Meet the Director

Joe Lackman

GROW Program Director - College of Agriculture - Montana State University

Joe Lackman believes the future of agriculture depends on our ability to see more in the next generation than they see in themselves... and then build the pathways that help them realize it. 

Raised and still involved on a family farm in Hysham, Montana that his parents built from the ground up, Joe grew up understanding agriculture not just as an industry, but a way of life shaped by people, place, and long-term responsibility. That perspective ultimately brought him back to Montana State University to build a coordinated effort to connect students to agricultural careers before they graduate high school. 

That work is organized through three connected pillars: The community pipeline strengthens relationships between rural communities and campus, ensuring students can see themselves at MSU early in their journey. GROW Scholars focuses on workforce development within the College of Agriculture, aligning students, faculty, and industry around real career pathways. The last pillar is working in outreach as a external advocate for higher education in agriculture, life sciences, and natural resources. 

Joe developed his leadership foundation through Montana FFA, serving as the 2021 - 2022 State President with a team he still calls family to this day, earning the American FFA Degree and being selected as a National Officer Candidate. He received his Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Education - Leadership with a minor in Agricultural Business from Montana State University in 2025, where he was recognized as the College of Ag Outstanding Undergraduate in Leadership and a recipient of the MSU Founders Day Student Excellence Award.  

His experience spans nonprofit leadership and agricultural communications, including serving as Interim Director of Operations for the Montana FFA Foundation - where he directed the 94th Montana FFA State Convention - and working as a Marketing Specialist at Northern Broadcasting System, leading broadcast and multimedia campaigns that reached Montana, Wyoming, and the Western Dakotas .

Through these experiences, Joe became focused on a central question: why do students choose agriculture, and what actually determines whether they stay? Ironically, that question was the focus of his undergraduate capstone research on recruitment and retention at our land grant university - and ultimately led him back to Montana State University to help build the GROW Scholars Program. 

He now serves as the founding GROW Program Director for the College of Agriculture, working to strengthen agricultural workforce pathways across the region. He is currently looking to pursue graduate study in public administration with a focus on agricultural policy and rural economic development.