2021 Emerging Leaders Program Coming Soon!

The objective of SHIFT (Shaping How we Invest For Tomorrow) is to advance and promote the importance of nature as a social determinant of health. This in turn gets at the heart of our mission: to build a stronger argument for our natural world at a time of unprecedented threat.

We achieve our mission via two main programs: the annual SHIFT Summit, held each autumn in Jackson Hole, which explores issues at the intersection of outdoor recreation, conservation and public health; and The Emerging Leaders Program (ELP), which trains early career leaders to help develop our work at SHIFT and in America.

Thank you for your interest in the Emerging Leaders Program. 2021 information coming soon!

Contact Dr. Morgan Greene at drmorgan@shiftjh.org for additional information.

OUR VISION AND CORE VALUES:

The Emerging Leaders Program seeks to build a diverse coalition of advocates who can leverage the health benefits of nature  to create a stronger argument for nature itself. 

The following core values comprise the foundation of our work:

Making Differences Our Strength 

• At the core of our vision is the belief that bringing together leaders from various sectors, cultures and lived experiences to discuss the most challenging problems facing our public health and our natural world’s survival makes us stronger, smarter and more resilient.

Sharing the Gift of Mutual Respect 

• Personal investments in one another are our foundation. When we invest in trust and respect, we grow individually and as a community. This allows us to build upon our shared experiences at SHIFT and ELP with new allies and partnerships.

Advocating For Our Planet and Its Inhabitants

• We are part of the natural world. We learn from it and about it, and are partners in its future.

Embracing Personal Challenge

• Building a diverse coalition is difficult and complicated. We enter this work with the expectation that deeply held beliefs may be challenged—and that changing our perspectives and our minds to develop new ways of thinking may be critical to our shared success. 

Leading with Relationship

• SHIFT and ELP are built to foster and create personal relationships. The resulting alliances make our work fun, sustainable and enhance our ability to protect our natural world

HOW WE DO IT: 

ELP’s cross-sectional approach builds a diverse coalition of early career advocates who operate at the nexus of health and nature and prepares them to use the health benefits of time outside to fight for a more sustainable future for the planet. 

By developing strategies for reconnection with our natural world, the program empowers participants to address problems facing public health, stewardship, advocacy, community engagement and representation within environmental movements. Our curriculum addresses topics surrounding structures of oppression and explores how such topics show up in public health, outdoor recreation, conservation and land management.

This in turn allows us to more deeply consider the intersections of health and nature and how it applies to the broad range of professional interests represented by our participants while harnessing the ingenuity and creativity that makes the program innovative. 

WHO ARE THE ELP?

The Emerging Leaders Program is directed and developed by Dr. Morgan Green, a pediatrician and graduate of the 2018 ELP, with the input of past fellows, SHIFT board and staff.

Applications for participation in the program are diligently reviewed by Dr. Green and a team of past fellows. Compatible candidates are then invited to participate in a 30- to 60-minute interview with one of our fellows and a 60-minute interview with Dr. Green. 

Once evaluations are complete, 20 candidates will be selected to join the 2020 cohort. Cohort members will be notified of their invitation before any formal announcement is made. 

The skill sets of selected ELP participants and how best to present them at SHIFT are ascertained via a survey. This ensures participants help determine how they want to be seen professionally, even before programming is solidified for SHIFT. 

HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS:

 Our facilitator team will host guided discussions with the cohort, promote group presentations and help us navigate the necessary changes to provide both a safe and substantive experience during such uncertain times. 

During ELP, participants gain familiarization with content that will be discussed at SHIFT and have the opportunity to lead group discussions and explore different perspectives with their cohort members and facilitators. The experience allows them to discuss issues relevant to their work amongst their peers, prepares them for substantive interaction at SHIFT and provides them with tools they can use to bring SHIFT’s coalition-building model back to their communities.

•  2-3 monthly video calls with the cohort and facilitator team to discuss relevant items of the program’s curriculum
• Planning for group presentations about topics that further explore our curriculum’s content. These presentations will be led by the 2020 fellows. Facilitators will coordinate each small group and will be available to answer questions and provide guidance and support. 
• ELP Fellows who are selected to participate in SHIFT will be invited to join conference calls with national leaders who will serve as their peers on panels and in think tanks at SHIFT, ensuring they are recognized as equal contributors during the ideation process.

The second half of the program takes place at The SHIFT Summit Oct. 14-16 

ELP’s cross-sectional approach builds a diverse coalition of early career advocates who can champion nature as a social determinant of health and fight for a more sustainable future for the planet. Taken together, ELP and SHIFT prepares participants to explore how they work to better understand the systems that consciously and subconsciously influence our lives. 

Program registration fees are $150 and include the following:

• Full participation in ELP
• Full participation in SHIFT

Limited financial aid may be available upon request.

We encourage young leaders between the ages of 21-33 to apply and look forward to receiving your application. If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Green at drmorgan@shiftjh.org.

 

---