Skip to main content
NC State Home
Genetics and Genomics Academy

Katherine McKee

KM
Katherine McKee Headshot

Assoc Professor

Ricks Hall 266,

Bio

Katherine McKee received her PhD in Agricultural & Extension Education from Virginia Tech in 2011 where her studies focused on identity development, access to discourses, and pedagogy. Dr. McKee works in leadership education examining how we can develop leadership capacities for transformative change. Prior to coming to NC State as faculty, Dr. McKee served as a 4-H Youth Development Agent and as a High School Agriculture Teacher.

She is the co-director of The Oaks Leadership Scholars and co-editor and co-author of Transformative Leadership in Action: Allyship, Advocacy, & Activism both of which focus on developing identities aligned with transformative leadership in order to address justice and equity goals.

She developed and facilitates Agents for Change, a two-year program for early career Extension professionals to develop leadership capacities to address big, messy challenges in their communities and create more just and equitable outcomes.

Dr. McKee is the co-PI on New Beginnings for Colleges of Agriculture, a NIFA-funded program to develop cultural competency among CALS faculty in order to support youth from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian in their success at NC State and to develop curriculum for faculty at other institutions to build competence for similar work with Indigenous populations. Further, she is a collaborator on the #PassTheMicYouth Curriculum to develop advocacy among youth.

Programs and Initiatives

Primary Teaching Responsibilities

  • AEE 350: Personal Leadership Development in ALS
  • AEE 490: Seminar in Agriucltural & Extension Education
  • AEE 311: Communication Methods & Media in ALS (with graduate TA)
  • AEHS 501: Foundations of Agricultural and Extension Education
  • AEHS 595: Critical and Creative Thinking

Contributing Websites

Professional Honors/Offices/Recognitions

  • 2026: AHS Faculty Excellence Award, Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences
  • 2026: Opal Mann Green Award for #PasstheMic, NC State University
  • 2021: Association of Leadership Education Rising Star: Early Career Leadership & Service Award
  • 2021: Department of Agricultural & Human Sciences Teacher of Merit Nominee
  • 2020: Association of Leadership Educators Outstanding Workshop
  • 2015: Research Friend of North Carolina Extension
  • 2011: Honorary State FFA Degree, Virginia
  • 2009: Honorary State FFA Degree, New Jersey

Selected Publications

  • Aniche, A., Bundy, H., & McKee, K.E. “Agents for change: developing Transformative and Adaptive Leadership Capacities among early-career extension professionals” in The Journal of Leadership Education https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/jole-01-2024-0022/full/html
  • Bradshaw, M.Q., Bruce, J., McKee, K.E., Orders, A., Sutton, R., & Dunn, C. (2024). The effects of burnout in female higher education administrators. Advancing Women in Leadership Journal.
  • Gonzalez, Maru; Kokozos, Michael; McKee, Katherine; and Byrd, Christy. (2024). Storytelling through a Critical Positive Youth Development Framework: A Mixed Methods Approach. Journal of Youth Development, 19(1), Article 2. https://open.clemson.edu/jyd/vol19/iss1/2
  • Jeuck, L. S., Jayaratne, K. S., Stumpf-Downing, M., Edwards, H., & McKee, K. (2023). Critical Competencies of 4-H Camp Staff for Achieving High Performance. The Journal of Extension, 61(2), Article 7. https://doi.org/10.34068/joe.61.02.07
  • Green, B., Bruce, J., McKee, K.E., Morgan-Fleming, J. & Edwards, H. (2022). Strategies for Diversity & Inclusion: A Case Study of Faculty Decision Making. NACTA Journal, 66.
  • Cunningham, G., Bruce, J., McKee, K., Jayaratne, K., & Correa, M. (2022). Assessment of the organizational culture of the cooperative extension system. Advancing Women in Leadership Journal, 41, 129-140. https://awl-ojs-tamu.tdl.org/awl/article/view/432
  • Bruce, J.A.  & McKee, K.E. (2021). Teaching Social Justice in Agricultural Contexts in Gutherie, K & Cunhoo, V. (Eds.). Shifting the Mindset: Socially Just Leadership Education. Information Age Publishing.
  • McKee, K. & Bruce, J. (2021). Any movement of the needle: The Oaks Leadership Scholars represent themselves as learners, allies, advocates, and activists. Journal of Leadership Education
  • Codallo, M., Bruce, J., McKee, K., Jayaratne, J. (2020). Factors that Influence University Student Retention in Colleges of Agriculture. North American College and Teachers of Agriculture Journal. 64. 134-139.
  • Bruce, J.A., & McKee, K.E. (2020). Developing Advocate Identities. In J.A. Bruce & K.E. McKee (Eds.), Transformative leadership in action: Allyship, advocacy, & activism (pp. 149-162).  Emerald Publishing.

View All Publications

 

Education

BS Agricultural Sciences Rutgers University

MS ED Curriculum and Instruction – Youth Development and Agricultural Education Purdue University

PhD Agricultural and Extension Education Virginia Tech

Area(s) of Expertise

  • Leadership Education

Groups