Expertise
- Youth Development
- social capital
- Diversity
- social justice
- inclusion
- Equity
- 4-H
Nia Imani Fields, Ed.D. Maryland 4-H Program Leader and Assistant Director of Extension, joined the University of Maryland Extension, in 2006. Dr. Fields has a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Morgan State University and a M.S. in Urban Affairs and Public Policy from the University of Delaware. Her doctorate is in Urban Educational Leadership. Some of her research focuses on 4-H's contribution to social capital and the implications for social justice. Throughout her educational and professional career, her focus has been to work towards the positive development of children, youth, families and communities. She has created and coordinated several youth and community programs and initiatives within New York, Delaware and Maryland while working with organizations such as Civic Works/Americorps and the Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks. As the Maryland 4-H Program Leader, Dr. Fields provides leadership and direction for 4-H Youth Development programs, faculty and staff. In this role, she also serves on the University of Maryland Extension (UME) administrative team as the Assistant Director of UME.
Her focus areas include:
- Statewide 4-H programmatic visioning, leadership and direction
- Statewide partnership with community stakeholders
- Faculty and staff professional development and evaluation
- Positive Youth Development and Research (Community Engagement, Social Capital & Social Justice)
- Community Development
- Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging
Nia has also served as an ADVANCE professor for the University of Maryland Extension program. https://www.advance.umd.edu
Some of her of her published work includes:
Engaging Library Partners in Afterschool Programming. Afterschool Matters, Spring 2012. http://www.niost.org/pdf/afterschoolmatters/asm_2012_15_spring/asm_2012_15_spring.pdf
Strategies for 4-H Youth Development Educators on Outreach Programming. UME Fact Sheet. https://extension.umd.edu/sites/extension.umd.edu/files/_docs/publications/Strategies%20for%20Outreach%20Nia%20Fields.pdf
Our Role in and Responsibility Toward Social Justice. Journal of Extension, October 2015. http://www.joe.org/joe/2015october/comm2.php
The Contribution of Urban 4-H to Social Capital and the Implications for Social Justice. Journal of Extension, December 2017. https://joe.org/joe/2017december/a1.php
Increasing Social Capital through Culturally Relevant Positive Youth Development. https://extension.umd.edu/learn/publications/increasing-social-capital-through-culturally-relevant-positive-youth-development
Fields, N., Moncloa, F. & Smith, C. (2018). 4-H Social Justice Youth Development: A Guide for Youth Development Professionals. A national 4-H peer reviewed professional development resource guide focused on social justice youth development. https://dei.extension.org/2018/11/4-h-social-justice-youth-development-a-guide-for-youth-development-professionals/
Fields, N. (2019). Increasing your Cultural Awareness and Equity in Extension Programs. https://campus.extension.org
Fields, N, (2020). Exploring the 4-H Thriving Model: A Commentary Through an Equity Lens. https://jyd.pitt.edu/ojs/jyd/article/view/2020-15-6-FOR-3
For more information about Dr. Fields: www.NiaImaniFields.com
