The Center for Diversity & the Environment is honored and pleased to announce that through ee360 we are offering an Environment 2042 Leadership Intensive (E42LI) training for up to 30 people. ee360 is an ambitious five-year initiative that supports a diverse cadre of environmental education leaders to increase environmental literacy for everyone, everywhere. NAAEE leads the initiative through a cooperative agreement with U.S. EPA and seven partner organizations. The purpose of the E42LI is, through transformative experiences, to create a cadre of environmental education change agents that will build a more equitable, diverse and inclusive environmental movement.

The E42LI provides an opportunity to convene a diverse cadre of professionals who want to deepen their awareness, analysis and action as part of a broader movement to increase equity, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of environmental education (broadly defined to include culturally specific educators; folks working on environmental justice; environmental educators; and others).

Environment 2042 Leadership Intensive is a training that ushers participants through a deeply impactful and transformative learning process. The program includes decolonizing work, racial equity training, relationship & community building, and skill building to develop action-based solutions at the movement-wide, organizational, interpersonal, and individual levels. This program emphasizes deep personal investigation, coalition and community building, creative problem solving, and other tools to support leaders working to strengthen their organizations by exploring the implications of our changing demographics, diving deep into racial equity, and building capacity for working together toward shared goals for a more livable environment and just society.

E42LI provides an intersection of diversity training and leadership development, which in turn builds capacity in diversity change work. These programs are not just professional journeys, but also personal ones. Graduates act as a diaspora of diversity leaders who are ambassadors of a new paradigm. Every change agent operates in a sphere of influence, and the ripple effects have an exponential impact on the environmental movement as a whole.

Selecting a balanced cohort is a critical and unique element of the E42LI program. We encourage you to apply to become a member of a nationally recruited team with partners across multiple dimensions of diversity. Participants for the ee360 2021 E42LI will be chosen from applicants who demonstrate a solid grounding and commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion. Please read on for more information and a link to apply. Please reach out to Queta González or Tanya Pluth with your questions and inquiries.

 

Why participate in the Environment 2042 Leadership Intensive Cohort?

We are facing on-going challenges that demonstrate more than ever the interconnections between environmental, social, and economic issues, including social/environmental injustices, loss of species, habitat degradation, water and air pollution, health epidemics, and a changing climate. Solving these complex challenges requires an approach that allows us to understand different points of view, analyze problems, balance competing needs, and take informed action as engaged community members.

The leadership within the environmental movement does not accurately reflect the growing Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian and Communities of Color populations across the United States nor the current and rapidly changing face of the U.S.—a face that is about 36% people of color and will grow to 50% people of color by 2043, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Without the active involvement of Indigenous, Black and People of Color, our ability to work together to solve our future’s interconnected challenges will be severely hindered.

The purpose of the 5-day Environment 2042 Leadership Intensive is, through transformative experiences, to create a cadre of change agents that will build a more equitable, diverse and inclusive environmental movement and just society. The goals of this program include:

  • Developing leaders who are committed to effectively moving equity, diversity and inclusion forward in their sphere of influence.
  • Relationship and community building, especially across race and ethnicity.
  • Encouraging innovation through the exchange of ideas among people with diverse perspectives.
  • Learning about and raising awareness of equity, diversity and inclusion.
  • Strengthening the environmental movement by uplifting all voices.
  • Applying learning to action within the participants’ spheres of influence.

 

Please join us
The E42LI exemplifies a diverse, inclusive culture, demonstrating how environmental organizations need to operate to be successful. The cohort includes representation across various dimensions of diversity with a strong emphasis on racial and ethnic diversity. The program includes a five-session virtual retreat. The facilitated retreat will include: racial equity training, understanding environmental and racial history, relationship and community building, skills to lead organizational change, and tools to develop action-based solutions.

To Apply for the 2021 NAAEE Environmental Leadership Intensive cohort please
visit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/E42LI_2021 

 

Feedback from past full-program E42 Leadership participants:
“[The E42 Leadership Program] has been life changing in many ways. I used to hear the phrase, ‘equity lens’, and kind of convinced myself that I understood intellectually what that meant, but I never really felt that I fully grasped the true definition and what it would feel like to truly view the world through that lens. I felt that it was a viewpoint that I could or had to turn on and off for the appropriate situation. Through this experience, I have learned that an equity lens, once graced with it, is the only way to view everything. all the time, in all that we do.”

“[The E42 Leadership Program] made me realize how important it is to get out of the daily work environment to reflect, and how incredibly effective this particular experience was in making an impact on every single participant–more so than other retreats. It is very comforting to know that there are 20 individuals who have jointly made a life commitment championing diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

“Honestly, it’s hard to describe something that’s so transformational. It’s meant that I will raise my children differently. I will make decisions that will be different. I will guide a region-wide program that will now address issues of inclusion and equity. When I see racism, I will no longer question if I saw something but rather speak out.”

 

Applying for the 2021 E42LI means you are committing to:

  • Attending all 5 of the on-line training sessions: Monday, Nov. 1st – Friday, Nov. 5th, 2021
    • Monday, Thursday and Friday 9am – 2pm Pacific Time
    • Tuesday, Wednesday 8am – 5pm Pacific Time
    • Online trainings will include multiple forms of engagement, breaks, and other tools that help create community and fend off zoom fatigue.
  • Fully engage, participate and co-create the experience of the cohort.
  • Move diversity, equity, and inclusion forward in your sphere of influence.
  • Work through difficult and uncomfortable conversations.
  • Explore the various layers of inclusion, diversity and equity on personal, interpersonal/group and organizational/systems levels.

 

About the Center for Diversity & the Environment
CDE is an Indigenous, Black and People of Color founded and led organization whose work focuses on the challenges and opportunities we have before us in our efforts to align the environmental movement with an increasingly multicultural and diverse society. The Center for Diversity and the Environment harnesses the power of racial and ethnic diversity to transform the US environmental movement by developing leaders, catalyzing change within institutions, and building alliances. We envision a healthy, flourishing planet and society that sustainably and equitably meets the needs of all through an environmental movement that is diverse, inclusive, successful, vibrant, and relevant, taking into account the needs, perspectives, and voices of all.

By serving as an advocate, strategist, convener, connector, and educator for diversifying the
environmental movement, the Center for Diversity & the Environment is building a movement of leaders and institutions representing a broad cross-section of environmental issues that are dedicated to a more inclusive and unified movement.

 

To Apply for the E42LI please visit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/E42LI_2021

 

Our time together is designed with a content progression as a starting point, and we are committed to meeting learners where they are, inviting the participants’ collective wisdom, and following an emergent process that models a decolonized approach to learning.

We aim to support authentic learning, community and relationship building through a decolonized approach to training, facilitation and engagement.