Extension Foundation Announces Five Projects Selected for $1M in AgriProspects Funding.

The AgriProspects Workforce Development Network, a national program of the Extension Foundation, is pleased to announce the award of $1 million to five projects through the second round of AgriProspects grants. Funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) through the AFRI–National Extension Clearinghouse for Industry and the Workforce, this round supports innovative efforts focused on digital credential infrastructure, AI education, and integrated workforce solutions for Extension and the communities it serves. Selected projects span various agricultural sectors and emphasize practical, industry-informed training, ranging from AI-enabled forestry and farm operations to food processing and workforce upskilling. Chosen from 74 competitive proposals, these awardees reflect the depth, creativity, and impact of Extension-led workforce development nationwide. Learn More here.

National 4-H Council's Winter Update Celebrates Alignment and Impact Achieved through the Landmark Gift

Extension and 4-H leaders recently joined National 4-H Council President and CEO, Jill Bramble and Dr. Juliette Bell, former President of University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Vice Chair of Council's Board of Trustees, for a virtual update and dialog on the outcomes from the first three years of the $50 million Landmark Gift to Council from Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. Special thanks to Dr. Bell for her leadership of the of the Task Force (comprised of Extension, Council, and youth) that established recommendations on the highest and best use of the gift in this first three years. 

·         View the recording HERE

·         Read the Landmark Gift Task Force’s Three-Year Progress Report

·         Download the Report’s Executive Summary

USDA Accepting Applications for the 1890 National Scholars Program

USDA is now accepting applications for the 1890 National Scholars Program, which aims to encourage students at 1890 Land-grant Universities to pursue careers in food, agriculture, and natural resource sciences. The application deadline is March 8. Read more about the program and how to apply.

Survey Conducted Across Three U.S. Regions Shed Light on Household and Community Well-Being

Supported by USDA NIFA, Regional Rural Development Centers are a trusted source of economic and community development data. 

The regional centers partnered to conduct a multi-region Baseline Survey in 2024 and recently published the open-access data. This data establishes an important baseline for future research and can inform policy decisions, community development strategies and targeted interventions to address regional challenges and opportunities. 

The survey explored topics related to household, business and community well-being. When the fourth and final regional survey is completed, survey data will be available for the entire United States. Read more about the survey results.

2025-2035 Land-grant University Roadmap Available

The Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP) and agInnovation have teamed up to further develop the 2025-2035 Land Grant University Roadmap. There is a two-page summary of the Roadmap, along with one-page summaries regarding Positive Youth Development, Community Economic Development, Nutrition and Health, Sustainable Food Systems, Resilient Lands, and Water Resilience. ECOP and agInnovation have hired an outside contractor to further develop this messaging to lead stakeholder groups in promoting Land-grant University Extension and research.

Recent Executive Orders to Affect Cooperative Extension

Last week, President Trump signed two Executive Orders that will likely affect the Cooperative Extension System.

Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education for American Youth: The policy is designed to promote AI literacy by promoting the appropriate AI into education, providing comprehensive AI training for educators, and fostering early exposure to AI concepts and technology to develop an AI-ready workforce and the next generation of AI innovators. Among other actions, the order directs the Secretary of Agriculture to prioritize research, extension, and education on the use of AI in formal and non-formal education through 4-H and the Cooperative Extension System.

White House Initiative to Promote Excellence and Innovation at Historically Black Colleges and Universities: The policy is designed to support HBCUs in advancing America’s full potential; fostering more and better opportunities in higher education; providing the highest-quality education; obtaining equal opportunities for participation in Federal programs; ensuring college-educated Americans are empowered to advance the common good at home and abroad; and making our Nation more globally competitive. Among other actions, the order calls for encouraging states to provide the required State matching funds for 1890 land grant institutions and establishing a framework for addressing barriers to accessing federal funding to ensure that HBCUs receive the maximum funding to which they may be entitled.


National 4-H Conference Celebrates the Future’s Best

Over 200 of the nation’s best and brightest young people were in Washington, D.C., recently to attend the 2025 National 4-H Conference, hosted by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. With the theme of “Stronger Ties, Deeper Roots, Empowered Leaders,” 4-H delegates represented 40 states, two U.S. territories and 56 Land-grant Universities. The conference was also featured in a USDA press release.

Hear more about the 2025 National 4-H Conference in this USDA Radio interview with NIFA Director Dr. Jaye Hamby.

Top right: NIFA Director Dr. Jaye Hamby delivered remarks during the Youth Career Exploration Expo during the 2025 National 4-H Conference. USDA photo by Christophe Paul.

Above: 4-H delegates at the 2025 National 4-H Conference posed for a photo outside of the USDA Whitten Building. USDA photo by Tom Witham.

New Leaders in Programs and Professional Development

During the Spring Meeting in Oklahoma City last month, two new Cooperative Extension System Leaders were announced. Lisa Townson, University of Rhode Island, is Chair of the ECOP Program Committee, and Karl Martin, University of Wisconsin-Madison, is Chair of the ECOP Program Committee. Click on the images below to learn more about each Chair. Thank you Lisa and Karl!

Lisa Townson, Chair
ECOP Program Committee Chair

The ECOP Program Committee actively identifies, recommends action on emerging future Extension programs, program related issues, and delivery systems important to the Extension System and scans the System to identify critical issues and determine if an issue requires a rapid system-wide response. Guided by ECOP, the committee oversees the work of the Program Action Teams (PATs). The committee also currently provides leadership for the National Extension Diversity Award recognizing, honoring, and promoting inclusive programming for and with diverse audiences.

Karl Martin, Chair
ECOP Professional Development
Committee

The ECOP Professional Development Committee actively identifies, recommends, and directs professional and organizational development activities for Extension Directors and Administrators and all Extension professionals. This includes leading some First Friday Events and the orientation and onboarding session for new Extension Directors and Administrators at the annual NEDA Meeting. The committee also provides leadership for the national Excellence in Extension awards.

Learn more about the organizational structure of ECOP using it's organization chart.

Update on Efforts to Build Capacity - ECOP will spend a block of time on building capacity funding during the July face-to-face meeting in Providence, Rhode Island. This is the next step in a process lead by ECOP Past-chair, Bev Durgan, Dean of Cooperative Extension, University of Minnesota. A few weeks ago, a dialogue session on the initiative was conducted with Extension Directors and Administrators attending the PILD meeting. Notes from that meeting are available upon request.

A long-term joint “Capacity Funding Task Force” of Administrative Heads, agInnovation and Cooperative Extension is also in progress. The tri-chairs of the group advancing this effort are Bev Durgan, University of Minnesota; George Smith, AgBioResearch Director, Michigan State University; Moses T. Kairo, Dean, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, University of Maryland-Eastern Shore.

Other members are:

• Steve Lommel, Associate Dean and Director, NC Agricultural Research Service
• M. Ray McKinnie, Virginia State University
• Jason Henderson, Vice President for Extension and Outreach, Iowa State University
• Dennis Becker, Dean of the College of Natural Resources, University of Idaho
• Malcolm Warbrick, Director of Federal Relations, Penn State University
• Tom Thompson, Associate Dean in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) at Virginia Tech, Director of CALS Global
• Stacey Stearns, Communications Specialist, University of Connecticut
• Rich Bonanno, Vice Provost for Outreach and Engagement, North Carolina State University
• Stephan Goetz, Professor of Agricultural and Regional Economics, Penn State University and Director of The Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development
• Jeanette Thurston, North Central Executive agInnovation Executive Director
• Lewis-Burke Associates LLC
• Staff lead: Doug Steele, APLU VP Office of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources

APLU has distributed a Request for Proposals to consulting firms that will help the group gather data, author a report, and develop common and consistent language surrounding this issue. Several firms have expressed interest and some have formulated preliminary proposals. Full proposals were to be examined by the tri-chairs last week after an APLU triage. 



Collaborations Between 1890 and 1862 Land-Grant Institutions - A new publication from the Southern Region Rural Development Center titled, “Collaborations that Work Analysis of Successful Extension Efforts between 1890 and 1862 Land-Grant Institutions” is now available.

USDA-NIFA Grants Modernization Stakeholder Survey - NIFA has launched a short Stakeholder Survey to assist with the Grants Modernization Initiative (GMI). Participation is a crucial component in ensuring that GMI is successful and can help improve user experience over time. The agency requests that all relevant voices be heard. This survey is designed to take approximately 10 minutes to complete.




Demystifying the Panel Review Process for Grant Funding - NIFA offers several technical assistance events to help prospective applicants understand NIFA funding opportunities. Supporting material from these events — which also provide guidance on grant development and grant management — is available here. The next session, that may be of interest is Demystifying the Panel Review Process for Grant Funding on May 2, 2024, 12:00 PM ET. Click here to register to attend and submit questions ahead of time. While this session is conducted by NIFA, the concepts taught in the session will be transferrable to other granting agencies.

ECOP Welcomes New Members

Please welcome Carolyn Williams, Executive Associate Director, Prairie View A&M University, and Raymon Shange, Associate Dean and 1890 Extension Administrator, Tuskegee University, to the 15-member working board ECOP. The role of ECOP voting members is explained in full on page 2 of the ECOP operating guidelines. Dr. Williams, who previously served a term 2017-2022, is fulfilling an unexpired 4-Year term until the fall of 2024 and will devote additional time and effort to the ECOP Executive Committee Plan of Work. Dr. Shange, serving his first term ending the fall of 2026 will devote time and effort to the ECOP Professional Development Committee Plan of Work. Click the 2 national leaders' portraits to learn more. Thank you Carolyn and Raymon for your national leadership!

Carolyn Williams

  

Raymon Shange

 

Black History in the Making for Extension - One way to keep a pulse on growth and impact of 1890s Cooperative Extension programming all year long is to sign up to receive Extension Today, a monthly newsletter that highlights Cooperative Extension and provides updates across the 1890 land-grant system. Extension Today http://1890aea.org/extension-today-newsletter is published by the Association of Extension Administrators and the Marketing and Communications Committee. Contact communications@1890aea.org for more information or to join the mailing list. 

Still Time to Complete Census of Agriculture -The USDA National Ag Statistics Service (NASS) has extended data collection for the 2022 Census of Agriculture through the spring of 2023 to ensure all farmers and ranchers take advantage of the opportunity to be represented in the widely used data. Everyone who received the 2022 Census of Agriculture and has not yet responded should be made aware it is not too late to be counted. The Partner Tools web page has materials to help with outreach, including social media tools, ads, brochures and more. NASS is grateful for the support and partnership with Cooperative Extension to share this information widely.

FREE Webinar Series on Food Insecurity & Military Families - Nearly 24 percent of America’s active-duty service members and their families are food insecure. Extension educators and other service providers have the ability to expand food security in the communities they support. OneOp’s Food Security in Focus collection offers free webinars listed at https://oneop.org/food-security-in-focus exploring the impact of food insecurity on military families. The webinars discuss how providers can best support the communities they serve. All webinars are virtual and free. Recordings will be available on demand. Programming topics include:
· Increasing children’s fruit and vegetable exposure
· Reducing food waste
· Helping clients inflation-proof their budget
· Connections between Medicaid, food security, and well-being
In addition to webinars, the collection offers engagement opportunities through a LinkedIn group and free continuing education credits from multiple credentialing agencies.

USDA Reaffirms Ties with 1890s with New MOU

On June 14, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and Dr. Paul Jones, Fort Valley State University, Chair of APLU's Council of 1890 Universities Presidents signed an MOU to reaffirm and strengthen the ongoing relationship between the 1890s community and USDA through cooperation and partnership. This MOU also establishes a new 1890 Task Force that will inject energy into USDA’s efforts to collaborate with 1890s institutions in the food, agriculture, and forestry sectors. The document underscores USDA’s commitment under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Executive Order 13985 on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities to advance the goals of equity to better serve the needs of traditionally underserved institutions and communities. The 1890s system has played an important role in building STEM programming for our nation’s youth. 1890s institutions also strengthen research, Extension, and teaching in the food and agricultural sciences and expand the number of students attracted to careers in agriculture, food, natural resources, and human sciences. Read more here.



Listening Session on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health - Nearly 100 individuals recently participated in a virtual listening session summarized here providing input for the upcoming White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health to be held this September. The listening session was hosted by ECOP and the Board on Human Sciences with support of the Extension Foundation. The majority of the participants were state-level coordinators of Cooperative Extension’s Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) and work done by implementing agencies of SNAP-Ed. Information regarding the Conference will be released in the near future. Information gathered through the listening session can be reviewed [here]. For more information, contact Roger Rennekamp, ECOP's Extension Health Director, at rogerrennekamp@extension.org.

Cooperative Extension in Urban America: Place-Based Approaches for Improving Health - A new article was published in a special issue of the Journal of Human Sciences and Extension focused on Cooperative Extension’s role in the nation’s cities. Authors are Dawn Burton (Prairie View A&M University), LaToya O’Neal (University of Florida), Erin Yelland (Kansas State University), Suzanne Stluka (USDA-NIFA), and Roger Rennekamp (ECOP's Extension Health Director). The article is available at https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/jhse/vol10/iss2/1/

SNAP-Ed PDT Update - The annual meeting of the land-grant universities SNAP-Ed Program Development Team (PDT) was held in April. Representatives from USDA Food Nutrition Service, and NIFA, and Cooperative Extension met with current and incoming members of the PDT. The seventeen-member PDT for 2022-2023 includes 3 Extension professionals from 1890's institutions. The PDT conducts monthly conference calls, subcommittee work, and an annual face-to-face meeting to improve the consistency and effectiveness of Extension SNAP-Ed programming to address national health and nutrition-related problems facing low-income populations in the context of Extension’s broader low-income nutrition education portfolio. This year there is particular focus was Nutrition Security and Health Equity to align with USDA priorities. Highlights of the meeting and the past year are available here to view/download. In a series of agreements with ECOP/APLU to support the PDT dating back to 2002, the PDT has been headquartered at South Dakota State University.  

Captured from Last Week's ECOP Meeting at JointCOPs - 

Candid photos from 7/20/2022 ECOP Meeting at Historic Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, DC
- L-R, top to bottom. Executive Committee: Chris 
Watkins, Bev Durgan, Wendy Powers, Caroline
Henney, Mark Latimore; also, John Lawrence  
Brent Hales, Allen Malone, Vonda Richardson,
Damona Doye.                                                       
- $600K 2023 Assessment-Driven Budget Approved     
- ECOP was not asked to contribute $ to support CMC 
or landgrantimpacts.org.                                          
- Consensus Achieved on 2022-2023 Priorities               

JointCOPs General Session on Federal Budget, 7/21/2022
 - Bridget Krieger, Lewis Burke Associates, lower left                      
- Marshall Stewart, University of Missouri, CLP Chair, lower right 

Status of FY 2023 Appropriations Before Senate Action in Late July. 
Cooperative Extension Section/ECOP will respond to a BAC FY24 survey by 9/12/2022.

Background on Farm Bill

.

2020 NEDA Registration

The 2020 National Extension Directors and Administrators (NEDA) Meeting will take place September 23 and 24, 2020. This unique virtual meeting in two parts will provide Extension Directors and Administrators from across the nation with opportunities for in-depth, peer-to-peer dialogue about Leadership in a Time of Social, Economic and Political Disruption and fully participate in the annual Cooperative Extension Section Business Meeting. For complete details and links to register go to neda.extension.org. Please register by close of business on September 17, 2020. 

130th Anniversary Celebration of 1890s Universities - Join higher education and civic leaders on August 31, 2020, 1-3:00 PM ET for a webinar celebrating the 130th Anniversary of the Morrill Act of 1890, which designated 19 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with land-grant status. This legislation gave states funds to establish state universities for persons of color if higher education wasn't already open to all in the state. The celebration will kick off the week of August 24th and conclude with this celebratory webinar. The webinar will be a chance to participate in a discussion of the legacy and future importance of the 1890s, led by 1890s leaders, policymakers, and others. Register here.

Calendar Update: Learning for Leaders - The ECOP Learning for Leaders series explores new and emerging system ideas and learning opportunities for Extension Directors and Administrators. The ECOP Chair and incoming Chair are considering new topics for the coming year. Please note that the Learning for Leaders event scheduled for September 4, 2020, 3-4:00 p.m. ET, is postponed. You may remove this item from your calendar. Stay tuned for relevant and interesting topics over the coming year.

Collecting Broadband Data to Drive Visibility & Funding for Cooperative Extension - On August 13th, the ECOP Executive Committee voted to participate in the American Connection Project Broadband Coalition, led by Land O’ Lakes, alongside more than 50 other businesses and organizations to advocate for robust federal investment in broadband internet connectivity. Aligned with this work, there’s an opportunity to increase visibility and funding for Cooperative Extension’s on-going response, in the face of COVID, to provide greater broadband access to youth and families through hot-spot lending programs and ‘turning-on’ Extension office Wi-Fi for public access in-office or from parking lots. To collect important data and help map locations to Wi-Fi public access and hot-spot lending locations, you or a staff member are encouraged to complete a short 5-minute survey by September 2nd https://msudafvm.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5upDYtwD6btcWB7 . If you have questions, please contact Heather Elliott (helliott@fourhcouncil.edu) and Rachel Welborn (Rachel.welborn@msstate.edu).



eXtension Fellowships Opportunity - A search has been initiated to fill two open eXtension fellowships focused on health and well-being. The work of the fellows will broadly focus on building the capacity of the Cooperative Extension System to ensure that all people have an equal opportunity to experience optimal health and well-being across the lifespan. The successful applicant will remain in their current position but devote roughly one day per week to system-wide work related to health and well-being as specified in a fixed-term contract of one year. Applicants should submit a letter of interest to Brenna Kotar by August 28, 2020. Questions regarding the fellowships can be directed to Roger Rennekamp at rogerrennekamp@extension.org. For more information visit https://impact.extension.org/2020/08/two-health-fellowship-positions-now-open-deadline-august-28-2020/