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Extension Foundation Says Farewell to Longtime Technology Team Member

 

The Extension Foundation offers its sincere gratitude to Ben MacNeill who has been part of the Extension Foundation team since 2006. In July 2022, Ben will be transitioning to a new role outside of the Extension Foundation.

Ben has been working with the Foundation through a full-time buyout from North Carolina State University. One of the original architects of many of the Extension Foundation’s former technology infrastructure under the “eXtension” brand, Ben has played a leading role in the implementation of national technology solutions for Cooperative Extension. More recently, Ben has played a major role in transitioning the Extension Foundation towards commercial technology tools for use by Cooperative Extension. In addition, Ben has provided expertise and leadership on the Extension Foundation’s Ask Extension system (formerly Ask An Expert) which has enabled Cooperative Extension to answer over 500,000 questions from the public and better connect the public with Cooperative Extension resources.

Ben is often the go-to customer support agent for providing web development support for the Extension Foundation’s 100+ National Cooperative Extension Project websites, assisting Land-grant university professionals with technical needs. His demeanor is often described by colleagues as kind and pleasant when solving both big and small technical problems.

On behalf of the Extension Foundation, we wish Ben and his family the best in his next adventure and thank him for 16 years of service to the Extension Foundation and Cooperative Extension.

For those that have worked closely with Ben, the Extension Foundation will continue to provide support and service on Wordpress Sites, Ask Extension, and other technology platforms. For assistance, please continue to email contact-us@extension.org.

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About the Extension Foundation

The Extension Foundation was formed in 2006 by Extension Directors and Administrators. Today, the Foundation partners with Cooperative Extension through liaison roles and a formal plan of work with the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP) to increase system capacity while providing programmatic services, and helping Extension programs scale and investigate new methods and models for implementing programs. The Foundation provides professional development to Cooperative Extension professionals and offers exclusive services to its members. In 2020 and 2021, the Extension Foundation has awarded 85% of its direct funding back to the Cooperative Extension System, 100% of funds are used to support Cooperative Extension initiatives. 

This technology is supported in part by New Technologies for Ag Extension (funding opportunity no. USDA-NIFA-OP-010186), grant no. 2023-41595-41325 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the Extension Foundation. For more information, please visit extension.org. You can view the terms of useat extension.org/terms.

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