ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – For one of the newest members of the National Junior Angus Association (NJAA) Board of Directors, serving on the board will give her the opportunity to be a leader for other members of the association. Another new board member hopes to meet industry leaders and connect with other junior members.

Lily Jeffries, 20, of Cammer, Ky., and Audrey Curtin, 20, of Blue Mound, Ill., are two of six new board members elected during the 2026 National Junior Angus Show (NJAS) in mid-July. The six will serve a two-year term on the 12-member board.

The other new board members are Cailee Flood, Oakdale, Calif.; Gage Long, Vinita, Okla.; Maggie Mindemann, Watertown, Wis.; and Lauren Phillips, Centerville, Iowa.

Their first year will be spent as directors and their second as officers. During their term, the directors will travel the nation to assist at shows and conferences, support junior members during state and national events, and help to advance the NJAA mission, according to the American Angus Association, which oversees the board. Each board member received a green coat emblematic of their election to the board.

Jeffries, a 5th-generation Angus breeder, said her main goal on the board is to be what others – those she’s looked up to – have been for her.

“I want to be a leader that other members can look up to,” she explained. “Be someone who instills confidence and encourages others to seize every opportunity that they can. Without those people and other junior board members doing that for me, I would not be in the position that I am today. Helping junior members be proud of themselves and achieve success in their own ways, even if it is just one person, I would feel like my time was served well.”

Being on the board will help her learn to be a servant leader, Jeffries said, by doing things for someone else’s success rather than her own. She also hopes the connections and relationships she makes during her time on the board will help her in the future.

Curtin, also a 5th-generation Angus breeder, said it’s her goal to help build an inviting community for the juniors “because the most valuable aspect of this association (is) the people. The relationships I have due to attending NJAS and the Angus conferences LEAD and Raising the Bar are long lasting.”

She said she’s looking forward to working with new and current board members.

“(The six new members) have had great role models and I think we already work very well and communicate efficiently as a team. We all are very passionate about our breed and the juniors.

“This has been a goal of mine for a very long time. When my name was announced, I felt a sense of relief but also so much excitement.”

Curtin said her father registered her into the NJAA a long time ago; she showed her first heifer when she was 8. She said her dad is the reason she is so connected to the association and why she’s had the opportunity to meet many of the individuals who run the association.

Her family has about 50 Angus cows, but they’ve operated on a larger scale in the past. Curtin said they have a freezer beef business and sell bulls at the Illinois Performance Test of Bulls Sale and at Midland in Montana. She and her siblings show heifers.

Curtin said she enjoys the friendships she’s made through Angus cattle.

“Showing cattle connects you with like-minded people that make amazing friends long term. While I live and have gone to school in a rural area, showing cattle was not a popular sport. Being able to meet other junior members was very beneficial for me.”

Jeffries’ family runs a roughly 100-head cow/calf operation in south-central Kentucky. She said they have the longest running on-farm animal production sale (going on 38 years) in Kentucky.

“That is something that my entire family takes great pride in and will continue to do,” she said. “Just recently, in 2024, my father and his partner opened a retail meat shop and processing facility in Campbellsville called Green River Meats. Serving high quality meats that are grown locally on our farms.

“I enjoy being together with my family the most. In today’s world, in all of our lives, it seems like we never stop, and there is always something going on, and everyone has different schedules between school, sports, work, etc. So when we all get to work together, it is quality time that we can spend with each other, which my whole family cherishes.”

Jeffries is a junior at Oklahoma State University studying animal science with a business, pre-law focus. She said she plans to continue to be a part of the Angus industry, building her own herd as well as continuing on her family’s herd.

The NJAA is a great place for anyone and everyone, Jeffries said, adding it’s a place where they can feel like they are a part of something.

“(That) is what I love about the NJAA,” she said. “The opportunities are endless. From leadership conferences, workshops and contests, and showing all of these experiences through the NJAA have helped shape me into the person that I am today, and I am forever grateful.”

Curtin recently graduated from Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kan. She said she’ll spend the next two years at Kansas State University, where she plans to earn a bachelor’s degree in agribusiness.

“I hope to have a tie to Angus cattle for the rest of my life and to continue raising them,” Curtin said. “As for a career, I am looking to explore my options for the next two years but I would ideally work closely with the cattle industry in the career area of business focusing on merchandising and marketing.”