Throughout our Extension careers, most all of us have been introduced to a variety of readings that include lists of the characteristics associated with great leaders. On those lists are such things as humility, trust, and vision. But a recent article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review by Jacqueline Novogratz and Anne Welsh McNulty identifies a less commonly mentioned characteristic that may be more important that any. "We see moral courage as the single most important attribute that...

Nearly 100 individuals participated in a virtual listening session held recently to gather advance input into the upcoming White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health to be held this September. The listening session was hosted by the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy and the Board on Human Sciences of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) with support of the Extension Foundation. The majority of the participants were state-level coordinators of...

A recent research brief by Nader Mehri and Jennifer Karas Montez at Syracuse University reveals that the chances of dying young differ dramatically across U.S. states. Individuals living in Minnesota, California, New York, and Massachusetts have the lowest rates of death by age 65, whereas those living in Southern states, including West Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma have the highest rates of premature death. If current conditions...