Nia Imani Fields
I truly value my role and responsibility as a woman faculty of color in 4-H Youth Development. Representation matters, and it is important for youth and faculty to see themselves represented in positions of tenure and leadership. I am honored and humbled to be the first African American woman to achieve Principal Agent (Full Professor equivalent) within the UME 4-H Youth Development Program. I look forward to an even more diverse future in our department, where these moments are no longer anomalies, but have become the norm.
Principal Agent
UMD Extension 4-H Youth Development Program
College of Agriculture & Natural Resources
Nia Imani Fields is the Maryland 4-H Specialist with the University of Maryland Extension (UME). She is the first African American to achieve principal agent with UME 4-H Youth Development. She is the second to achieve this accomplishment within the UME department at large. As a Maryland 4-H Specialist, Dr. Fields is primarily responsible for the design, implementation and evaluation of curricular systems and program development. Her research interests center around positive youth development’s relationship to social capital and social justice. Dr. Fields also serves as the first UME ADVANCE professor and she is honored to provide support to her peers as we continue to grow the careers of women and racially diverse faculty within UME.