“Outsiders” at the San Francisco Outdoor Nation Summit 2012
Photo Credit: Outdoor Nation

At the San Francisco summit, Patricia Tillmann, an Emerging Leader working as a Research Associate at NWF in the Seattle office described the training as “youth engagement done right”. Patricia had this to say about what went well for her:
“For me, the North Face Ambassadors were really inspiring. We had a campfire in the evening and the Ambassadors humbly shared their stories. Most of them came from at-risk backgrounds and shared exceptionally powerful stories about the role of nature in turning their lives around. I felt very emotional during their stories and reconnected to the positive power of nature in all our lives. “

Patricia’s group devised a project idea that will be funded by Outdoor Nations. Her project mission is to inspire a lifetime in the outdoors and bridge the gap between interest and action – one video at a time. They will accomplish this by increasing youth access to the outdoors by creating and showing a video of their favorite outdoor activities to high school students (at least 1,750 students in the first year). They will also create pamphlets with information on gear rental, training, and excursions, emphasizing free and low-cost options in their area.

Photo Credit: Outdoor Nation

“The weekend focused on devising a plan for encouraging outdoor activities and the attendees represented a very diverse mix of public and private groups who all helped with the envisioning process. More importantly, the event was very helpful to my diverse group of students from three colleges; it encouraged collaboration and introduced them to the larger movements beyond their campuses.”

Overall, the ELC Outdoor Nation participants enjoyed their weekend with fellow outsiders. Many of them are already considering bringing a new delegation of outdoor enthusiast to a summit next year!

Crystal Webb

95 percent of people sit back and watch five percent of people do the work.

And with that, NWF Board Member John Grant kicked off the first-ever NWF Young Leaders Assembly (YLA).

Within the first 10 minutes, it was clear that our 67 charter delegates to the Young Leaders Assembly were that five percent of doers. If you didn’t know they were coming  as thought leaders on the topics of conservation, global warming and connecting people to nature, you’d think it was just a Wednesday on any college campus. They didn’t come in suits and ties, but they came with their sleeves rolled up and ready to work. The energy was palpable from the onset. I knew we had a special group on our hands when one of the first questions asked was, “Will we be able to get a charter in place and signed in the next two days?” Because really, who wants to write a charter? That’s about as hardcore as it gets.

John Hammond, NWF’s Southeast Regional Center Executive Director, encouraged the YLA delegates to challenge our assumptions about what the future of the conservation movement will look like and deconstruct our current thinking on the appropriate ways to connect with emerging conservation leaders. This charge was well-received and the delegates voiced excitement over this idea of ownership, blazing a trail and being at the forefront of this movement for NWF. The next series of questions were all, “What next?  How fast? How far can we go? Who will implement?”  They were ready to go full throttle… and we hadn’t even fed them yet!

As we made our way to the reception, the group was eager to get to the sliders and spring rolls (remember how excited you got about free food in college?), but I was eager to get to know this bunch. Just by looking you could tell we had a diverse group, but that was just skimming the surface. In my many conversations, I found a third generation farmer, a pilot, a Harvard graduate student studying Biology and an environmental blogger. Indeed they represented the spectrum.  While making my way to the sliders (which I unfortunately never got to), I ran into four delegates chatting like old friends. I learned that in fact, they were old friends. They had all attended the same high school in Detroit and were Earth Tomorrow alum. Now several years later, their passion for conservation and environmental justice brought them back together as adults. For me, that was a major “aha” moment; ignite the passion early and it will burn for many years to come.

The question asked so often was, “What happens once we leave here?” The truth is this is unchartered territory for NWF; and the outcome is not yet known. The organization is looking to the delegates to determine what happens next. But what is clear after the first full day is that we’ve got a group of young leaders who understand that they are instruments of change.

Breakout session at the Young Leaders Assembly (Crystal Webb)

Andrew Clark, a 23-year-old student from Kansas City, MO, took time while in DC to speak with his congress representative, Emanuel Cleaver II. He voiced his concerns with Cleaver about what he felt was a lack of support from

government and irresponsible spending saying, “I can’t count on the government to fix this. I can do a lot with a little money. I just need human capacity and support.” That’s the goal of YLA, to build capacity and support by providing Young Leaders with access to frank and open conversations with NWF’s top leaders, a platform to have their voice heard and connecting them to a network of passionate peers.

With this inaugural group’s get-it-done attitude, diverse knowledge and energy, positive change feels inevitable.

I work with pretty much the same people at NWF every day, and patterns emerge over time: the things we say, the things we wear, the things we value…all coalesce around a concern for the environment, yes, but that doesn’t make the things that make us identifiably ‘green’ any less, well, cliched.

So, how many conservationists does it take to screw in a light bulb? One to make sure it’s the right kind (fluorescent, not incandescent), one to make sure the socket is properly sited and doesn’t infringe on any sensitive wildlife habitats, one to buy the bumper sticker, one to nod sternly…

(I’m just kidding. And yes, I am wearing an “I’m fighting climate change with Ranger Rick” button as I type this, why do you ask?)

But as I looked around the room during breakfast at NWF’s first Young Leaders Assembly in DC today, convened as part of our venerable 75-year-old organization’s annual meeting festivities, I saw a lot of people who don’t look, sound or think quite how you might expect a roomful of conservationists. They seem…well, new, and they don’t conform to ‘type.’ And though we’re not exactly starved for fresh ideas in the earth-saving sector, it’s exhilarating to see some of the next generation’s brightest stars coming together at once to sketch out the next phase of the conservation movement (they were given a directive this morning to be ‘present, flexible and passionate,’ and it doesn’t seem like that will be much of a problem).

Now I’m sitting in a smaller room, for a spirited discussion of issues related to NWF’s ‘Connect to Nature’ programming and environmental literacy in America.

Kevin Coyle, NWF’s Vice President for Education and Training, just gave a sub-group of Young Leaders the rundown on the benefits of environmental education, from increased nature stewardship down the line to improved academic performance, and the need for the U.S. to prioritize environmental education nationwide and at the state level, and Laura Hickey, Senior Director of Global Warming Education and Training, spoke about the Eco-Schools USA program and its work helping educators integrate sustainable principles in schools.

But the highlight came after the issue rundown, when the young leaders split up into groups and talked about solutions to a few of the issues raised by the broader group.

Among ideas floated by this dynamic group were lobbying to get environmental education, like other subjects, recognized and evaluated by some form of standardized testing (including incentives for states that perform especially well); emphasizing teacher-level training on environmental issues; and meeting people ‘where they are’ to help them connect nature to the things they care about.

Where will this take us? We’re not exactly sure. But if people like these Young Leaders have anything to say about it, it will be fresh and, in a word, bold.

Stay tuned to Wildlife Promise for more today and tomorrow on the Young Leaders and other NWF annual meeting festivities.