Susan Jakes, NC State Extension associate state program leader for community and rural development, along with collaborators on the Coming Together for Racial Understanding team, was honored with the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU) National Diversity in Extension Award for 2021.

The award “recognizes significant contributions and accomplishments in achieving and sustaining diversity and pluralism.” The team, comprising Extension professionals from 22 land-grant universities, including NC State, has trained more than 100 facilitators from 29 states, who then guided community dialogues across the country on issues of race and discrimination.

Coming Together for Racial Understanding is a dialogue-to-change initiative for communities seeking new pathways for working together across racial and ethnic lines. Launched in 2016, the team’s collective vision is to grow a community of Extension professionals who are equipped to foster meaningful community conversations around race, build understanding and trust, and foster collective action and positive change nationwide.

Watch a Video: Coming Together for Racial Understanding Overview

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA) and Cooperative Extension System have sponsored the award for 30 years. Discover more about NC State Extension and how we grow North Carolina and the nation.