Effective November 1, 2019, subject to final approval by the Ohio State Board of Trustees, Dr. Kirk Bloir was appointed to serve as the assistant director, 4-H Youth Development for OSU Extension in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. As OSU Extension assistant director and state 4-H leader, Kirk will provide organizational, cross-disciplinary, and creative leadership for Ohio 4-H youth development programming. This role includes providing financial and operational oversight of the state 4-H office and Ohio 4-H Foundation, addressing budgetary and human resources administration, operations, program development, evaluation and implementation, internal and external partnerships, 4-H policies and procedures, and professional development of 4-H program professionals.
Kirk served as the interim assistant director for the past year. Prior to that, he served four years as the associate state 4-H leader, providing leadership in the areas of risk and program management, coaching professionals through volunteer and member behavior management issues, crisis communications, conflict resolution, and corrective action.
Kirk received his bachelor’s degree in adolescent development, master’s degree in human development and family science, and PhD in Extension education from The Ohio State University. He began his career with Ohio State in 1996 as an Extension agent in Madison County and has since served in several other roles within Extension, including program director in the Department of Human Development and Family Science and in Family and Consumer Sciences administration.
4-H is the youth development program of the nation's land-grant university system. 4-H programs are offered in all of Ohio's 88 counties and are administered through the local county Extension office. Guidance and support to local programs is provided by a state-level office located in the Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center. In general, youth ages 5 to 18 years of age may participate in programs offered by Ohio 4-H.
The overall goal of 4-H is to ensure that young people experience a thriving trajectory that leads to a productive and contributing adulthood. To accomplish that goal, 4-H professionals and volunteers design experiences for youth that help them learn and grow. Extending the knowledge of the state's land-grant university to the state's youngest citizens is also a responsibility of the OSU Extension 4-H program. Young people gain access to this knowledge through experiential learning opportunities that allow them to discover new fields of study that can produce the 'spark' for learning, postsecondary education, or a pathway to a career.