We just wrapped up the second series of Extension Skills, a monthly professional development offering for Extension Foundation members. The theme for this quarter of Extension Skills was “Elevating Community Engagement,” featuring four sessions that delved into various facets of community engagement. These sessions provided skills and tools to enhance our Extension programs’ ability to connect with and serve our communities. We were privileged to host numerous experts who shared practical tips and best practices on effectively reaching specific audiences, optimizing our outreach, and ensuring meaningful connections with those we aim to serve.

Looking ahead, we’re excited to introduce the next Extension Skills series, focused on skills for identifying and securing funding opportunities. Join us to learn from Extension professionals as they share diverse strategies for finding funding and crafting compelling proposals for your programs and projects! Extension Foundation members can register here.

For those who may have missed any sessions or wish to revisit the materials, we’ve provided links to the recordings and resources below.

May Extension Skills: Community Engagement for Economic Wellbeing

This webinar explored what drives change in our communities! Dr. Keith Taylor discussed how his work focuses on the use of institutions of collective action to advance and institutionalize community power.

June Extension Skills: Engaging Immigrant and Refugee Audiences

Leaders from the Immigrant and Refugee Youth Champions Group from the Access Equity and Belonging Committee led a session and shared valuable resources with on engagement and outreach with Immigrant, Migrant, and Refugee audiences

July Extension Skills: Motivational Interviewing in Group Settings for Engagement and Outreach

During this session, Anya Sheftel from Washington State University led the way in exploring Motivational Interviewing (MI) to assist community members in overcoming ambivalence towards health behavior change. We reviewed the components of MI and its application in a group setting, and conducted a live demonstration, showcasing MI in practice.

August Extension Skills: Using Actor Mapping to Understand and Improve your Program’s Community Engagement Efforts

The Community Research, Evaluation & Development (CRED) team from  University of Arizona Extension explored the concept of actor mapping and how it can be useful for Extension professionals. The team shared case studies of actor mapping processes previously used by community partners, and participants were guided through the step-by-step process of creating their own actor maps.