Extension Foundation

The Extension Foundation identifies itself as a “member-based nonprofit established by Extension Directors and Administrators nationwide that is an integral part of the Cooperative Extension System. The Foundation helps Cooperative Extension professionals make a more measurable and visible impact on local issues. We have a unique system for engaging Cooperative Extension professionals to design and strengthen local programs and interventions to solve local, state, regional, and national issues. We also have online tools available to support local solutions. This work is supported in part by New Technologies for Ag Extension grant no. 2020-41595-30123 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.”

On November 17, 2014, the Board on Agriculture Assembly Cooperative Extension Section (Section) voted to move what was then known as the “eXtension” program to a membership, fee-driven model.

Effective January 1, 2015, the eXtension Foundation nonprofit was established to advance exceptional technology and enhanced learning environments while building on Cooperative Extension’s faculty and staff, content, and leadership resources. Prior to this transformation, there was an assessment imposed by the Cooperative Extension Section of the APLU Board on Agriculture Assembly to support the innovative work that was calculated at 0.8% of each Section member institution’s receipt of formula funds from the previous year in the Smith-Lever 3(b) and (c) and 1890 Extension (Section 1444) lines.

Effective March 2021, eXtension Foundation Board of Directors voted to rename itself the Extension Foundation.

To this day the Section’s Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP) and the Extension Foundation Board of Directors have liaisons to communicate and coordinate each organizations’ activities to benefit the Cooperative Extension System.

To explore more, go to www.extension.org.