Introduction
The 4-H Beyond Ready Goal of reaching 10 million youth by 2030 (4-H PLWG Standing Committee, 2025) challenges us to explore new avenues of reaching youth across California and the nation. One promising approach is through collaboration with expanded learning programs (e.g. schools, Boys and Girls clubs, YMCAs). These partnerships provide high quality programming to youth beyond 4-H clubs. By extending 4-H to expanded learning settings, youth who are otherwise not involved in 4-H have the opportunity to explore new ways of learning, find their spark, and benefit from 4-H programming in science, technology, engineering, math (STEM), agriculture, leadership, healthy living, and more.
Given the importance of 4-H partnerships, it is crucial that we understand best practices for collaboration. Strong collaboration will foster trust, ensure high quality programming, and meet the needs of youth. To identify strategies for successful collaboration, a group of UC ANR 4-H professionals collected qualitative interviews of 4-H community education specialists and partner organization staff who participated in 4-H expanded learning programs. From this study, key themes emerged: securing partnerships, staff capacity and support, program logistics, and youth engagement. Over the last several months, this blog has published articles diving deeper into these themes and their implications for 4-H expanded learning partnerships.
Best Practices for Partnership
Partnerships are successful when agencies work together and share a clear understanding of the program as well as one another’s roles and responsibilities. Having an early mutual understanding of the logistics (i.e. who, what, when, where, and why) and establishing frequent communication can strengthen partnerships and create successful programs. Collaborations work best when both sides of the partnership have a crystal clear expectation of each other’s roles and responsibilities. Assumptions can lead to ambiguity, unmet expectations, confusion, and lack of program impact.
Paying careful attention to staff capacity and limitations, as well as opportunities for support, provides 4-H expanded learning partnerships with the bandwidth to last long into the future. When each party is in the right role, given their strengths and limitations, and has professional support and guidance, capacity limitations can be overcome.
When all the right pieces are in place, 4-H expanded learning partnerships allow youth to flourish. These partnerships should foster inclusive, inquiry-driven, hands-on learning for all youth. Engagement is sustained when educators create welcoming, predictable environments for learning. Within these spaces, youth thrive, find their spark, and deeply enjoy the programs.
Conclusion
We hope this series of articles will help 4-H staff establish effective and supportive working relationships with community partners. Please consider reading the Fact Sheet: Growing 4-H with Expanded Learning Partnerships for more tips on collaboration. We trust the content will prove useful as your 4-H programs expand to many youth in your communities.