This award recognizes the activities of an individual at the local, state, regional, or national level, that empower groups, enhance inclusion within organizations and aspire to achieve inclusive excellence.

Following a national solicitation for nominations and a rigorous evaluation, the individual 2021 National Experiment Station Section Diversity and Inclusion Award will be presented to Dr. Shannon Archibeque-Engle of Colorado State University.

Dr Archibeque-Engle is an outstanding, committed, and tireless leader in campus and station efforts dedicated to diversity and inclusion. This award recognizes Dr. Archibeque-Engle’s Creating Inclusive Excellence Program which was shared with all Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) faculty and staff working at AES research centers around the state of Colorado. The goals of the program were to develop awareness, knowledge, and skills to understand and implement multicultural competency; integrate Inclusive Excellence in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of programs and services; equip Colorado State University employees with tools to proactively affirm and promote diversity and inclusion; and develop diversity and inclusion practitioners who feel empowered to advocate for diversity and inclusion. The effort succeeded in making a difference, a reflection of Dr. Archibeque-Engle lending her expertise, passion, heartfelt concern, and outstanding capabilities. The program is now being widely adopted and is in high demand. Importantly, Dr. Archibeque-Engle’s approach of including outlying stations and the main campus as a “single campus” created one voice of cultural openness and inclusivity.