LaToya Drake, Barren County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences was a new face to Extension but not to the County. The Agent was born and raised in Barren County and spent much of her career serving her home community in other roles. Despite being familiar with the County and various resources, the Agent’s exposure to Extension was limited before becoming employed with the Cooperative Service in September of 2018. 

“As someone who grew up with less financial resources and as a minority in Barren County it is important to me to promote the knowledge and the resources the Extension Service affords to all Kentuckians focusing on the poor and less fortunate in my home community,”  says LaToya. It was the Agents mission to maximize the reach of Extension to a more diverse audience and individuals not typically served. The Agent took special focus in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program/SNAP programming and was even able to initiate the placement of a SNAP Assistant within the county to further these efforts reaching individuals with limited resources in the Barren County Community. 

“Diversity is generally defined as acknowledging, understanding, accepting, valuing, and celebrating differences among people with respect to age, class, ethnicity, gender, physical and mental ability, race, sexual orientation, spiritual practice, and public assistance status.”  Diversity is beneficial in the workplace and can increase marketing opportunities, recruitment, creativity, and business image. Additionally, diversity is critical to an organization's success in an era when flexibility and creativity are the keys to competitiveness. (UF IFAS Extension HR022)   The Barren County Extension Service is benefited by LaToya’s diverse and unique personal and professional background. 

The Barren County Extension Service was without a Family and Consumer Sciences Agent for a couple of years, therefore, LaToya used this as an opportunity to establish new norms and to rebrand and revitalize the FCS programming to attract a variety of individuals not previously exposed to Extension offered programs and services. During her brief time with the Extension Service, the Agent has established a Program Advisory Council, encouraged and assisted with the founding of a new evening-meeting Homemaker Club, established regular newsletters and articles in a local paper, created and maintained an area-wide social media page with 400+ followers, increased interest in the County’s social media page with an increase in followers and engagement, participated in the WBKO Farm and Home Show, participated in the Proclaim Broadcasting Family Lifestyles show and other programming efforts to build brand as an Agent and to reach a larger and more diverse audience.