December 16, 2025
Elevating Your Extension Impact: Communicating Data-Driven Needs and Public Value
Elevating Your Extension Impact: Communicating Data-Driven Needs and Public Value
January 7 | 9:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Virtual via Zoom
A come-as-you’re-able learning day for all K-State Extension professionals
Register Here: https://ksu.zoom.us/meeting/register/aue9eB_kQh-_wxPV1gjgFg
K-State Extension is kicking off the new year with a system-wide professional development opportunity designed to elevate how we communicate our work, our impact, and the public value we deliver. On January 7, all K-State Extension professionals are invited to virtually learn together in an engaging workshop lineup focused on strengthening the way we craft situation statements, identify needs, and tell our Extension story to the audiences who matter most.
Why This Training Matters
Extension professionals across Kansas work every day to improve lives, livelihoods, and communities. But sharing that impact in clear, compelling, and data-driven ways is essential—especially as audiences increasingly look for evidence of outcomes and meaningful public value.
This training is designed to help us:
- Strengthen the quality and consistency of our situation and public value statements statewide
- Improve how we communicate our data-driven needs and priorities to final audiences (stakeholders, funders, partners, community leaders, and the public)
- Tell a clearer, stronger, more cohesive Extension story
- Begin with the end in mind when planning and communicating program outcomes
Whether you attend one session or stay for the entire day, you’ll walk away with practical tools you can apply immediately to your programming and reporting.
Session Lineup
All Things KS Workshop (9:30 - 11:00)
Presenters: Jessica Gnad & Jennifer Tidball
Kick off the day with a Kansas-focused session that grounds our work in current needs, trends, and data. This session helps set the stage for how we can translate national, state and local data into local relevance and responsive programming. We will break out by key issues at the end of the presentation and explore the data relevant to a variety of programming areas.
Needs Assessments and Prioritizing Needs (11:00 - 12:00)
Presenter: Dr. Meredith Weinstein, North Carolina State University Extension
Learn best practices for gathering and analyzing needs assessment data that allow us to prioritize what matters most to Kansas communities. This session helps ensure our situation statements truly reflect real, timely, and measurable needs.
Writing Excellent Situation Statements & Tying It Together in PEARS (1:00 - 2:00)
Presenter: Dr. Allison Teeter, Canopy
Move from data to clear communication. Explore what makes a strong, effective situation statement and learn how to integrate it seamlessly into PEARS. Participants will gain tools for writing statements that connect needs, actions, and outcomes.
Telling Your Extension Story Through Public Value Statements (2:00 - 3:00)
Presenter: Anne Baker, Michigan State University Extension
We’ll wrap up the day by strengthening one of the most important tools in our communication toolbox: public value statements. Learn to describe the broader, long-term benefits of Extension programs in ways that resonate with external audiences and deepen support for our work.