2025 Grassroots Conference Brings Extension, Community Together to Strategize for Change

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (Nov. 04, 2025) – Community leaders and volunteers, elected officials, Cooperative Extension professionals, business owners, religious leaders, and others interested in positive community action will gather in Greensboro on Friday, Nov. 14, for the 2025 Grassroots Leadership Conference (GLC).

The conference, sponsored by Cooperative Extension at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and the N.C. A&T Extension Strategic Planning Council, will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at N.C. A&T’s University Farm Pavilion, 3020 McConnell Road., Greensboro. For the first time, this year’s event will offer a pre-conference workshop on Thursday, Nov. 13, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Sheraton Greensboro at Four Seasons. Both the pre-conference workshop and the GLC are free and open to the public; however, advance registration is required by Nov. 5. Participants can register here.

“The Grassroots Leadership Conference is for anyone who wants to work for better communities and is looking for ideas, partnerships or to simply be invigorated by collaborating with others,” said Michelle Eley, Ph.D., community and rural development specialist with Cooperative Extension at N.C. A&T. “This is an opportunity to learn from peers and strategize on how to make an impact locally and regionally.”

Eley said the pre-conference session was added to give grassroots leaders and extension staff the chance to delve deeper into issues and develop essential skills for community activism and extension work. Featured speakers at the pre-conference will include the Rev. Damon Lynch III of New Prospect Baptist Church in Cincinnati, who will lead a full-day session on the principles of asset-based community development (ABCD). Lynch, who conducts workshops across the U.S. teaching communities to recognize and mobilize their assets, will show how ABCD principles can foster sustainable, community-led development. Ann Staples, a media and communications expert from Pineville, North Carolina, will lead a pre-conference session on crafting clear and compelling messages that policymakers understand. Lynch, Staples, and several community leaders will also lead workshops on ABCD, effective communication and a host of other topics during the main Grassroots Leadership Conference.

The main conference will convene under the theme What is our Why: Think, Focus, and Amplify. Sessions will be organized to help attendees think critically and act with purpose, focus strategically to advance goals and create change, and amplify impact through strong messaging, visibility and outreach.

“We are living in a time of rapid change, increasing complexity and shifting public support,” Eley said. “We hope to give GLC participants the chance to reflect, learn from each other, and develop the skills to act with intention and make measurable, positive impacts.”

Workshop sessions will examine successful examples of using ABCD to foster change, effective strategizing and messaging, how to influence municipal master plans, and the use of mindfulness as a tool in community engagement.

Corey A. Graves, a motivational speaker, author, spiritual leader, life coach and pastor of White Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Greensboro, will present the keynote address. Graves is the founder of SFC Defined, an organization with a mission to transform individuals into strong, focused, confident and defined humans by promoting individuality, uniqueness and self-empowerment. A native of Brown Summit, North Carolina, Graves also serves as board chair of Bottom Up Outreach and works with several boards in the Triad area focused on children and adults with mental and physical disabilities, as well as at-risk youth and adolescents. 

For more information on the GLC or pre-conference workshop, contact Michelle Eley or Renee Campbell at 336-334-7956.