Learning & Development
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Something for Everyone: Learn, Explore and Grow This Month
This month there are a wide variety of opportunities to learn, connect and pick up new ideas for your work. Explore topics including effective Extension websites, urban food systems, AI-driven answer engines, effective listening, Latino identity and agriculture, age-inclusive communities, bystander intervention, business operations and navigating academic perfectionism.
And there's more to explore! Visit the UC Learning Center, NCFDD and the many other resources available through UC ANR Learning and Development Resources, LinkedIn Learning (request your account through UC ANR IT help@ucanr.edu).
- Extension Methods & Delivery - Explore training and resources to improve how you design and deliver effective extension programs and educational outreach.
- Building Support - Learn strategies for developing partnerships, engaging stakeholders and securing resources to strengthen your work.
- Inclusion & Belonging - Access tools and learning opportunities to create welcoming, equitable and inclusive environments for diverse audiences.
- Office, Team, and Personal Management - Office, Team and Personal Management - Find professional development resources to enhance workplace skills and processes, teamwork and your individual growth.
Extension Methods & Delivery
Helping People Find Help: Building Extension Websites That Connect Communities to Local Food Resources (Extension Foundation, Virtual)
September 10 | 11 a.m.–noon PT
Learn practical strategies for creating user-friendly extension websites that help community members quickly find local food resources, services and support. The session covers collaboration with web teams and useful user-experience principles. View details and registration.
Urban Food Systems Symposium (Extension Foundation, Virtual)
September 14–17 | Kansas City, MO
Registration is open for the 2026 Urban Food Systems Symposium. This year’s theme, Cultivating Communities, Cities, and Food Systems, brings together participants from more than 27 states who are shaping sustainable, resilient urban food systems. Who’s in the Room at UFSS?
Attendees include researchers and graduate students; extension educators and specialists; nonprofit, farm and food-system leaders; and government officials working in urban agriculture and food policy. Together, they connect rigorous research with practical, community-based experience. Explore the 2026 Program Schedule or email UFSS@ksu.edu with questions. View symposium details.
Your Website Is Now a Training Set: Preparing Extension for the Post-Search Era (Extension Foundation, Virtual)
September 24 | 11 a.m.–noon PT
Explore how AI-driven answer engines are changing online discovery. Learn how Generative Engine Optimization can help xtension content remain visible, useful and citable while building direct relationships with online audiences. View details and registration.
Leadership Development Skills for Science Educators: Developing Effective Listening Skills (Extension Foundation, Virtual)
September 24 | 9–10 a.m. PT
Practice active-listening tools that can strengthen clarity, trust and collaboration in professional and personal relationships. View details and registration information.
Building Support
Development Services: Fundraising and Philanthropy (UC ANR, Webpage)
Strengthen your ability to secure funding, build meaningful donor relationships and communicate the value of your work. Development Services offers strategic guidance and resources to help elevate program impact and expand philanthropic support for UC ANR. Explore Development Services resources.
Government and Community Relations (UC ANR, Webpage)
Strengthen your ability to engage effectively with policymakers, community leaders and other partners. These resources support relationship-building, strategic communication and informed advocacy aligned with UC policies – helping increase the visibility and impact of UC ANR programs. Search Government and Community Relations resources.
Strategic Communications (UC ANR, Webpage)
Sharpen your messaging, storytelling and outreach to connect more effectively with your audiences. Strategic Communications provides resources to help increase program visibility, strengthen engagement and ensure consistent use of the UC ANR brand. Identify Strategic Communications resources.
Inclusion & Belonging
Are Latinos in the USA in Crisis? (UC ANR, Virtual)
September 15 | Noon–1:30 p.m. PT | Zoom
Join a conversation about Latino identity, language, belonging, discrimination, bilingualism and the future of Latino culture in the United States. Register for the Hispanic Heritage Month webinar series.
Proudly Latino and Organic: A Conversation with Tony Serrano, President of JAS Family Farms Organics (UC ANR, Virtual)
September 24 | Noon–1:30 p.m. PT | Zoom
Explore family, farm work, organic agriculture, entrepreneurship, community employment and the future of sustainable agriculture in California. Register for the Hispanic Heritage Month webinar series.
Moving from Ageism to Age-Friendly: Reframing the Way We Think, Feel and Act (Extension Foundation, Virtual)
September 21 | 11 a.m.–noon PT
Learn how language, beliefs and systems shape views of aging and discover evidence-based strategies for promoting more accurate, inclusive and empowering messages about older adults. Register through Zoom.
Conflict Competence: From Bystander to Upstander (UC Davis Ombuds, Virtual)
September 16 | 9–11 a.m. PT
What can you do when you witness incivility or micro- and macroaggressions? Through discussion and workplace scenarios, identify barriers to action and five strategies for moving from bystander to upstander. Register in the UC Learning Center.
Office, Team, and Personal Management
Navigating BOC Processes for New Employees (UC ANR, Virtual)
First Tuesdays | 9:30 a.m. PT | Next session: September 1
New employees and those seeking a refresher can get a structured overview of UC ANR business processes and systems, including Aggie Enterprise, AggieExpense, purchasing, cards, workflow automation and reporting.
Register for the BOC orientation.
BOC and SWPR Q&A Office Hours (UC ANR, Virtual)
Second and fourth Thursdays | 10–11 a.m. PT
Bring questions about forms, reports, Aggie Enterprise, WFA, COGNOS, Candex or other UC ANR business platforms and processes. There is no formal presentation – just practical help and Q&A. Join BOC and SWPR Office Hours.
Overcoming Academic Perfectionism (NCFDD, Virtual)
September 10 | 11 a.m.–noon PT
Identify the causes and consequences of excessive perfectionism and learn strategies for adjusting standards, responding to criticism and finding greater satisfaction throughout the writing process. Register through NCFDD.
Coaching in Action for Leaders and Managers (LinkedIn Learning, anytime learning)
Employees are much more likely to stick around if they’re being coached, their talents are being developed and they feel supported by their leaders. But how do you enhance your impact and coach for both performance and development?
In this course, instructor Sara Canaday demonstrates the practical application of key coaching skills through real-world challenge exercises. Along the way, accelerate your grasp of the core concepts by testing your reactions, responses and decision-making skills before you start coaching actual employees. By the end of this course, you’ll be ready to take control of your career and upskill as a leader who supports internal mobility and creates a more profitable, positive culture. Review Coaching in Action on LinkedIn Learning. Ask ANR IT for your account at help@ucanr.edu.
The Courage to Apologize (Article)
A sincere apology can be an important workplace skill – helping repair relationships, rebuild trust and move difficult conversations forward. Yet apologizing effectively involves more than saying “I’m sorry.”
In The Courage to Apologize, Shola Richards (former director of L&D at UCLA Health) offers a practical approach to what he calls a restorative apology: take full ownership without excuses, focus on the impact on the other person and follow the apology with specific behavioral change. It’s a useful read for strengthening communication, navigating conflict and building healthier working relationships. Read The Courage to Apologize.
Becoming a Better Listener (Crucial Learning, Article)
Good listening helps people feel safe enough to share what is really on their minds. Explore AMPP techniques for showing curiosity, creating safety and encouraging more meaningful conversations. Read the Crucial Learning article.
Grow Your Skills. Expand Your Impact.
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