Community Development Extension Educator

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Job Category:

Academic Staff

Employment Type:

Regular

Job Profile:

Outreach Specialist

Job Summary:

The Community Development Extension Educator supports Eau Claire, Chippewa, and Dunn County governments in addressing county priorities through research-based education, facilitation, community engagement, and organizational and leadership development.

The Educator works closely with county leadership to identify emerging needs, establish priorities, and advance initiatives that address locally identified opportunities and challenges. Priority issues may vary among the three counties over time. Whenever possible, the Educator will work with county leadership to align priorities across the three counties to maximize impact and reduce the number of priority issues the Educator is supporting. Priorities will be established in partnership with county leadership and Extension program leadership and revisited regularly to ensure the scope and workload remain focused and manageable across the three counties.

Program Focus

The Educator's program focus is facilitation, community engagement, strategic planning, and organizational and leadership development. The Community Development Educator is not expected to serve as a subject-matter expert in the county-identified priority issue areas. Instead, the Educator helps the counties access relevant expertise from local, state, and university sources.

County Priority Initiatives: The Educator helps counties identify, organize around, and advance priority issues. Examples include:

• Design and facilitate strategic planning, visioning, goal-setting, and action-planning processes.
• Identify relevant research, data, and technical expertise to inform decision-making.

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Community Engagement and Stakeholder Alignment: The Educator helps counties engage the people, organizations, and systems necessary to address priority issues and achieve desired outcomes. Examples include:

• Identify organizations, groups, and individuals working on one or more of the identified county priorities.
• Design and facilitate community engagement processes.
• Facilitate alignment and collaboration among county government, municipal governments, community organizations, businesses, residents, and other stakeholders whose involvement is relevant to county priorities.

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Organizational and Leadership Development: The Educator works primarily with local governments and, when connected to identified county priorities, nonprofit organizations, coalitions, and other organizations to strengthen organizational capacity and leadership. Examples include:

• Design and deliver educational programs for organizational leaders, managers, boards, staff, and volunteers focused on leadership, communication, decision-making, collaboration, and organizational effectiveness.

Connections to Extension and University Resources

• The Educator serves as a point of connection between county governments and the research, educational resources, and subject-matter expertise available through Extension and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Statewide Contributions

• Educators are expected to contribute to statewide efforts related to their area of expertise. Through statewide engagement, the educator remains connected to emerging research, promising practices, educational innovations, and professional networks that can be leveraged to support county priorities.

County Location

The main office for this position is located in Eau Claire, WI with a primary programming focus of Eau Claire, Chippewa, and Dunn counties; however, some programming may also be conducted over a broader geographical area.

In Person

It is anticipated this position requires work be performed in-person, onsite, at a designated campus work location.

Evening/Weekend Work

This position may be required to work occasional nights and weekends to meet the program needs and priorities of the communities served.

Travel Expectations

It is expected that employees will make individual arrangements for transportation adequate to meet position responsibilities and essential job functions. Read more about UW-Madison Driver Authorization.

Applicants are required to: Have a valid drivers license and a reliable source of independent transportation for periodic in-state work travel, and/or comply with requirements for UW-Madison vehicle use authorization.

Key Job Responsibilities:

• Schedules and secures resources and communicates logistics in support of an outreach program

• Delivers outreach program content and materials to community members

• May assist with the monitoring of outreach program budget spending

• Researches, develops, and facilitates outreach program content and materials

• Leads the implementation of programs, policies, and procedures through oversight of day-to-day activities for program staff and student and community volunteers

• Develops and evaluates curriculum and programs and provides recommendations for improvement

• Identifies, promotes, and maintains external partnerships to support the outreach program

Department:

About Extension

Extension embodies the Wisconsin Idea by developing and connecting the research and educational resources of UW–Madison with residents and communities to address local, statewide, and national issues. We teach, learn, lead and serve, transforming lives and communities.

About the Institute

The Extension Institute of Community Development provides educational programming to assist leaders, communities, and organizations realize their fullest potential. We work with communities to build the vitality that enhances their quality of life and enriches the lives of their residents. We educate in leadership development, organizational development, food systems, community economic development, local government education and much more. In short, the Community Development Institute plants and cultivates the seeds for thriving communities and organizations.

Compensation:

The minimum annual (12 months) starting salary for the position is $60,795 but is negotiable based on experience and qualifications

Benefits

Employees in this position can expect to receive benefits such as generous vacation, holidays, and paid time off; competitive insurances and savings accounts; retirement benefits. Benefits information can be found at (https://hr.wisc.edu/benefits/)

Required Qualifications:

• At least two years of professional experience in community development, local government, nonprofit organizations, organizational development, public engagement, or a related field.
• Experience facilitating groups, meetings, planning processes, or community engagement.
• Experience building relationships and working collaboratively with different stakeholders.
• Experience designing, delivering, or supporting educational programs.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience working with county government, municipal government, Tribal Nations, or public-sector organizations.
• Experience working with nonprofit organizations, coalitions, community-based organizations, or cross-sector collaborations.
• Ability to work across organizational boundaries and bring stakeholders together around shared goals.

Education:

Required Education

Bachelors degree in community development, public administration, nonprofit management, leadership studies, organizational development, or a related field.

Preferred Education

Master's degree in community development, public administration, nonprofit management, organizational development, leadership studies, or a related field.

How to Apply:

We are eager to learn more about how your experience and passion may align with this position. To begin the application process, click the "apply now" button. You will be prompted to upload the following documents:

• Resume
• Letter of Qualifications (cover letter)

Please note when applying, there will be only one attachment field. You must upload all your documents in the attachment field. Please submit a cover letter referring to your work experience and a resume detailing your educational and professional background as it relates to this position. Your cover letter should communicate your interest in the position and how your skillset aligns with the role. The application reviewers will be relying on written application materials to determine who may advance to preliminary interviews. Failure to upload all required materials may result in your application not being considered.

For additional guidance and resources on how to tailor your application materials to the job posting, please click https://extension.wisc.edu/careers/.

Please note that successful applicants are responsible for ensuring their eligibility to work in the United States (i.e. a citizen or national of the United States, a lawful permanent resident, a foreign national authorized to work in the United States without need of employer sponsorship) on or before the effective date of appointment. UW-Madison is not an E-Verify employer, and therefore, is not eligible to employ F1 STEM OPT Extension participants.

​Application Deadline is October 19, 2026 at 11:59pm (CDT).

Contact Information:

Michele Blakeman (Human Resources)

[email protected]

(608) 262-7110

Kristen Bruder (Hiring Manager)

[email protected]

(715) 204-5043

Relay Access (WTRS): 7-1-1. See RELAY_SERVICE for further information. 

Institutional Statement on Diversity:

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is an Equal Opportunity Employer. 

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, including but not limited to, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, pregnancy, disability, or status as a protected veteran and other bases as defined by federal regulations and UW System policies. We promote excellence by acknowledging skills and expertise from all backgrounds and encourage all qualified individuals to apply. For more information regarding applicant and employee rights and to view federal and state required postings, visit the Human Resources Workplace Poster website.

To request a disability or pregnancy-related accommodation for any step in the hiring process (e.g., application, interview, pre-employment testing, etc.), please contact the Divisional Disability Representative (DDR) in the division you are applying to. Please make your request as soon as possible to help the university respond most effectively to you.

Employment may require a criminal background check. It may also require your references to answer questions regarding misconduct, including sexual violence and sexual harassment. 
 
The University of Wisconsin System will not reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing, except that the identity of the successful candidate will be released. See Wis. Stat. sec. 19.36(7). 
 
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