Burlington--Chittenden County 4-H has a new 4-H educator, Margaret Coan.
Coan, who will be based in the University of Vermont (UVM) Extension office in South Burlington, is not new to UVM, having most recently been employed in the College of Education and Social Services as the Student Services coordinator. Prior to that, she was with UVM's Global Gateway Program, supporting international students at the university as the director of Student Success.
In her new role, Coan will take part in a staffing pilot program designed to expand UVM Extension 4-H's reach to youths not currently involved or represented in 4-H. She will collaborate with other organizations to build new experiences and with 4-H educators in Addison and Franklin Counties, who will provide support for existing 4-H opportunities in Chittenden County.
Among her goals is to lower barriers to participation in 4-H and to provide positive youth development programming to new 4-H participants in Chittenden County, including underserved youths in Burlington and Winooski. She also plans to increase outreach and appeal to BIPOC youths and others who previously have not had access to 4-H programming.
The 4-H educator grew up in Philadelphia and on her grandparents' farm in Pennsylvania. She had a bi-cultural upbringing as her mother emigrated from China to the U.S., and her father was born and raised on a farm in eastern Pennsylvania.
Coan has a bachelor's degree in development studies from Brown University and a master's degree in international education from SIT Graduate Institute in Brattleboro. She also earned a TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) certificate and is working toward a certificate in integrative health and wellness coaching, both from UVM. In addition, she has a background in environmental education and herbology.
She can be reached at (802) 651-8343, ext. 505, or by email at margaret.coan@uvm.edu.