December 2025 – Extension Foundation

Extension Foundation Launches Extension Lab! — Leadership & Organizational Health Support for our Partners at Land-grant Institutions

The Extension Foundation is proud to announce the launch of Extension Lab (EXL), a new offering designed to strengthen leadership, team performance, and organizational health across the Cooperative Extension system. EXL provides a comprehensive suite of services tailored to individuals, teams, and institutions seeking to lead with clarity, purpose, and long-term impact.

What is EXL?

EXL is a destination for personal, professional, and organizational health. Whether someone is stepping into a leadership role for the first time, guiding a team through change, or shaping long-term strategy, EXL offers trusted support, delivered in partnership with a broad network of experts from higher education, business, and beyond.

Services Offered

Through EXL, Extension Foundation provides two major service tracks:

Development of People & Teams

Leadership development via research-based programs, coaching, workshops, and tools.
Team collaboration and performance improvement, including facilitation to build trust, psychological safety, and shared accountability
Change leadership and resilience to help navigate organizational change, reduce resistance, and foster engagement
Practical leadership tools for human relations, influencing without authority, and building emotional intelligence
Individualized coaching for leadership transitions, from emerging leaders to senior executives, with customization based on each person’s needs

Strategic Consulting & High-Impact Engagements

Organizational culture and mission-alignment sessions aimed at ensuring values are lived and teams operate with clarity of purpose
Data-driven organizational assessments to surface hidden barriers to performance, such as inefficiencies or leadership gaps
Executive and management consulting to support operational leadership, decision-making, stakeholder engagement, and growth planning
Vision and growth strategy facilitation: cross-team retreats and planning to co-create bold visions, align priorities, and drive sustainable growth
Flexible support options, from one-time facilitation to multi-year partnerships, designed to support leadership pipelines, organizational change, and community impact

Why EXL Matters

As the needs and challenges facing Cooperative Extension continue to evolve, EXL provides a proactive, customizable resource to build resilient leadership, cohesive teams, and mission-aligned organizations. With EXL:

Emerging and established leaders can grow with purpose, self-awareness, and confidence
Teams can become more collaborative, communicative, and performance-driven
Organizations can more effectively align culture, strategy, and resources

Who Should Consider EXL

EXL is ideal for:

Individuals transitioning into leadership roles
Teams navigating change or seeking improved collaboration and cohesion
Organizations aiming to align mission, culture, and strategy for long-term impact
Extension systems looking for tailored, expert-driven organizational consulting and support

EXL is offered through the Extension Foundation and is available to Land-grant institutions whether or not they hold current membership.

How to Get Started

Interested organizations or individuals are encouraged to schedule a discovery discussion to explore how EXL might meet their unique needs.

For more information about EXL, its offerings, and how to get started, visit the Extension Foundation website: https://extension.org/exl/

December 11, 2025/by Aaron Weibe

2026 Leadership and Team Development Series for Members

Announcements, Events

The Extension Foundation is excited to launch the 2026 Leadership Development Series for our members. Below, find a full year of practical and inspiring workshops designed to help Extension professionals strengthen their communication, teamwork, motivation, and overall leadership capacity. Each session is led by Karl Bradley, Leadership Development Specialist at the Extension Foundation, who has facilitated leadership workshops, coaching sessions, keynotes, and trainings across the Extension system.

Each topic is offered twice throughout the year so you can choose the date that works best for you.

Join us- see the schedule and register here!

2026 Topics & Dates

Trust: January 20th or September 1st
Teamwork: January 27th or September 8th
Success Partner Mindset: February 10th or September 22nd
Motivation or Inspiration: February 17th or September 29th
Communication: March 10th or October 13th
Diffuse the Drama: March 17th or October 20th
Busy is a Choice: March 31st or November 3rd
Work/Life Harmony: April 7th or November 10th
Leadership Legends: April 21st or November 17th
Distributed Leadership: April 28th or December 1st
Change: May 12th or December 8th
Strategic Planning: May 19th or December 15th

New in 2026: Summer Leadership School

A 6-part learning series running June–August focused on personal leadership, teamwork, communication, and taking action. More details coming soon.

June 16 — Kick-Off: Everyone’s Leading!
(Who you are)
June 30 — Workshop 1: The DNA of Leadership
(Historic perspective & values)
July 7 — Workshop 2: Leadership Beyond You
(Effective Teams)
July 21 — Workshop 3: Collaboration Everywhere
(Distributed Leadership & Change)
Aug 4 — Workshop 4: Your Leadership Story
(Listening, Communication)
Aug 18 — Wrap-Up: Taking Action
(What you do)

All Extension Foundation members looking to build confidence, improve team dynamics, and strengthen their personal leadership style whether you’re new to Extension or an experienced leader. Register to join us here.

December 10, 2025/by mpugsley

2026 AI Fundraising & Grants Workshop Series

News

In 2026, the Extension Foundation will partner with NTAE Key Informant Nate Birt to host a 7-part Zoom-based workshop series: Artificial Intelligence Fundraising and Grants Use Cases for Extension Professionals.

Sessions run third Thursday of each month from January–July 2026. Workshops are 75 minutes and are designed to stand alone while also building logically for participants who attend the full series. Each session is designed specifically for Cooperative Extension professionals and will feature practical demonstrations, Q&A, and interactive examples grounded in real fundraising and grants work across Extension!

2026 Workshop Schedule — Register here!

January 15 — AI in 2026: The Fundraiser’s New Power Tool
February 19 — Research Power Moves with AI for Stronger Proposals
March 19 — Grant Writing & Fundraising with AI: From Prospecting to Reporting
April 16 — Smarter Fundraising Communications & Marketing
May 21 — Organizational Efficiency: Freeing Up Time for Fundraising
June 18 — Leading Fundraising Strategy & Creativity with AI
July 16 — Future-Proofing Fundraising: Tracking AI Trends & Adoption Choices

Add your Questions and Comments for this series, here!

We want to make sure the content reflects real Cooperative Extension fundraising challenges and opportunities. Use this to input a specific question, challenge, or use case related to fundraising and grants work in Cooperative Extension, that you would be most excited for us to address during this webinar series?

December 9, 2025/by mpugsley

Extension Foundation Releases National AI Report Highlighting Systemwide Priorities for Cooperative Extension and agInnovation

News, Newsroom

The Extension Foundation has released the 2025 National AI Report, presenting a comprehensive picture of how Cooperative Extension and agInnovation leaders across the Land-grant system are preparing for artificial intelligence. The report synthesizes a national landscape assessment, virtual focus groups, and an in-person convening in 2025, engaging leaders across the Land-grant system.

To build a shared national direction, the project unfolded across four structured phases, each designed to deepen understanding and move the system from exploration to implementation:

Phase 1: AI Landscape Assessment

A national survey established a baseline view of institutional readiness, current AI use, governance structures, and leadership perspectives. Responses from 29 states provided the first systemwide snapshot of how Extension and agInnovation are approaching AI.

Phase 2: Virtual Convening & Focus Groups

More than 100 leaders from 41 universities participated in structured discussions exploring where institutions currently stand with AI, what concerns exist, and where opportunities may emerge.

Phase 3: In-Person Convening, Brainstorming & Prioritization

Leaders met in person to generate strategies and then identify the most important areas requiring coordinated national action. This phase narrowed hundreds of ideas into focused priorities to guide long-term planning and investment.

Phase 4: In-Person Convening, Implementation Planning

Participants reconvened to outline implementation pathways for the highest-priority areas. Through facilitated discussions, leaders identified what resources, partnerships, and structural supports are required to move from ideas to action, ultimately consolidating the work into two overarching priorities: (1) Culture, Ethics, and Public Trust and (2) Capacity, Infrastructure, and Policy.

The report reflects a growing national alignment around how AI could be integrated across the Land-grant system. The report provides a foundation for coordinated leadership around shared priorities and outlines the supports needed for implementation to ensure that Extension and agInnovation can guide responsible, human-centered use of AI in service to communities nationwide.

This work is supported in part by New Technologies for Ag Extension (funding opportunity no. USDA-NIFA-OP-010186), grant no. 2023-41595-41325 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture in partnership with the University of New Hampshire Extension. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the University of New Hampshire Extension.

December 1, 2025/by Aaron Weibe