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Illinois Extension’s newly released 2025 Annual Impact Report shows the university-backed outreach network remains a major presence in northern Illinois, reaching thousands with youth programs, agricultural guidance and community health initiatives. That scale matters now as communities recover from pandemic disruptions and look to local education networks for workforce skills, nutrition support and civic training.
Across Grundy, Kankakee and Will counties the Extension averaged nearly 70 contacts a day, serving a total of 25,447 residents in 2025. More than half of those served were young people involved with 4‑H, with the program counting over 13,000 members in the region.
- Daily reach: ~70 people per day in the three-county area
- Total regional reach: 25,447 people in 2025
- 4‑H participants: 13,000+
- Volunteer time valued at $353,772
- 45 partnerships delivering nutrition education through SNAP‑Ed
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Local leaders and families
Extension educators worked directly with local officials on topics ranging from government process to policy basics, aiming to strengthen civic capacity at the county level. Nutrition programming targeted low-income families through a network of community partners, helping households access healthier food and federal benefits information.
Volunteers are a cornerstone of the effort: their donated time translated into a substantial in-kind contribution to programming and outreach across the three counties.
Marilu Andon, who directs Extension services for the three-county region, emphasized that statistics capture scale but not the everyday outcomes — the relationships, new skills and small course corrections that follow from consistent local engagement.
Youth impact in personal terms
Perry Harlow, an Extension alumnus, credits his 4‑H experience with shaping both career decisions and his approach to leadership. He says the program helped him develop the confidence and ethical firmness he relies on in professional settings today.
How the network performs statewide
Illinois Extension’s reach extends far beyond those three counties. In 2025 the statewide system reported roughly 831,000 program participants and an estimated 10‑to‑1 economic return on investment — a metric the university uses to quantify the broader financial benefits of education, outreach and applied research.
Other statewide totals underline the organization’s scale: Extension teams delivered about 249 educational sessions each week, the system’s websites drew some 9.4 million pageviews during the year, and local 4‑H members submitted over 2,000 fair exhibits.
The program operates as part of the University of Illinois Urbana‑Champaign’s broader land‑grant mission, a model that connects university research directly to community needs—everything from crop management and backyard horticulture to public-health education.
The full 2025 Annual Impact Report is available from Illinois Extension at go.illinois.edu/impactgkw, where readers can review detailed county-level results, program highlights and methodology.
