Using a semi-structured interview approach, ten mentors from a leadership development program focused on building leaders in Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences across the nation provided insights regarding their mentoring method, process, and experiences. Mentors interviewed agreed the mentoring process was beneficial for themselves as well as their mentee. However, clear thematic differences were evident depending on whether a previously existing relationship was in place between mentor and mentee. Specifically, mentoring relationships that were extensions of previous relationships tended to have less formal structures and more subjective outcomes than newly established mentoring relationship counterparts. Nevertheless, both categories of mentoring relationships indicated a desire for a formal set of mentoring expectations as well as access to program curriculum to help guide and inform the process.

The presence of women in positions of power in the agriculture industry is lacking. This article highlights findings generated from the 2016 Southern Region Women's Agricultural Leadership Summit attended by women from 13 southern states. The research revealed that women working in Extension should (a) formally connect with leadership mentors, (b) envision themselves in leadership roles, and (c) support one another as they work to lead in the agriculture industry. To further the conversation, we provide recommendations that are inherent in the data and intended to assist early-career women professionals as well as middle managers and administrators who desire to advance women's leadership development in Extension.

Low-income, homebound seniors may encounter affordability and accessibility-related barriers to consuming enough fresh fruits and vegetables (FV).  This paper describes a two-stage pilot intervention to improve fresh FV affordability and access for home-delivered meal (HDM) program clients in Central New Jersey.  The first stage of the intervention offered in-home Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) enrollment assistance to low-income HDM program clients, with 13 clients successfully enrolling in SFMNP.  The second stage of the intervention offered fresh FV home deliveries to all 64 HDM program clients at no cost to clients.  We sourced fresh FV from a farmers’ market run in partnership with a Cooperative Extension program affiliated with a large public research university.  We carried out a post-intervention evaluation by conducting semi-structured interviews with 17 clients.  Interviews addressed themes of farmers’ market access, SFMNP awareness, perceived changes to FV intake, and home delivery satisfaction.  Evaluation results suggest that this short-term pilot intervention was well-received and effective in reducing barriers to FV access and affordability for a vulnerable senior population.