Southern Region Community Development Extension Impacts
Recently Released: Coming Together & HP publications
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Coming Together for Racial Understanding

 

  • How Facilitating Dialogues on Race is Fostering Systemic Change in Cooperative Extension

    Eric Walcott, Michigan State University
    Marcia Ostrom, Washington State University Extension
    Dawn Burton, Prairie View A&M Extension
    David Kay, Cornell Cooperative Extension

     

    One of the unexpected outcomes of the Coming Together initiative has been the many ways in which it has contributed to institutional change within Cooperative Extension. While Coming Together was designed to help Extension be more responsive to community needs for dialogue around race and racism, early outcomes have shown that as Extension prepares to do this work in communities, these efforts are forcing self-examination leading to shifts towards becoming more supportive and inclusive institutions. As a result of Coming Together, Extension systems are increasing partnerships between 1862, 1890, and 1994 institutions; changing hiring practices; making diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) work more visible across Extension programming; and building capacity to engage more deeply in this work.

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  • Leading the Way: The Importance of Leadership in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Work

    Mary Emery, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
    Marcia Ostrom, Washington State University
    Mike Stout, Oklahoma State University
    Raquel Taylor, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
    Eric Walcott, Michigan State University
    Rachel Welborn, Southern Rural Development Center

     

    This issue brief addresses the role leaders play in supporting efforts to increase dialogues around racial understanding. Based on a survey of State Training Teams who participated in the inaugural Coming Together for Racial Understanding train-the-trainer event (2018), six variables related to leadership support were identified that team members felt were critical to success including actively communicating support, verbally encouraging me in the work, actively participating in dialog, demonstrating support in the face of dissension and risk, and trusting the team to lead the initiative. For this work to truly make a difference, this brief points to the importance of matching administrative leadership efforts with expectations for support, particularly regarding aligning resources and time-on-task to the vision for change.

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. 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.

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