FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Huntsville, AL, September 2020—Dr. Tamara Warren recently received the regional 2020 Excellence in Extension Award from the Association of Extension Administrators (AEA) for her body of work in the area of family and consumer sciences.
Warren is an Alabama Extension health and nutrition specialist at Alabama A&M University (AAMU) who oversees several outreach initiatives, including the Technology Enhancing Exercise and Nutrition program. However, her most notable program is the Community Health Aerobic Motivational Program Initiating Optimal Nutrition, better known as CHAMPION. Warren and her team of county agents have served an estimated 61,100 youth and adults in Alabama’s urban communities over the past 13 years. In Dr. Tamara Warren November 2019, CHAMPION added a statewide campaign titled Walking Like a CHAMPION to encourage individuals and teams to walk. The program now has more than 800 members across the state.
“A CHAMPION team is built from the ground up to be a strong and powerful force that enlightens and impacts the community,” said Warren when it comes to serving Alabama audiences.
In addition, Warren has successfully pursued financial resources, including local and federal grants totaling $2.58 million dollars to support nutrition and health projects.
The AEA Excellence in Extension Awards are presented to “individuals who have strived throughout their careers through their local, state, regional, or national responsibilities to achieve the benchmarks reflective of excellence in Extension educational programming.” The AEA is comprised of 1890 Extension administrators from 19 land-grant and historically black colleges and universities. The individual who wins the top regional AEA award each year advances to compete for the national Excellence in Extension Award issued by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. Dr. Dorothy Brandon, an Alabama.
Extension family and consumer sciences specialist at AAMU, received the national honor in 2019. Additional past regional and national Excellence Award winners include: Dr. Andrea Morris in 2018; Dr. Karnita Garner in 2016; Kimberly Burgess-Neloms in 2015; Dr. Roger Richardson in 2013; and Dr. Maria Leite-Browning, Edna Coleman, Dr. Julio Correa, Kevin Crenshaw, and Robert Spencer in 2012.
For more information about Alabama Extension programs at AAMU, contact Dr. Kimberly Sinclair-Holmes at (256) 372-4941 or email ksh0035@aces.edu.