10th Annual EcoCareers Summit: Where Inspiration Meets Preparation

This spring, students and young leaders from across the country hoping to work in careers that protect the planet came together for the tenth Annual NWF EcoCareers Summit. The Summit provided key career and leadership development advice from leaders in sustainable landscaping, climate resilience, and wildlife and habitat protection.  

Each day of the summit opened with inspiring keynote addresses, followed by sector-specific career panels where industry professionals shared their career paths and engaged with participants through Q&A sessions. The program also featured career development workshops that offered practical networking strategies, actionable career advice, and guidance for experienced professionals seeking to transition into new roles or industries. 

In delivering the Summit’s opening keynote, Àngel Peña, Executive Director of the Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project, emphasized this point, remarking, “We need young folks; we need their vision and their energy and their motivation and their want to change the world.” 

The Demand for Green Job Skills Continues to Grow Across Sectors 

While the annual EcoCareers Summit is grounded in NWF’s commitment to equipping young people with the knowledge and skills to be environmental stewards and change makers, it also responds to a real demand for green skills in the workforce.  

According to LinkedIn’s 2025 Green Skills Report, demand for workers with sustainability-related skills exceeds the available talent supply across industries. Green skills, defined as abilities that help address climate change through mitigation, adaptation, or circular economy practices, are no longer limited to sustainability-focused roles. Instead, they are becoming essential for employability, business competitiveness, and resilience in nearly every sector. 

A Focus on Climate and Biodiversity Jobs 

As the climate and biodiversity crises continue to accelerate and require professionals with sustainability skills, the Summit’s two career panels brought together professionals working in different intersections within these sectors. From justice to security and education to adaptation, the panels shared their individual and varied career journeys and advice for young people looking to pursue careers in these fields.  

In speaking about their own career paths, most of the panelists and presenters noted that the paths that they ended up taking did not end up as linear as they may have imagined while still in school and demonstrated the importance of staying adaptable and open to opportunities that you may not have planned for. 

Noah Fritzhand, Research Fellow, The Center for Climate and Security, encouraged current students to, “Take advantage of opportunities to really dip your toes into a bunch of different areas to get a sense for what you like, and also, really importantly, what you don’t like. I think a lot of experiences have shown me that I’m not that interested in X or I’m not that interested in Y, and I think that’s just as important as figuring out what you are interested in.” 

Building a Network 

A recurring theme throughout the Summit was the importance of building a network as a vital tool for career development, including the value of professional mentors. To help dispel the often-daunting view that many hold regarding networking, Ife Shoola, Leadership Development Professional, hosted a workshop to dig into the ins and outs of the topic and give actionable advice to help individuals who may feel daunted by the concept to build their confidence, and their network. 

Speaking to the importance of networks, Ife shared, “you will find the people that are for you, that will support you, that want to champion your cause, that want to help you move forward in your career, that want to help you get the grad school application going, that want to donate to your nonprofit. They are out there, okay? Don’t go in with a scarcity mindset. Go in with the mindset that you will find those people.” 

To learn more, you can view the archive of Summit session recordings on our NWF EcoLeader YouTube page: EcoCareers Summit 2026 Playlist 

Thank you to GM and Worcester Polytechnic Institute for sponsoring this year’s conference. Thanks also to all the speakers and attendees for making this event an interactive, exciting and dynamic experience for all.