eXtension’s Impact Collaborative Announces Innovation Facilitator Training for 2020

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BECOME AN IMPACT COLLABORATIVE  INNOVATION FACILITATOR 

February 18th – 20th, 2020
12 – 4 PM EST
Registration Deadline: February 13th, 2020
Location: Virtual

 

This year, our Impact Collaborative Innovation Facilitator Training will be delivered virtually and there is no limit on the number of individuals that can participate. This training is for individuals from eXtension member institutions and the cost is included with membership.

*Participants must have the approval of their Extension Administrator or Director to participate. 

Register Here

About the Innovation Facilitator Training

This training will provide individuals with a new way of looking at program and project development to help new and existing programs across your states and institutions identify gaps in their planning, ensure they are most ready for implementation, and have explored all considerations to maximize local impact. 

Locally trained Innovation Facilitators can be an asset in helping teams develop their projects or programs more quickly, and connect those teams with resources available nationally. They can work locally with teams through our design-thinking process to bring fresh ideas aligned with institutional goals.

There are currently 107 Innovation Facilitators across Cooperative Extension working locally to catalyze innovation in their own states and institutions, and supporting Extension teams regionally and nationally.

Who Should Participate?

Our recommendations to Extension Directors and Administrators for selecting individuals to participate include:

  • Individuals such as a program leaders
  • Individuals that work closely with your leadership team
  • Already possess strong confidence in facilitation skills
  • Can be effective in working alongside leadership teams and other program leaders to catalyze innovation throughout the organization.

 

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CRM for Extension – Wrapping Up

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Stephen Judd is serving as the eXtension Foundation Customer Relationship Management Fellow. This post is an update on progress on this funded Fellowship from the USDA-NIFA New Technologies for Agricultural Extension (NTAE) Cooperative Agreement.

Making a decision about using a customer relationship management (CRM) system for an Extension organization is a major undertaking. The decision can have long-range effects on your organization’s business processes, costs, and user satisfaction. Changing CRMs can also be a major project, so making a good decision upfront will help prevent additional cost and frustration later. Take time to critically analyze your existing business processes, goals, users and their needs, and the resources you have to invest in CRM. Ensure that the CRM you choose aligns with these goals, will be able to grow with your organization’s use cases, and will be be manageable with your technical resources.

Summary

  • Why are we evaluating? – What organizational goals do you think CRM will help you achieve?
  • Constraints – Budget, technical resources, organizational directives
  • Users  – Who’s going to be using the CRM? Create personas and refer to them throughout the evaluation process.
  • Use cases – Prioritize and define the use cases for CRM in your organization. Think about how business processes can or should change.
  • Functionality – For the CRMs you are evaluating, will their functionality adequately address your needs. If not, can the functionality be added, given your resources.

A valuable avenue we haven’t discussed is to talk with other organizations about their experience with CRM. With any CRM there are implementation and user adoption issues that are experienced during implementation and use. Understanding what others have experienced can help your organization anticipate these issues and determine if a particular CRM can help minimize, or will amplify the issues. (Note that I’m happy to discuss CRM with anyone who is interested.)

I welcome feedback and questions at stephen.judd@unh.edu 

Previous post: CRM for Extension – Digging Deeper

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Building Skills in Innovation, A Learning Series for eXtension Members

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The Impact Collaborative’s Innovation Skill-Building Experience Online Series
Jan 16th, Jan. 23rd, Jan. 30th, & Feb. 6th
1 PM – 2:30 PM EST
Registration Deadline: January 14th, 2020

Led by Molly Immendorf & Annie Jones

Do you have a project idea that needs incubation, innovation, and ways to get to implementation and impact faster? Are you looking to learn about design thinking and lean experimentation combined with Cooperative Extension’s best practices for solving important community issues? Are you interested in becoming an Innovation Facilitator/Coach for future Impact Collaborative events and to support your institution’s teams and teams across the nation? Are you already an Innovation Facilitator or a team member who would like a refresher on the Innovation Skill-Building process?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then join us to explore the Impact Collaborative’s Innovation Skill-Building Experience (ISBE) in a whole new way. The ISBE Learning Series will meet weekly via Zoom over four sessions covering specific ISBE level building blocks to spark ideas, increase innovation, and turbocharge implementation to help create local impact.

Individuals and/or project and program teams are welcome to participate. 

Register Here

Molly Immendorf
Impact Collaborative Lead Design Manager
eXtension Foundation

Molly Immendorf leads the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of the Impact Collaborative process. This includes all aspects and events related to the Impact Collaborative including the Innovation Skill-Building Kit, the Impact Collaborative Summit, and Engage and Empower Online. Prior to joining eXtension Foundation in 2017, Molly was the Instructional Design and Technology Specialist for almost 19 years at University of Wisconsin – Extension, Cooperative Extension. Molly has a M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in Educational Communications and Technology from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and a B.S. in Design and Merchandising from Drexel University.

Annie Jones, PhD
Facilitator Manager
eXtension Foundation

Annie Jones is Facilitator Manager for eXtension and also holds an appointment as Professor, Organization Development and Tribal Nations Specialist at the University of Wisconsin Madison, Division of Extension. Annie has worked with Extension for twenty-one years serving in a variety of capacities including Associate Dean, Special Assistant to the Dean for Strategic Directions and as a county-based Community Development Educator. Annie earned her PhD in Human and Organizational Systems with a concentration in Transformative Learning for Social Justice from Fielding Graduate University. While there, she also earned a graduate certificate in Dialogue, Deliberation and Public Engagement.

Annie’s areas of research include indigenous methodologies like the use of the Native American medicine wheel and cultural teachings to enhance planning and evaluation. Annie specializes in participatory and community-based action research.

Who Can Attend?:

This learning series is for eXtension members only as part of Engage & Empower Online. A list of eXtension members can be found here.

What Do You Need To Attend?:

This learning series will be facilitated through Zoom video conferencing. The link to the Zoom room for each Learning Circle will be sent to you after registration or available in the Engage & Empower Online Platform.

Additionally, components of this learning series will occur in the Engage & Empower Online platform. An account will be created for you and login details will be provided.

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