401 - Cooperative Extension in Indigenous Communities: Perspectives of 1862 and 1994 Extension Educators

The mission of Land Grant Institutions (LGIs) and Cooperative Extension has always included the concept of educational access. Indeed, there is an Extension office in or near all of the 3,000 counties in the US and serving nearly 100% of US counties. However, Extension has not served all communities equitably, in both their access to agricultural resources and in the kinds of programs that they provide. An important example of these inequities can be seen in Indigenous communities, where Extension is underfunded and unable to provide equitable support. Despite these challenges, there are Extension educators from 1862 and 1994 LGIs that collaborate with Indigenous communities. These educators have valuable experience and insight that is critical to capture if Extension is going to encourage and support others in this work. These insights will help current and future collaborations to be successful and inform Extension of the systemic changes that need to be made to equitably serve Indigenous and other marginalized communities.