CCW is very pleased to reveal the inaugural Heather Hays Stinnett Scholarship recipients for 2024, Kyli Kraft and Maggie Chase. Kyli is being awarded the $4,000 scholarship and Maggie is being awarded the $1,000 scholarship.

As a fifth-generation farmer and rancher, Kyli Kraft experienced the beef industry firsthand through her family's Angus and Haying operations and agricultural risk management business. Now, as a junior majoring in Agribusiness at West Texas A&M University, she is passionate about carrying on the traditions and legacies instilled in her agricultural upbringing. She desires to help farmers and ranchers make wise financial decisions to mitigate market risk such as persistent drought, negative consumer perception, or economic challenges to protect the thin margins within the cattle market.

She is actively promoting and uniting the agriculture industry through WT’s Agriculture Ambassador program, founding a community-wide BBQ at WT with the intent to "Unite Panhandle Agriculture" called Fall Gather, serving as a director on the National Junior Angus Board or leading the first and largest Collegiate Farm Bureau in Texas.

“I am honored to represent Heather Hays Stinnett as the first recipient of the Heather Hays Stinnett Memorial Scholarship,” Kraft says. “Thank you for your generosity and belief in my future. I am grateful for the opportunity to represent Colorado's Outstanding CattleWomen and the Agriculture Industry.”

Maggie Chase is a fifth-generation cattle producer from McClave, Colorado. She attends Texas Tech University, where she is pursuing a degree in Animal Science with a concentration in Business. She then plans to pursue a master’s degree in ruminant nutrition or beef reproduction and eventually return home to her family’s cattle operation.

“I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to be a part of the next generation responsible for providing the world with the best tasting, #1 source of protein, beef,” Chase says. “I am very grateful for the support of the Colorado CattleWomen in my endeavor!”