Mitchell Kurek M’24 Represents Pennsylvania’s Agriculture Industry as Lobbyist for Pennsylvania Farm Bureau

When the Pennsylvania legislature passed two landmark bills earlier this year benefiting the state’s farming community, Mitchell Kurek M’24, a lobbyist for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, played a significant role.

With the passage of Senate Bill 518, farmers now have a guaranteed voice in state wildlife policy. House Bill 1431 modernizes trespass laws to protect farmers’ land and lifts bans prohibiting Sunday hunting dating back nearly 200 years. Both pieces of legislation will help decrease a rapidly growing deer population that causes hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage to farms annually. It’s a significant issue for an industry that provides $153 billion in revenue in the state annually. 

Kurek, who represents the concerns of the state’s 26,000 farmers, says he used skills learned in Lehigh’s Community Fellows Program to help build consensus around the issues. He worked with farmers, members of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the Department of Agriculture and legislators to gain passage of the bills. He participated in the bill’s signing with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

“One of the first things I used that I learned in the Community Fellows Program was how to get a diverse coalition to come together. The program really helped me to understand that one of the biggest parts of professional work in this field is that you need to be able to explain to many different groups that this is the problem we’re facing and why it needs to be fixed,” says Kurek. The program taught him that the most effective way to do that was by using data-driven, fact-based storytelling. 

Kurek earned his bachelor’s degree in law and society, political science and government from Thomas Jefferson University in 2022.  He took a year off to work in a law firm while he weighed enrolling in law school. After deciding that work in government better matched his interests, he enrolled at Lehigh to earn a master’s degree in public policy and was selected to be a Community Fellow.

As a Fellow, he worked in the City of Allentown’s Bureau of Planning and Zoning while attending school full-time. He supported work related to the revision of the city’s zoning ordinances. He also was responsible for collecting letters of intent from community agencies supporting the $20 million federal Recompete Grant awarded to the city in 2024. He also researched the Stage 1 applications of other cities who were grant finalists to identify ways to strengthen Allentown’s application. 

As an undergraduate, Kurek had completed three internships, including one with State Senator David Argall’s office. The experience gained as a Community Fellow was significantly different. “They treated me from day one as an employee that they were expecting results from, which was fantastic,” Kurek says. 

In addition to gaining professional experience, the Fellowship built his confidence. He faced stiff competition while interviewing for his current position, eventually beating out more experienced candidates by leveraging the skills he learned at Lehigh about building coalitions and educating stakeholders about issues. “It really helped me to shoot above my weight class,” he says. 

Community Fellows Presentation

Mitchell Kurek describes his experience as a Community Fellow for the City of Allentown - how it reinforced his master's program and how it prepared him for his job after graduation.