The Center for Conservation Leadership provides educational and leadership benefits to its students, who in turn provide visible conservation benefits to their communities. CCL’s curriculum is designed to foster the conservation leaders of tomorrow by empowering the youth of today with a practical understanding of conservation issues through experiential learning.

Students experience important personal growth, gaining practical knowledge and insight into a key societal issue. They develop perspective by looking outside themselves at their larger surroundings and build self-confidence by taking responsibility, mastering a task and executing a meaningful project. This growth equips CCL students to seek additional challenges, in conservation and elsewhere, and prepares them to succeed in their endeavors.

While the CCL program specifically addresses environmental responsibility, it provides students with a set of skills and experiences that will serve them in many other aspects of their lives as well. As part of the Certificate Program, CCL students work on individual stewardship projects in their own communities. This allows them to engage in feasibility analysis and long-range planning, collaborate with peers and coordinate with people in their communities, communicate effectively with adults and make and fulfill commitments, in addition to actually rolling up their sleeves to participate in conservation work.

Students have the opportunity to present their stewardship work at the year-end Certificate Ceremony. The students also work very hard on crafting their presentations and practicing public speaking skills. The combination of mastering the subject of their project and presenting it to a large audience leaves the students with a new level of confidence and a strong sense of accomplishment.