USU Extension Morgan County Faculty Member Promoted to Full Professor

Utah State University Extension Vice President Ken White recently announced the promotion of Morgan County’s Amanda Christensen to Extension full professor.

Heidi LeBlanc, USU Extension Home and Community Department director, said Christensen is a dynamic Extension professor and county director who found her true calling in the field of community education.

“Her commitment to finance education and empowerment has had a profound impact on Morgan County and Utah in general,” LeBlanc said. “She has generated grant funding for a statewide empowering financial wellness program, an initiative that has earned consecutive Best of State Awards.”

One of Christensen’s signature programs, established in 2018, is Utah Money Moms. She produces monthly and seasonal tips on television, blogs, radio, YouTube videos and webinars.

“I use these platforms to discuss current financial issues such as student loan repayment,” she said. “The people I connect with online and in-person are hungry to learn.”

Christensen related one memorable example.

“I was walking down the hallway at the Women in the Money Conference this year in Salt Lake, and a woman pulled me aside and told me that I had pulled her out of poverty. She was divorced and had experienced financial abuse while married, so she was starting from zero.”

Christensen said the woman found Utah Money Moms at the time of her divorce and started doing the weekly Instagram financial challenges. She then connected to the weekly webinars and is now taking the Power Pay Money Master Online course.

“She told me to please continue what I am doing,” Christensen said. “That was very gratifying.”

Christensen plans to provide a Spanish translation version of the PowerPay Money Master online course. She is also working with the State Office of Education to revamp the Finance in the Classroom website.