The UCDA Affinity Group is a collaborative space that connects and supports Extension professionals serving urban and rural communities and/or culturally diverse audiences. The mission of the Affinity Group is to create a network for Extension professionals in ESP who seek to extend the resources of land-grant universities to address these needs. The Affinity Group provides support, training, professional development, and other opportunities across all program areas and the Extension system to advance the mission of land-grant universities while ensuring diversity, equity, inclusion and engagement.

We hosted monthly public discussion open to anyone in an effort to bring attention to key topics and make partnership connections. Additionally, I worked to help create an equity toolkit that can be leveraged across the Extension system to assist in the creation of DEI initiatives. Extension leaders are able to submit their efforts to a growing data site and borrow ideas from one another as appropriate.