Upskilling USDA’s workforce to handle the problems of today and tomorrow

About USDA

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, rural development, nutrition, and related issues based on public policy, the best available science, and effective management. USDA’s vision is to provide economic opportunity through innovation, helping rural America to thrive; to promote agriculture production that better nourishes Americans while also helping feed others throughout the world; and to preserve the Nation’s natural resources through conservation, restored forests, improved watersheds, and healthy private working lands.

The USDA’s Office of the Chief Data Officer (OCDO) provides strategic guidance and direction to the USDA workforce to use data, analytics, and technology to drive insights and value at USDA. A U.S. Digital Corps Data Science and Analytics Fellow joined USDA OCDO to serve as the technical lead for the Data Science Training Program (DSTP).

The challenge

USDA’s data and AI workforce needed upskilling to be able to handle current and future challenges essential to USDA’s mission and administration priorities, including AI-enabled environmental permitting. The DSTP faced a critical transition point when the previous program lead departed at the start of the program’s fourth year. The program needed continuity as well as improvements to better engage participants and enable them to apply new skills directly to their work.

The approach

The Fellow joined the DSTP admin team as a co-lead and key facilitator, quickly stepping into a leadership gap and helping to recruit a broader range of facilitators. She implemented new support and engagement structures and revised curriculum materials to strengthen participant learning. The Fellow worked on a 1:1 check-in structure that provided participants the option to talk individually with a facilitator or admin four times throughout the program.

A core component of the program was capstone projects, through which participants applied their new data science skills to real challenges in their workstreams, including research analysis, machine learning applications, legacy process updates, and automation of data extraction and report generation tasks. The Fellow was the primary contact for about 20 participants, discussing project ideas and sometimes helping with their code.

The impact

The Fellow’s improvements resulted in measurable program success: completion rates increased by 24%, participant satisfaction improved, and capstone project quality rose significantly. By connecting training directly to participants’ work through applied projects, the program is building a more capable data and AI workforce equipped to handle current and future challenges across USDA.