Describe the Issue or Situation.

Today’s Extension colleagues and clients represent five distinct generations – the Silent Generation, the Baby Boomers, Generation X, the Millennials, and Generation Z. The diverse backgrounds, perceptions, and experiences of these generations influence how they communicate, interact, learn, and work together. However, the assumptions made about people based on the era in which they were born can lead to misunderstandings, miscommunications, and missed opportunities. To help turn differences into advantages, a multi-disciplinary, multigenerational Extension team (Mercedes Fraser, Amy Kostelic, Ken Culp, Melody Nall, Kendriana Price) led by Kim Henken, created a versatile extension training program that provides insight into how each generation approaches communication, technology, work motivation, and values in the workplace. Research demonstrates that understanding generational distinctions is key to creating a cohesive, effective, and successful team.

Describe the Outreach or Educational Program Response (and Partners, if applicable).

To help agents and other extension personnel become more familiar with and respectful of each generation’s history and core values, we developed an innovative and replicable program that provided participants with tools and resources to take back to their offices, enabling them to bridge generations in their workspace. Formal plans for this training started in Spring 2023. It was first delivered in January 2024. To date, this program has been taught eight times to over 200 participants. We are in discussion about presenting in September 2025 at the Extension Support Staff Training. Two (2) abstracts were submitted in June 2025 for the Kentucky Volunteer Forum scheduled for February 2026.

Provide the Number and Description(s) of Participants/Target Audience.

The initial core extension training sessions were held in Woodford County (n = 24 on January 31, 2024) and Christian County (n = 28 on February 6, 2024). We accepted an invitation to adopt the training and present at the Chi Epsilon Sigma meeting, a professional association for Extension Support Staff (n = 48 on April 18, 2024). We were accepted to present at the National Epsilon Sigma Phi Conference in Virginia Beach on October 29, 2024, and at the Kentucky State Extension Conference in Louisville in March 2025, where we presented twice (29 total survey respondents). More recently, we were invited to teach at the May 1, 2025, Extension Core Training in Hardin County (n = 28) and at the KEHA State meeting on May 7 (38 survey respondents).

Provide a Statement of Outcomes or Program Impact. Please note that the outcomes statement must use evaluation data to describe the change(s) that occurred in individuals, groups, families, businesses, or in the community because of the program/outreach.

Of the ~200 participants, 189 completed some level of evaluation (e.g., Mentimeter surveys, post-training, and follow-up evaluations). In summary, of the 54 participants who completed post-training evaluations, 100% reported that the training (1) “increased my confidence in my ability to bridge generations”; (2) “improved my attitude or approach at work”; and (3) “increased my comfort and confidence to offer multi-generational programs”. 98% reported that the training “equipped me with skills and knowledge to bridge generations in the workplace, “and 96% reported that the training “helped me consider the importance of having generational diversity on advisory councils and stakeholder groups”.  

A summary of “Key Takeaways” includes (from Mentimeter):

1. Every generation feels misunderstood
2. Every generation has the opportunity to learn and grow from each other 
3. The good old days are great, but we all need to focus on moving ahead
4. Consider all generations when programming and how it can be tailored to appeal to all audiences to reach the most possible
5. Communication preferences influence who participates
6. Find commonalities to build community
7. Create more office team building to include all generations 

A summary of “Next steps” includes (from Mentimeter):

1. Go out and be in the spaces of different generations who are your clientele
2. We are not one-size-fits-all. Be proactive. 
3. Be more inclusive with all generations
4. Review marketing approaches
5. Be more mindful of generational differences and preferences
6. Recruit more representation on advisory councils
7. Don’t make assumptions
8. Be more intentionally aware of how I can bridge generations and appreciate other generations other than my own. 
9. Be more purposeful in marketing and designing programs
10. Be sure all extension employees take this training. 
11. Reassign the responsibilities of volunteers and council members
12. Apply more variety of learning styles in programming