Green Communities Leadership Institute

Congratulations to Green Communities Leadership Institute alum Lisa Ciecko on her recognition for leadership & stewardship as the recipient of the Jim Ellis Spirit Award. We are so proud of you and grateful that you’re being recognized in your community for your commitment and collaboration.

Becky & Lauren, both Green Communities Leadership Institute Alums, will be speaking at PCF 2024 this week.

This week, we’re excited to be at the Arbor Day Foundation Partners in Community Forestry event in Chicago, Illinois! This event brings together a passionate community of professionals, advocates, and innovators dedicated to growing greener, healthier, and more sustainable communities. We’ve always admired the Arbor Day Foundation’s mission to inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. The Partners in Community Forestry event is one of the largest gatherings focused on urban and community forestry, providing a platform for collaboration, education, and action. Two Great Ways to Connect with GCLI: 1️⃣ Visit Our Booth: Swing by to say hello, grab some GCLI swag, and learn how we’re shaping the future of nature-based leadership. 2️⃣ Join Our Alumni Meet-Up: We’re hosting a special gathering for our alumni to reconnect and celebrate the work we’re doing across the country. Alumni, friends, and anyone curious about GCLI are welcome to join! 📍 Details: 📆 WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 20TH | 7:30 - 8:30PM 📍 The Game Room | 12 S. Michigan Avenue | Chicago, Illinois Even if you’re not attending this year, we encourage you to explore the incredible work of the Arbor Day Foundation and the impact of the Partners in Community Forestry event. Their focus on trees as essential infrastructure aligns deeply with our mission to support leaders driving change in their communities.

What you focus on expands. See the good and it amplifies. Same goes for the inverse. If the goal is greatness, then let's stop looking at what we need to get rid of to be better and focus on what we have and how we can get stronger! Stay away from the term "if only we had..." There will always be negative things that need attention but it doesn't mean it needs focus... Let's expand the good and go from good to great.

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Last but not least...meet 4 more individuals that will be joining the Green Communities Leadership Institute, Class of 2025! Alison Baylis is based in Austin, Texas and is a Regional Urban Ecologist with the Texas A&M Forest Service. Ellen Arnstein is based in Seattle, Washington and is the Forest Stewardship Program Manager with the King Conservation District. Andrew Ullman is from Brooklyn, New York and is a Project Developer for Davey Resource Group, Inc. Lauren Abram is based in Denver, Colorado and is the Forestry Program Coordinator with the City and County of Denver. Congratulations to all the incredible individuals from across the US and Canada that will be joining us through the Green Communities Leadership Institute! #greencommunitiesleadershipinstitute #gcli2025 #boise #leadership

It’s fun to see our Green Communities Leadership Institute alumni out doing great things in service to communities across the 🇺🇸. Check out what Meg Morgan, GCLI alum & former GCLI Core Leadership Team member, has been working on with her team at Groundwork USA: https://lnkd.in/gu56xa3H.

Was seeking some inspiration and found some: "The world is awful. The world is much better. The world can be much better. All three statements are true at the same time. Discussions about the state of the world too often focus on the first statement: The news highlights what is going wrong, rarely mentioning the positive developments in our country or the world as a whole. A pushback on this narrative takes it to the other extreme, which is equally damaging. Solely communicating the progress that the world has achieved becomes unhelpful, or even repugnant, when it glosses over the problems people are facing. If we only see the problems and only hear what is going wrong, we have no hope that the future can be better. If we only hear about progress and what is going right, we become complacent and lose sight of the problems the world is facing. Both of these narrow perspectives have the same consequence: they leave us doing nothing — they are worldviews that paralyze us. It’s hard to resist falling for only one of these perspectives. But to see that a better world is possible, we need to see that both are true at the same time: the world is awful, and the world is much better.... and it can be so much better." OurWorldInData.org

We're back to introduce 5 more individuals that will be joining the Green Communities Leadership Institute, Class of 2025! Kiana C. is based in Chicago, Illinois and is the Community Engagement Specialist for The Field Museum in Chicago. Alix Olson is from Calgary, Alberta and works as the Coordinator of Urban & Community Forestry for the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. Scott Altenhoff will be joining us from Eugene, Oregon and is the Urban & Community Forestry Program Manager for the Oregon Department of Forestry. Em Roberts is based in Portland, Oregon and is an Urban Forestry Technician for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. Michael Oxendine is based in Talent, Oregon and is the Founder & Director of OUR Community Forestry. Follow along over the next few weeks as we introduce the incredible individuals from across the US and Canada that will be joining us through the Green Communities Leadership Institute. #greencommunitiesleadershipinstitute #gcli2025 #boise #leadership

We're kicking this week off with 6 more introductions of our upcoming cohort members of the 2025 Class of Green Communities Leadership Institute! Alex Brooks is based in Boise, Idaho and works as the Climate & Sustainability Coordinator for the City of Boise. Sydney Hudzinski is based in Norwood Young America, Minnesota and works for the City of Plymouth as a Forestry Technician. Jessie Salazar comes from Bell Gardens, California and is the President at SLA, Inc. Kylie Bolland is from Boise, Idaho and works as a Financial Specialist for the Idaho Governor's Office of Energy & Mineral Resources. Paul Cancik is based in Indian Hills, Colorado and works as the Operations Supervisor for the City and County of Denver. Jeremy Myers will join us from Overland Park, Kansas where he works as the Assistant Parks & Recreation Director for the City of Overland Park. Follow along over the next few weeks as we introduce the incredible individuals from across the US and Canada that will be joining us through the Green Communities Leadership Institute. #greencommunitiesleadershipinstitute #gcli2025 #boise #leadership