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Professional Development
Discover Professional Development opportunities tailored to your role within Extension. This section features skill-building workshops, trainings, and other learning experiences drawn from across the University of Illinois System and trusted external partners. It’s your go-to place for discovering new ways to strengthen your expertise, expand your knowledge, and stay connected to emerging trends and tools in your field.
Explore, Learn, Grow with Extension Foundation Campus
Extension Foundation Campus offers a wide range of professional development opportunities designed specifically for Extension professionals. Employees can access free articles, webinars, and self-paced courses on topics like leadership, program development, evaluation, digital engagement, and more—all curated to support growth, collaboration, and innovation across the system. Whether you're new to Extension or a seasoned professional, Campus provides flexible, high-quality learning to help you thrive in your role.
Extension Foundation Opportunities
Fundraising, Grant & Partnership Development For Extension Professionals: An Interactive Workshop Series
- Smarter Fundraising Communications & Marketing with AI - April 16th • 2:00 – 3:15 PM ET
- Organizational Efficiency: Freeing Up Time for Fundraising with AI - May 21st • 2:00 – 3:15 PM ET
- Leading Fundraising Strategy & Creativity with AI - June 18th • 2:00 – 3:00 PM ET
- Future-Proofing Fundraising: Tracking AI Trends & Adoption Choices - July 16th • 2:00 – 3:15 PM ET
Leadership & Team Development Series 2026
- Legends of Leadership - April 21 | 2-3 pm ET
- Distributed Leadership - April 28 | 2-3 pm ET
- Strategic Planning - May 5 | 2-3 pm ET
- Change - May 12 | 2-3 pm ET
- All Time Best Leadership Workshop - May 26 | 2-4 pm ET
- Leadership Summer Series
- June 16 — Kick-Off: Everyone’s Leading! (Who you are)
- June 30 — Workshop 1: The DNA of Leadership (Historic perspective & values)
- July 7 — Workshop 2: Leadership Beyond You (Effective Teams)
- July 21 — Workshop 3: Collaboration Everywhere (Distributed Leadership & Change)
- Aug 4 — Workshop 4: Your Leadership Story (Listening, Communication)
- Aug 18 — Wrap-Up: Taking Action (What you do)
Program and Research Center Stage – 2026 Schedule
- Farm to Table in an Urban Environment: The Dallas County Urban Farm - April 22 | 2:00 – 3:00 PM ET
- Veteran-Friendly Training for Extension Professionals - May 27 | 2:00 – 3:00 PM ET
- Produce TRAINer: Developing and Evaluating a Multimedia Food Safety Toolkit for Farmworkers - June 24 | 2:00 – 3:00 PM ET
- STEAM Imagination Guides: Resources to support literacy development, enhance relationships, and connect with your local library. - July 22 | 2:00 – 3:00 PM ET
Extension Skills
Now second and fourth Thursday of the month, the Extension Skills series provides an opportunity for Cooperative Extension professionals to build capacity with tools, processes and strategies to elevate your impact. Current series: Building Online Courses for Adult Learning running April 9 through June 11, 2026.
Education Advancement Community
Would you like to be part of an online community of Extension staff who connect with colleagues, share experiences and advice, and access resources and support, while using the Employee Tuition Waiver or other educational advancement resources?
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Education and Career Advancement
Extension employees can access many education and career advancement benefits including tuition waivers, graduate certificates, non-credit courses, and more.