Fourth Monday of Every Month
June 26th, July 24th, August 28th, September 25th, October 23rd, November 27th 2023
2 PM - 3 PM Eastern Time | 1 PM - 2 PM Central Time | 12 PM - 1 PM Mountain Time |
11 AM - 12 PM Pacific Time | 10 AM - 11 AM Alaska Time | 9 AM - 10 AM Hawaii Time
The Program Center Stage will highlight programs from across the system including current and past New Technologies from Ag Extension projects, Impact Collaborative projects, National programs like EXCITE, and more on the 4th Mondays of each month at 2 PM ET. Each month, we will update the information below for which program we will be putting center stage! This series is open to anyone that would like to attend. Membership in the Extension Foundation is not required to participate.
How can Extension professionals amplify community-led change? How can we meet individuals where they are to implement new, sustainable behaviors that are right for those individuals and that community? Coming at you from lil’ Rhode Island, we are thrilled to share a new program that delivered in terms of metrics (190,561 total pounds of food waste was diverted), reaching diverse audiences, and developing the relationships leading to a change in condition (state policy!). We’ll take you through our journey developing Food Recovery for Rhode Island - a Cooperative Extension community development train-the-trainer program that simultaneously addresses food waste, food insecurity and climate change. We’ll share our challenges and successes, and have plenty of time to chat about collaboration.
Hosted by:
Vanessa Venturini and Amanda Missimer
Dr. Amanda Missimer (left) and Vanessa Venturini (right) are co-founders of Food Recovery for RI.
Vanessa Venturini(she/her/hers), Extension Program Leader and Co-founder of Food Recovery for Rhode Island has a Master of Environmental Science Degree and has served as State Program Leader of the URI Master Gardener Program for the last decade. She is currently leading an effort to transform the program into a multicultural organization poised to uplift and amplify community-driven food system and biodiversity projects. Rhode Island born and Rhode Island bred, Vanessa is grateful to be in a role to connect motivated people and organizations doing good work by and with the community. Ms. Venturini is all about good food, spending time in nature with her family, music, and embarrassing herself in front of her adult students for their enjoyment (ask about the goat noise, actually don’t).
Amanda Missimer (she/her/hers), Clinical Assistant Professor in the URI Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences and Co-founder of Food Recovery for RI, has expertise in curriculum design and development, health communication, student engagement, assessment and implementation of behavior change models as a nutrition specialist and registered dietitian. Dr. Missimer holds a PhD in Nutritional Sciences and is a Registered Dietitian, in her role atat the University she instructs undergraduate and graduate courses and splits her Extension time between FRRI and EFNEP (Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program). Coming from a background in biochemistry, it has been a joy of hers to step into the community and share information to help individuals foster a relationship with access to local food. This program has been a labor of love, and as a new Rhode Islander, the best way to learn about all lil’ Rhody has to offer its residents beyond the beautiful beaches and buck a shuck (raw oysters).
Past Program Center Stage Webinars
2023 Webinars:
January - Helping People Find Answers Using Artificial Intelligence
February: Poetry in Extension
March: Extension Foundation Tools and Resources
April: EXCITE Pilot Project- Immunization Education in Extension
May: Doing Engaged Science: Water 4 Ag Project
See 2022 Webinars here