Cultivate is the largest horticulture meeting in North America, taking place every July in Columbus, Ohio. Among its highlights is the tradeshow where many key horticulture industries are represented. At Cultivate '25, a group of international internship participants from The Ohio International Intern Program The Ohio International Intern Program (long known as The Ohio Program or simply TOP) included 51 participants—32 of which were women—from 24 countries in numbers indicated below.
Brazil 6
Mexico, Peru 5
Kenya 4
Argentina, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Tanzania 3
Colombia, India 2
Botswana, China, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Guatemala, Argentina, Honduras, Ireland, Nicaragua, Poland, South Korea, South Sudan, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, United Kingdom 1
They participated in education sessions organized by American Hort throughout the event and volunteered to help the organizers. TOP invited key speakers to inform the interns about their professional pathways, highlighting the benefits of the program. This allowed the interns to understand the positive impact they are making. This year featured a series of talks in Spanish, reflecting the number of Spanish speakers in the sector. A notable highlight was the presentations by the Global Head of Horticulture and Territory Managers from Syngenta (main sponsor for TOP at Cultivate), who shared their journey and current positions, encouraging the interns to remain steadfast and focused on their careers.
The Ohio International Intern Program also scheduled cultural activities for interns after the event, where they strengthened their relationship with their peers and deepened their international networks.