Chicagoland’s conservation leaders represent a huge variety of organizations and causes whose efforts range from getting more people out on the Chicago River to promoting clean energy and environmentally sound policies. But they are also looking to the future in a new way: they’re looking for their successors.
Now in its second year, the Chicago Next Generation Environmental Leadership Initiative is focused on cultivating an up-and-coming cohort of young people who hope to eventually be at forefront of the conservation movement here. As a staff member at Friends, I was lucky enough to be nominated to participate in this experiment (this is, after all, only its second iteration).
The program is the brainchild of the Environmental Law and Policy Center’s executive director Howard Learner, and it’s an intentional effort to ensure we are well-positioned to take over for our predecessors when the time comes. The unique blend of education, professional development, and networking is unlike any course I’ve taken or industry mixer I’ve attended. And it already feels more productive.
My peers in the group hail from a not-so-surprising collection of local organizations, including Faith in Place, Alliance for the Great Lakes, the Environmental Law & Policy Center, Openlands, the National Parks Conservation Association, Elevate Energy, the Nature Conservancy, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Delta Institute. Our roles, career paths, and backgrounds, however, could not be more varied.
That is what makes this experience so rewarding. On an everyday basis, I learn a lot about what’s going on in the forest preserves—which sites our Conservation Corps are restoring, where new trails are being proposed, what species of sedge is making a comeback. Now, that influx of information has increased immeasurably. I have never felt more connected to Chicago’s conservation community—or better prepared to continue on this path.
By Catie Boehmer, Development Manager, Friends of the Forest Preserves