Access, Equity and Belonging Topics
Coming Together for Racial Understanding
Southern Regional Development Center’s Coming Together for Racial Understanding has ECOP support and Rachel Welborn has done a wonderful job leading its development.
Link to website: https://srdc.msstate.edu/civildialogue/
Background: In late 2016, the Extension Committee on Operations and Policy (ECOP) charged a small team of Cooperative Extension Service (CES) and non-Land Grant University professionals (referred to as a Rapid Response Team) to examine the current capacity of CES to respond to the need for dialogue to promote racial understanding and healing, and to provide recommendations to build CES capacity in this area. Following the April 2017 report to ECOP, the Rapid Response Team explored training options for civil dialogue on race relations to meet the need to expand capacity. Recently, a team of 23 professionals both within and outside the Land Grant University system have identified, organized, and refined a training process designed to prepare teams in participating states to serve as trainers within their own states.
The first step in building capacity for this work within CES will be to host a train-the-trainer event in which teams of 3 individuals from among the nation’s LGU Cooperative Extension Services will be invited to participate in a five-day intensive training workshop. The workshop will prepare these participants to return home to their own states and prepare a larger cadre of CES personnel to lead dialogues. Then this larger state CES team will begin working within the communities they serve to facilitate dialogues on race relations at the local level. The result will be a stronger capacity within CES to assist with difficult conversations around race. This capacity will also assist with other challenging topics that might arise in their day-to-day duties. Communities will benefit by having a well-trusted entity embedded within their communities to help navigate these challenging waters. Also, each community will follow up the conversations by developing a plan for doable actions that can help improve the racial climate within their respective places.
Content: Content will address the basic competencies as identified by the Rapid Response Team. These are published: website hyperlink here
eXtension Equity Toolkit
Staff Training: eXtension provides resources that will help you define equity and learn about the many different ways privilege, identity, oppression, and inclusion impact our society. Some of these resources provide tips and stories on how to learn about privilege, identity, and inclusion. Others offer their own bibliographies and curated lists of resources to explore further. This is not an exhaustive list, but rather a curated set of resources that will be the most helpful in gaining a baseline understanding of equity issues in our work.
Education Content for Teaching: the website has a Do & Teach section that provides resources and activities that will help you create more equity in your community. Some of these resources will help guide your personal experience, while the curriculum and activities will help you teach principles of equity. This is not an exhaustive list, but rather a curated set of resources that will help you facilitate activities with youth with the goal of teaching important principles of equity.
Celebrating Belonging: 4-H Resources to showcase diversity in your community. In this section you will find media resources developed by National 4-H Council that you can use in your channels to showcase and celebrate the diversity of 4-H.
4-H Program Leaders Working Group: Access, Equity and Belonging Committee: Mission, definitions, data, and information for youth professional understanding of USA’s diverse population
Group Mission Statement: To support the 4-H System to reach its National 4-H Grows: A Promise to America’s Kids Vision “In 2025, 4-H will reflect the population demographics, vulnerable populations, diverse needs and social conditions of the country. This vision has the elements of inclusion, caring adults, serving at minimum 1 in 5 youth, and the volunteers and staff reflect the diversity of the population. This Committee aims to increase the capacity of 4-H and the Cooperative Extension System to meet this opportunity and to create a more inclusive organizational culture”.
Website Link: https://access-equity-belonging.extension.org/
The Access, Equity and Belonging Committee is composed of the following Champion Groups:
- Incarcerated Youth
- Immigrant and Refugee Youth
- LGBTQ + Youth / Community
- Mental Health and Wellbeing
- Youth Experiencing Homelessness
- Youth in Foster Care
- Youth with Disabilities
- Youth Living in Poverty
- Racial and Ethnic Youth:
- African American Youth
- Asian / Pacific Islander Youth
- LatinX Advisory Committee
- American Indian/Alaskan Native Youth
Suicide Prevention and Awareness
The QPR Institute
The QPR mission is to reduce suicidal behaviors and save lives by providing innovative, practical and proven suicide prevention training. The signs of crisis are all around us. QPR believes that quality education empowers all people, regardless of their background, to make a positive difference in the life of someone they know. QPR is allowing trainers to provide virtual training. There is a youth focus training as well. Costs are associated with training.
Direct QPR Link: https://qprinstitute.com/
Social Justice
eXtension Resource 4-H Social Justice Youth Development: a Guide for Youth Development Professionals
This National 4-H peer reviewed guide was designed to help youth development professionals understand how to integrate social justice principles into positive youth development programs. These programs can foster young people’s agency—the belief that they can make a difference—and provide resources to address social injustice within communities.
Direct Link to Resource: https://dei.extension.org/2018/11/4-h-social-justice-youth-development-a-guide-for-youth-development-professionals/
Get Experience in Mindfulness
Get Experience in Mindfulness (GEM) is an interactive group-based stress management program through University of Delaware Cooperative Extension.
The program focuses on stress management taught through practical and interactive mindfulness-based activities to facilitate experiential learning. Participants of the program will learn what mindfulness is and how to integrate it into daily life, strength and flexibility poses, breathing techniques and other relaxation skills. GEM consists of five one-hour long lessons (see below: The Series). However, it can also be taught as a single one-hour or 45-minute lesson that goes over an introduction to mindfulness. The program is suggested for ages 10 and up.
Content Covered:
- Goal Setting & Intentions
- Awareness & Attention
- Self-care Through Stress-Reduction & Relaxation
- Communication & Relationships
- Gratitude & Acceptance
For Purchase: The curriculum can be purchased on the Shop 4-H website. Contact Laura Goss if you are interested in this resource and we will look at covering the curriculum cost with grant funds.
Additional Resources provided by Maryland Extension related to Racial Equity for Youth:
Central Racial Justice:
Radicalized-Viloence with Kids
- NPR:https://www.npr.org/2019/04/24/716700866/talking-race-with-young-children
- Washington Post:https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/05/22/we-need-more-white-paren
Talk to Youth Now about Race
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Social Justice Resources:
Teaching Tolerance: