The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service was well represented on the 2020-2021 executive board of the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, NEAFCS.

AgriLife Extension professionals accounted for three of its 13 national board members, including Dianne Gertson, AgriLife Extension family and community health agent for Fort Bend County, who recently completed her one-year term as association president.

In addition to Gertson, Michelle Wright, AgriLife Extension family and community health agent for Austin County, served as vice president for member resources. Lorrie Coop, AgriLife Extension District 3 administrator, served as the board’s Southern Region director. “It was gratifying to have our

“It was gratifying to have our agency so well represented on the NEAFCS board by these three professionals who have dedicated themselves to improving the quality of life for individuals, families and communities by working to meet their needs through various learning partnerships,” said Courtney Dodd, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension associate director for Health, Families and Youth Programs, Bryan-College Station.

Giving members the resources they need

Wright has just begun serving the second year of her two-year term as the executive board’s vice president for member resources.

“My role has been to increase membership and encourage people to join our national association,” Wright said. “I let people know about the many benefits of membership and how the association can help them both personally and professionally.”

Wright said she also encourages and facilitates discussions among association members to help them in their current jobs and share ideas they can take back and use in their respective communities.

“We developed a quarterly newsletter highlighting opportunities for association affiliates throughout the U.S.,” she said. “Our goal has been to promote and increase communications between NEAFCS and its affiliates.”

Wright said she also worked with another board member, Vanessa Hoines, a family and consumer science agent with North Dakota State University, on the Connecting with Colleagues initiative.

“This initiative has helped us strengthen affiliate interactions and our overall networking system for discussing issues related to ongoing topics such as nutrition, health and wellness, safety, food preservation and helping underserved audiences,” she said.

Wright said her primary goal for her second year on the board will be to “help the association evolve, grow and get bigger and better.”

What is the NEAFCS?

NEAFCS is an Extension family and consumer sciences organization that builds future leaders, provides professional growth and development opportunities and recognizes and promotes excellence in scholarship and programming.

The association also serves its members as a nationwide resource for education, information, networking and building partnerships to promote the mission and goals of the land grant university extension system.

NEAFCS professionals provide families with science-based evidence and programs, enabling them to improve their family’s well-being in health, financial management, food and nutrition, food safety, healthy homes and environments, and family life.

The association comprises family and consumer science and family and community health professionals from throughout the land-grant system. The NEAFCS has a total of 2,835 life, student and partner members. The Texas affiliate is the association’s largest, with more than 180 members.