University of Illinois Extension 4-H Youth Development Educator Shelby Carlson has been honored at both the state and national levels for her outstanding contributions to youth development programming. Carlson, who serves Henderson, Knox, McDonough, and Warren counties, received three prestigious awards from the Illinois Extension Professionals for Youth Education (IEPYE) and the National Association of Extension 4-H Youth Development Professionals (NAE4-HYDP).
Carlson and collaborators Phil Gioja, Cindy Ogwal, and Kristi Stout earned the Communicator Award for Video Program for their promotional video highlighting Illinois 4-H’s Welcome to the Real World Financial Literacy and Career Exploration program. The video has reached over 150 4-H professionals across 102 counties, 853 public school districts, and nearly 200 private high schools in Illinois. It has helped secure sponsorships, recruit volunteers, and inspire professionals to expand the program’s reach.
She also received the Excellence in Workforce Development Programming Award for her leadership in the Welcome to the Real World event, which engaged 641 eighth-grade students from seven school districts and 100 community volunteers and industry partners. The event introduced students to diverse career paths, financial concepts, and decision-making skills, strengthening the workforce development curriculum across the region.
In addition, Carlson was recognized with the Excellence in Teamwork Award for her role in the Fair Resource Working Group, a team of 4-H professionals who developed tools to support colleagues during the demanding fair season. Their work addressed high turnover rates among program coordinators by creating resources such as a livestock judge directory, emergency management templates, and media guides—drawing on a combined 75 years of fair planning experience.
Carlson holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from Western Illinois University – Quad Cities and a master’s degree in agriculture education with an emphasis on leadership from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. A native of Knox County and an 11-year 4-H member, she continues to champion youth empowerment through innovative programming and collaborative leadership.
About Illinois 4-H: Illinois 4-H is the flagship youth development program of University of Illinois Extension, administered through the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences. 4-H empowers youth to become leaders through hands-on learning in STEM, health, civic engagement, and agriculture. Research shows 4-H youth are four times more likely to contribute to their communities and twice as likely to make healthy choices and engage in STEM.
University of Illinois Extension develops educational programs, extends knowledge, and builds partnerships to support people, communities, and their environments as part of the state's land-grant institution. Extension serves as the leading public outreach effort for University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences in all 102 Illinois counties through a network of 27 multi-county units and over 700 staff statewide. Extension’s mission is responsive to eight strategic priorities — community, economy, environment, food and agriculture, health, partnerships, technology and discovery, and workforce excellence — that are served through six program areas — 4-H youth development, agriculture and agribusiness, community and economic development, family and consumer science, integrated health disparities, and natural resources, environment, and energy.