Grassroots Engagement and Social Justice through Cooperative Extension grows out of a commitment to the belief that Cooperative Extension professionals can and should be deeply engaged with the communities they work in to improve life—individually and collectively. Rooted in an understanding of the history and development of Extension, the authors focus on contemporary efforts to address systemic inequities. They offer an alternative to the “expert” model that would have Extension educators provide information detached from the difficult and sometimes contentious issues that shape community work. These essays highlight Extension’s role in and responsibility for culturally relevant community education that is rooted in democratic practices and social justice. The ultimate aim of this book is to offer a vision for the future of Extension as its practitioners continue to reach for cultural competence necessary to address issues of systemic injustice in the communities they serve and of which they are a part.

NIA IMANI FIELDS is the Maryland 4-H program leader and assistant director of Maryland Extension. She also serves as the cochair of the National 4-H Access, Equity and Belonging Committee.
TIMOTHY J. SHAFFER is the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Professor of Civil Discourse in the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration at the University of Delaware. He is also director of civic engagement and deliberative democracy with the National Institute for Civil Discourse at the University of Arizona.