Tom Lyon Family
Leadership Symposium
Promoting cooperatives, land and water conservation, and leadership.
“Tom Lyon, as one of our founders, was not only the inspiration and driving force of our two mission areas--education about cooperatives and land and water conservation--but also our program delivery methods, professional development scholarships, the Leadership Symposium, and educational symposia on university campuses.”
~ William Nelson, Ralph K. Morris Foundation Board Chair
A family tradition of leadership and love for the land.
In 2020, the Ralph K. Morris Foundation named its annual flagship event the Tom Lyon Leadership Symposium, in honor of the longtime cooperative and civic leader and founding member of the foundation. In 2021, at Tom's request and shortly before he passed away, the symposium was renamed the Tom Lyon Family Leadership Symposium.
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Since 2004, the foundation has hosted the Leadership Symposium during Cooperative Network’s annual meeting. The event has featured speakers of national prominence, including former Vice President Walter Mondale, former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, American Farmland Trust President Ralph Grossi, and Lyon.
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“When we established the Ralph K. Morris Foundation," Lyon said in 2020, "the focus was to provide encouragement to people to advance cooperative business, develop their leadership skills, and work for the preservation of farmland. We’ve been successful in that regard, and my hope is that the Leadership Symposium will continue for years to come and inspire others to advance the cooperative business model and the preservation of farmland.”
