FARGO, N.D. — After serving in many roles for North Dakota State University Extension, Lynette Flage has been named North Dakota State University Extension’s new associate director.
“I have a wide experience in extension and have had a lot of roles. All my roles gave me opportunities to learn about the system and what I enjoyed. I love this system and have such high regard for everything that folks do within this work. I wanted to serve in this way and was excited when the opportunity came up,” Flage said.
Flage received her graduate degree in home economics education from the University of North Dakota. It was there she realized she wanted to have a career in Extension.
“In college I had an opportunity to hear a guest speaker at one of my classes that was in Extension. I thought, ‘Wow, that's exactly what I want to do.’ Listening to the great work they got to do by helping people and extending knowledge to them," Flage said.
Flage then went on to receive her master's and doctoral degrees from NDSU in the area of adult education.
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Flage has had a long career within the organization, serving 26 years in Extension and counting. While she started off as a county Extension agent for NDSU, she took on different roles within Extension as well. She has worked within information technology, with ag marketing specialists to help develop content, with leadership development and much more. In 2011 she even took on the role of administrative director and worked with staff in the northeastern part of North Dakota.
Throughout her years within Extension, she has only grown to love the work she does and the impact it has on communities.
“We have people located everywhere; every single county has a presence. Those are people living, working, going to church, their kids going to school in the community. They understand what the issues are locally, which I think is so important. It is a truly great network because the people are living and working right there, providing science-based information to the people in their own community,” Flage said.
Having great admiration for the current Extension model and the work its staff accomplishes, Flage does not wish to change anything, but only to continue the great work NDSU Extension is doing.
“I would like to see us continue the great county connection we have. I also hope to continue to empower people through education in ag, so we can continue to feed the world. Lastly, I hope we can continue to develop responsible, competent and confident youth that are contributing to society,” Flage said.
