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.
A team of professionals both within and outside the Land Grant University system identified, organized, and refined a training process designed to prepare teams in participating states to serve as trainers within their own states. This led to the development of a train-the-trainer workshop, where Extension professionals from 20 states participated. South Carolina’s three-person team was composed of representatives from Clemson University and South Carolina State University.
Resources
Everyday Democracy: Dialogue and Engagement – Everyday Democracy
Emmanuel Acho, Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man (one of many video episodes)
The University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business, Implicit Bias – Concepts Unwrapped
