NEDA Speaker Named: Mary Snapp

Taking advantage of NEDA 2026’s Seattle location, the National 4-H Council dinner on Monday evening will feature a longtime technology executive. Mary Sapp brings her experience and perspective from over 35 years at Microsoft to lead strategic initiatives. She formerly led the team responsible for Microsoft’s philanthropic efforts, which seeks to invest the company’s strongest assets – technology, money, employee talent, and its voice – to partner with nonprofits and communities to create lasting positive impact. Prior to Microsoft Philanthropies, Mary was Deputy General Counsel leading legal support for engineering and services. She led legal support for Bing as a start-up and Microsoft Windows as an established operating system. Mary is an active board leader and community volunteer for nonprofit organizations in Seattle and around the country. She currently serves on the board of directors of the YWCA of Seattle, King, and Snohomish Counties, the Seattle Art Museum, the National 4-H Council, the Farm Foundation, and Emerging Prairie. She also serves on National FFA's Corporate Sponsors' Board and in the President’s Advisory Group for her alma mater, the University of Michigan. Mary joined Microsoft in 1988 as the company's fourth attorney, and its first female attorney.
Register for the NEDA Conference today!

4-H Helping to Boost Trust in Public Universities

As trust and public confidence in higher education recently hit a record low of 36%, university presidents and chancellors are focusing on how to ensure their value to students and communities remains strong. The low confidence is attributed to rising tuition costs and perceptions that colleges fail to teach relevant work skills.

Not long ago, Jill Bramble, President and CEO of the National 4-H Council, joined university presidents at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) Council of Presidents Summer meeting to discuss how 4-H is driving college and career readiness. Jill is appreciative to APLU President Waded Cruzado for her vision in advancing this conversation forward.

She is grateful for the opportunity to speak with three 4-H alumni: Dr. Tracy M. Cook President of Alcorn State University; Dr. Gordon Gee President Emeritus of West Virginia University and Chair of National 4-H Council's Emeritus Council; and Richard Maltsbarger, National 4-H Council Trustee, and Executive in Residence at the University of Central Florida. Their stories reflect the long-term impact of investing in young people.

Read more about the event here.

Five for Five Reminder

At last year’s joint agInnovation and Extension conference in St. Louis, the Five for Five program was featured.

As a reminder, Five for Five is a physical activity ad-on curriculum designed to easily integrate movement into existing educational programming. The curriculum provides engaging, evidence-informed activities that help youth and adults increase physical activity while enhancing the learning process. Five for Five has been successfully implemented across a variety of settings and has been well received by educators and participants alike.

To help your Extension team get started, the Five for Five team has developed an interactive one-hour virtual training that introduces educators to the curriculum, demonstrates how it can be integrated into current programs, and provides practical implementation strategies. We would be excited to offer this training to Extension faculty and staff within your state.

Another benefit of Five for Five is its accessibility. Nearly the entire curriculum is available free of charge, at the following QR Code:

The only materials available at cost are the player cards, which have consistently been one of the most popular and highly rated components of the curriculum. Participants and educators alike enjoy the interactive nature of the cards, and we currently have a healthy inventory of player card decks available for purchase.