft projects, and strengthen the English and math skills she learned in school.

"We didn't necessarily have all the amenities you might have in a more urban setting, so the program allowed us to socialize with friends and keep relatively up-to-date on our skills," Holmes explained. "We learned something new each week, too."

In her new role overseeing 4-H across the most populous state in the U.S., Holmes said she aims to ensure that those types of invaluable opportunities are available to all young people. Affiliated with the nationwide youth development program, 4-H in California engages approximately 58,000 youth each year and is administered by University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.

"My emphasis is - and will be - on ensuring that every youth in the state of California knows what 4-H is - and how to connect in whatever way is meaningful for them, whether in the traditional club setting, an expanded learning or after-school program, one-day events or online activities," said Holmes, who started in her director position in July.

Holmes' past shapes her path

As a child, Holmes, whose paternal grandfather was a sharecropper in the Deep South, helped her family grow fruits and vegetables in their garden - that is, when she and her siblings weren't romping through the countryside on the outskirts of Tuskegee, a small town near Montgomery, the capital of Alabama.

"We were either chasing the chickens and turkeys, or the chickens and turkeys were chasing us, depending on the day," she laughed.

The youngest of eight children, Holmes said she was very much a "daddy's girl" who loved to watch her father tinker with the family automobiles, in the shade of a leafy tree on sweltering 100-degree days.

Holmes' early interest in mechanics and her fix-it mentality shaped her initial academic and career pursuits. After graduating from Tuskegee University with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, she worked as a product systems engineer in the auto industry for about seven years.

As a young professional in Kokomo, Indiana, Holmes got involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters. She was paired with a "little sister" - appropriately named Destiny - and Holmes' experiences helping Destiny navigate the challenges in her life demonstrated the impact that mentorship can have on young people.

"Growing up in a limited-resource rural environment, I was always aware of and tuned into whether the young people coming behind me would have the same opportunities, and the extent to which I might be able to help them," Holmes said. "The more I received mentoring from professionals who were helping to shape my career, the more compelled I felt to pass that along - to help other young people figure it out."

After conversations with colleagues and self-reflection on how to make a difference in society, Holmes pivoted from engineering car parts to engineering programs in higher education. She took an administrative job at the University of Texas, Dallas, where she would serve as assistant dean in the School of Engineering and Computer Science, as well as an advisor to five different student organizations on campus.

For that service, Holmes received an award for mentoring from the National GEM Consortium, whose mission is to provide financial support to persons from underrepresented groups who pursue graduate degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)-related fields.

Holmes was on her way to a new career in guiding young people through school and life.

Continuing a family legacy of youth service, mentorship

Looking back, Holmes said it was influential elementary school teachers and her own parents who showed her the immense value of a career helping and serving others. Holmes' parents were involved in several ministries and managed a gospel singing group that traveled all over the South.

Following her parents' example, Holmes joined a youth ministry as an undergraduate in college, where she first began talking with local youth about their challenges, frustrations, aspirations and dreams.

"I saw so many young people struggling with their identity and what they could do as a career. It really troubled me that they were struggling as much as they were," Holmes said. "I asked myself, 'What are you doing to help them figure it out?' That's really where it started."

All along her professional and academic path, Holmes continued to serve as a mentor and guide by having difficult conversations about setting and realizing life goals. After attaining her Ph.D. in public policy/administration from UT Dallas, she progressed through a series of administration roles at higher-education institutions throughout the South.

Holmes eventually landed at Alabama A&M University, where she was serving as assistant Extension director and a 4-H state program leader in the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, prior to joining UC ANR.

A vision for the future of youth development

Like her "shade-tree mechanic" father, Holmes still enjoys tinkering in her free time. She will also apply her engineer's perspective to optimizing 4-H programs in California, which offer young people hands-on experiences on everything from animal sciences to robotics, and from fine arts to programming languages.

While praising the "phenomenal team" of UC Cooperative Extension advisors and educators and 4-H support staff, Holmes will also be looking to build on their innovations.

"There are several strategies you would use to improve, measure and improve efficiencies in an engineering system; but there are also several strategies and processes you would use to measure and improve systems in an organization," Holmes said. "I think what I bring uniquely to this role is the ability to see and integrate those strategies for even greater organizational effectiveness and growth."

After listening to and learning from her team across the state, Holmes is eager to develop and calibrate new ways to reach more young people - as the benefits of 4-H are needed more than ever. The concerns of youth she has heard throughout her career are even more pronounced and pressing now.

"It's something I worry about constantly, especially post-pandemic - the data about how our young people are struggling with having positive images of themselves and hope for the future," Holmes said. "There's a lot of despondency; there's a lot of anxiety; there's the issue of chronic absenteeism; and the number of youth who have now reported a diagnosed mental health disorder is alarmingly high."

Aside from the myriad life and work skills that 4-H activities can teach young people, participation in 4-H also helps them see, for themselves, their intrinsic worth as a person - outside of external influences such as social media. A sense of belonging within a supportive community, like the one that 4-H cultivates, can guide young people to that truth.

"I want to be absolutely certain you know that you are worthy and you are valuable - you have something to offer, and there's something unique and special about you," Holmes said. "You have unique gifts and talents that only you can exercise in the world. Because only you can exercise them in the world, it's critically important that - before you give up, give in or give out when the pressures of life weigh on you - you have people around you who will help you through those difficult moments."

Holmes believes that when communities create spaces in which all youth feel a sense of belonging and are able to connect their interests and abilities with possible careers, young people will make significant progress towards reaching their full potential.

"This achievement will then contribute to a greater quality of life for the youth, as well as communities statewide," she said.

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