Providing direction and national leadership to the joint Federal-State programs of cooperative agricultural research, education, and extension through program analyses and implementation. The State Agricultural Experiment Stations, Cooperative Forestry Schools, Colleges of Veterinary Medicine, 1890 Land Grant Colleges and Tuskegee University, 1994 Institutions, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and Cooperative Extension Service are the primary partners in this Federal-State relationship.

Strategic leadership of the Youth and 4-H research, education, and extension portfolio within the Institute of Youth, Family and Community. Supervise eight staff that administer federal competitive and capacity funds and provide national program leadership. Efforts support the Land-grant University and Cooperative Extension System to advance positive youth development in the context of food and agricultural sciences across the United States.

Leading NIFA's economic and youth development efforts that advance administration priorities.

The NPL CRD position supports rural development activities and programs in the agency, including working with the Small Business Innovation Research Rural Development program, Regional Rural Development Centers, Community Resource and Economic Development, Extension Risk Management Education, and other critical stakeholders in the land-grant university system, Cooperative Extension, and across federal agencies.

Brent Elrod is the National Program Leader – FCS Strategic Partnerships in the Division of Family and Consumer Sciences for the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Mr. Elrod’s work supports a full portfolio of research, education, and extension programs that emphasize improving the nation’s health, nutrition, and family quality of life through the coordination of resources and partnerships to stimulate new and innovative thinking.In collaboration with the Land-Grant University System and Cooperative Extension Service, Mr. Elrod administers a portfolio that strengthens and empowers individuals and families across the lifespan, including military and veteran families. He also co-chairs the USDA’s Task Force on Veterans, Reservists, and Military Families, is liaison to eXtension’s Military Families Learning Network and Family Caregiving Community of Practice, and is liaison to the Western Region Rural Development Center. He was recognized with eXtension’s national Champion Award in 2012.

As Acting Director of USDA’s Division of Family and Consumer Sciences at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Brent worked closely with senior leaders and principal scientists to ensure the integration of Family and Consumer Sciences across NIFA functions and programs. Mr. Elrod was also responsible for providing national leadership and supervision of critical tasks involving Family and Consumer Sciences staffing, program development, collaborations, and mission-relevant issues requiring Federal attention and support.

Administer federal assistance and provide national program leadership to the state land-grant universities and Cooperative Extension System in support of military and veteran families.

Strategic leadership of three divisions in their respective research, education, and extension portfolios. Supervised 15 staff administering federal competitive and capacity funding to advance the human and social dimensions of food and agricultural science.

As Program Specialist in the Families, 4-H, and Nutrition (F4-HN) unit of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) at USDA, I administered competitive grants for high priority research, education, and extension awarded annually among projects sponsored by qualified institutions throughout the United States, to further the mission of the Department of Agriculture as the lead agency for food and agricultural science education in the Federal Government.