Janet Ayres has been fascinated with changes in rural communities since she was a teenager on a diary farm in Carroll County, Indiana. The controversial public issues she witnessed in her community inspired her to devote her career at Purdue University to developing educational programs that build the capacity of citizens to affect the future of their communities. Her Extension and teaching activities focus on the areas of leadership and community development. Janet was a leader and collaborator in developing several state-wide programs including the Indiana Ag Leadership Program and Take Charge, a strategic planning program which has been adopted in several other states. Janet has worked in over 200 rural communities in Indiana and has published over 90 publications, manuals and curricula on leadership and rural development.

From 1996-2002, Janet served as assistant Extension director and program leader for the Leadership & Community Development program area. During this time she initiated and provided leadership to the Purdue Extension Land Use Team and the Leadership Development Team.

In 2003, Janet developed the Indiana Natural Resources Leadership Development Institute in partnership with the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources (http://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/fnr/nrldi.index.html). This program is focused on developing leadership skills in collaboration, negotiation and conflict management for people who work with controversial natural resource issues. NRLDI is offered each fall.

Currently, Janet is working with the Indiana Conservation Partnership and has co-developed a new state-wide leadership program for Soil & Water Conservation District Supervisors (http://www.in.gov/isda/files/LI_brochure.pdf).

Janet serves as a Senior Fellow with the North Central Regional Rural Development Center at Iowa State University. In this role, she developed the Foundations of Practice program to enhance community development core competencies of Extension professionals (http://www.ncrcrd.iastate.edu/projects/corecomp/). A series of educational programs are offered through distance education to Extension staff across the country.

Students are a high priority for Janet. She serves on several graduate student committees and teaches an undergraduate course, AGEC 435 “Leadership in a Changing World”, during the spring semester. She was also a leader and collaborator in developing two new student leadership programs – Purdue’s College of Agriculture Leadership Development
Certificate Program (http://www.ydae.purdue.edu/ldcp/) and the Leadership in Action program developed with the University of Wisconsin and the University of Illinois. She continues to be active with these programs.

Janet has received many awards including the Sharvelle Distinguished Extension Specialist Award, the Extension/Public Service Award from the Rural Sociological Society, the Fredrick L. Hovde Award for Service to Rural Indiana, and she is a fellow of the Kellogg National Leadership Program. Through this program, she studied leadership in emerging democracies as countries were making a transition in the early 1990’s. Recently she was recognized as a "Friend of Conservation" by the National Association of Conservation Districts.

Janet has a great interest in international work and has traveled to over 50 countries on study tours. She has conducted leadership and rural development programs in Poland and Russia.

Janet puts her leadership expertise into practice. She has served in over 80 leadership positions in state, regional and national organizations including the Indiana Rural Development Council, Indiana Institute of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition, Indiana Economic development Council, and the Community Development Society. She is also very active in her local community where she initiated a county-wide visioning process, Carroll County at the Crossroads, and a leadership development program, Leadership Carroll County. She serves on many local boards and committees.

Janet is a certified planner. Prior to coming to Purdue in 1977, she worked as a land use planner in private consulting firms in Saratoga Springs, New York and in Indianapolis. She loves being a part of Purdue and working to make the Land Grant mission of the university a meaningful reality.