In this week’s issue:

Communication and connection opportunities

Is there anything about which you are interested, curious, or concerned? Here are some ways to share and ask:

  • Online form to submit questions (Think of this like a virtual comment box.)
  • OSU Extension Slack workspace or informal communication and collaboration
  • Read ConnEXTions weekly, and contribute!
  • O&E blog with First Monday videos (Engage via the comment section!)
  • Outreach & Engagement Quarterly Conversations (Next: February 15, 2019)

Quarterly conversation

The November Quarterly Conversation is now available for viewing. If you would like to take a closer look, the slides are available for download. Topics of the conversation included the launch of the Director’s Coin recognition program, leadership update by Scott Reed and Lindsey Shirley, including information about PACE and the Outdoor Economy initiative, and presentations by Western Regional Director Rich Riggs and University Omsbuds Sue Theiss.

Extension Web Update

Sometimes you just want to see how something is done rather than reading about it. This week we share new instructional videos for those working behind the scenes on the Extension website. These will show you the basics you need to know – from adding an event, to improving the way a photo displays, or to linking to another web page or resource. More videos will be coming out next month.

Diversity Highlights

Please contact analu.fonseca@oregonstate.edu with any questions or comments or if you have suggestions for events or news stories to include in Diversity Highlights.

Conversation Starter- Video:

Ellen Pompeo Calls Out Lack Of Diversity On Interview Set

After Ellen Pompeo called out the lack of diversity on the set of a “Net-A-Porter” interview with Gabrielle Union, Gina Rodriguez, and Emma Roberts, Carlos Bustamante and Graeme O’Neil react on “ET Canada Live”.

Events & Resources

TEDxBend Women: TEDxBendWomen is a local opportunity for exclusive viewing of the LIVE speakers and performers taking place at TED Women this year, celebrate how dynamic and diverse people are showing up to face challenges head-on, all while empowering each other to shape the future we all want to see. December 1 from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm in Redmond, for more information visit the event page.

Beyond Invitation: How Do We Create Inclusive Communities? Having a statement at the end of a job announcement to encourage communities of color, queer people, and women to apply can be a start, but how do policies, environment, and culture support this invitation? Find out on December 3 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm in Portland, for more information visit the event page.

Children’s Rights, Human Rights: A Multicultural Celebration “Children’s Rights, Human Rights: A Multicultural Celebration of Our Future” is a celebration honoring the 70th anniversary of the United Nations adopting the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” December 9 from 3:00-6:00 pm in Eugene, for more info visit the event page.

Alsea Tribal Life at Cape Perpetua Prior to European Contact: Learn about the pre-European inhabitants of Cape Perpetua from one of Cape Per-petua’s exceptional volunteers, Dick Mason. December 23 from 1:00pm to 2:00 pm in Lincoln, for more info visit the event page.

In the News

Rewriting the Old Disability Script

We changed queer literature, and the world, by writing our own stories. With disability, we can do it again.

Tribes Create Their Own Food Laws to Stop USDA From Killing Native Food Economies

From blue corn to bison, narrow federal food-safety codes impact tribal food systems. But advocates are writing their own food laws to preserve Native food sovereignty.

Teaching kids about Thanksgiving or Columbus? They deserve the real story

In the season four premiere of ABC’s hit sitcom “Black-ish,” Dre, a charismatic dad played by Anthony Anderson, is distraught over his children’s performance in a school play about Christopher Columbus.

Fighting Racism: Oregon organizations receive a two-year environmental justice grant

“The organization I lead, Beyond Toxics, along with the Eugene-Springfield NAACP and Medford-based Unete Farm Worker Advocacy Center, were awarded a two-year $90,000 grant. We are three diverse, now united, Oregon nonprofits dedicated to solving racial injustice.”

Black Migrants: Photographs of California’s Forgotten Agricultural Past

Photographer Ernest Lowe documented the lives of Black farmworkers in California’s Central Valley in the 1960s, then revisited the region in 2015 to reconnect with his subjects. The resulting photographs are now on display.

What are you reading?

Please share an interesting book, blog, or article you’ve read lately. What’s one insight you gleaned?

Extension in the news

Schreder named new Wallowa County Extension Agent
Wallowa County Chieftain
Schreder has several projects in southern Oregon he will be finishing before going full-time in Wallowa County. However, even when he is in Lake County he will be available to Wallowa County residents, the spokesman said.

Punches replaces Oester as area’s OSU forester
Wallowa County Chieftain
“I have always been an outdoors person. and one of the great passions of my life is being around growing things,” said John Punches, who became the OSU Extension Forester for Wallowa, Union and Umatilla counties July 1.

It may be harder to find the perfect Christmas tree
The Associated Press
“Supply and demand seem to always be in some flux,” Chal Landgren, a Christmas tree specialist and professor at Oregon State University, said via email.