Avila University and IFAL launch online certificates to accelerate workforce skills in U.S. food & agribusiness
- New partnership delivers self-paced learning, AI-supported coaching for sustainable supply chains and leadership skills
The Institute of Food & Agribusiness Leadership (IFAL) has joined forces with Kansas City-based Avila University to launch a fully online curriculum to boost critical skills for the food and agribusiness industries in the U.S.
The programs are designed to improve job role effectiveness and career advancement for early career and mid career professionals across the sectors. Additionally, the modular curriculum enables tailored content and delivery for business specific contexts and job roles, including private cohorts for enterprise upskilling.
Built on IFAL’s industry tested curricula, the new certificates combine self-paced learning with on demand AI supported guidance and coaching, helping learners apply frameworks directly to their job roles and business decisions.
The curriculum integrates business model design, AgriFoodTech, sustainability frameworks, distribution strategy, and market driven innovation, with elective options such as sustainable finance, food loss and waste, novel foods, or sustainable sourcing and logistics.
The launch of the course comes at a pivotal time as agriculture and food manufacturing businesses across the U.S. continue to face labor shortages, shifting government policy, rising costs, and the need to rapidly adopt new technologies, intensifying the call for targeted workforce development¹.
At the same time, recent national skills research highlights persistent capability gaps in core skills like problem solving and decision making as the largest skills gap for current experienced employees².
Dr. Andy Jett, Interim President, Avila University, said: “Avila’s mission is to prepare learners to lead with purpose, and nowhere is that more urgent than in today’s food and agribusiness economy.
By partnering with IFAL, we’re delivering flexible, industry relevant certificates that are immediately actionable on the job. This initiative strengthens the skills pipeline in the Kansas City region and across the U.S., ensuring employers can advance productivity, resilience, and sustainability.”
Dr. Vijayender Nalla, founder of IFAL, added: “In a $11 trillion sector employing close to a billion people worldwide, access to domain specific, role ready professional development has been limited.
Too often programs have thin curricula and require on-site attendance. Our partnership with Avila changes that by offering proven, outcomes driven curricula, an engaging self-paced model, and AI powered guidance that supports decision making in each learner’s specific role and business context.”
With five strategic partnerships covering North America, Europe, Africa and Asia, and a physical local footprint in the US, UK and India, the ambition of the Avila Agribusiness learning and coaching platform model is to serve at least 100,000 professional learners each year.
Enrollment is now open and applications to join the program can be made on the Avila website: avila.edu/avila-agribusiness-programs
ENDS
About the Certificates:
Format: 100% online, self paced with AI supported guidance; rolling enrollment.
Focus: End to end value chain understanding—from inputs and production through processing, logistics, retail, and consumer markets—to strengthen on the job decision making.
Format: 100% online, instructor led with AI supported coaching; cohort based (year round intakes; employer specific private cohorts available).
Focus: Design and leadership of competitive, resilient, sustainability aligned supply chains; includes elective pathways (sustainable finance, food loss & waste, novel foods, sustainable sourcing & logistics).
Format: 100% online, instructor led with AI supported coaching; cohort based.
Focus: Leadership and business model strategy for building and scaling innovative agrifood ventures; applied case based learning and reflective practice.
Contacts
Dr. Andy Jett, Interim President, Avila University (Andy.Jett@avila.edu)
Dr. Vijayender Nalla, Partner Avila Agribusiness programs and Founder at IFAL (vijay@avila.edu)
About Avila University
Avila University, a Catholic university founded and inspired by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, is a values based community of learning providing liberal arts, professional, undergraduate and graduate education to prepare students for responsible lifelong contributions to the global community. Avila offers more than 60 undergraduate majors and concentrations and six graduate degree programs, serving 1,600+ students at its Kansas City, Missouri campus. Avila is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). The School of Education programs are nationally accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Learn more at avila.edu
About the Institute of Food & Agribusiness Leadership (IFAL)
The Institute of Food & Agribusiness Leadership (IFAL) addresses professional workforce development needs across the food and agribusiness sector. IFAL’s curriculum, content, and platform capabilities build on 15+ years of delivering learning and coaching for talent supporting both established and scaling startup business models—powering decision making and leadership across global value chains. The learning platform and the coaching model IFAL has mastered has been used by over 50,000+ learners and with the US presence and partnerships the objective is to serve at least 100,000 professional learners each year. Learn more at ifal.ac or on LinkedIn.