Fellowship Program Coordinator

Position Summary

The Aldo Leopold Foundation’s Fellowship Program Coordinator will supervise and mentor 3 to 6 Leopold Fellows hired each year through the Future Leaders Fellowship Program. This position is responsible for the fellow’s overall experience and professional development as early career young adults in the environmental conservation field. A successful program will coordinate and schedule professional development sessions using subject matter experts to train the Leopold Fellows in the seven core areas. The Fellowship Program Coordinator will develop Leopold Fellows’ personal and professional growth and career connections. In addition to coordinating the Fellowship Program, this position will be responsible for assisting with the advancement of the Land Ethic Leader curriculum, an online, asynchronous training program currently in development and provide logistical support for other foundation programs (e.g., guided tours, visitor services, and crane programming) as needed.

Future Leaders Fellowship Program

Leadership in conservation is a critical piece to solving the ongoing and emerging environmental issues of today. The Aldo Leopold Foundation’s Future Leaders Fellowship Program is designed for individuals who have recently completed a college degree or have equivalent combination of education, training, and work experience. Fellows will gain experience and grow in seven core areas: professionalism and ethics, conservation leadership, strategic planning, education and interpretation, marketing and communications, philanthropy, applied science and natural history, and socioecology. Each of these areas is addressed through a professional development series and applied on-the-job experiences that allow for exploration of each topic and time for each Leopold Fellow to practice and apply these key elements of leadership.

Leopold Fellows will specialize in either Communications or Land Stewardship. Fellows get exposure to both program areas through either independent projects and/or other organizational efforts. Fellows also have the opportunity to interact with both a diverse range of conservation professionals and the Leopold community, including Leopold family members.

Fellowship Program Coordinator Position Impact Statement

The tradition of cultivating conservation leaders at the Aldo Leopold Foundation traces back to Aldo Leopold himself, whose mentorship of graduate students and his own children helped shape generations of environmental thinkers and practitioners. Today, this legacy continues through the Future Leaders Fellowship Program. As the Fellowship Program Coordinator, you play a central role in nurturing the next generation of conservation leaders by designing experiences that introduce, strengthen, and cultivate essential professional competencies—while also fostering the ethical awareness and relational perspective foundational to a contemporary land ethic.

This position creates opportunities for fellows to work alongside a community of practitioners, scholars, and mentors across the conservation field, allowing them to see how ethical decision-making, community engagement, and ecological responsibility play out in practice. We anticipate that program alumni will go on to lead in nonprofits, government agencies, universities, and private organizations. This position also contributes to expanding the program’s reach, impact, and visibility through new partnerships and emerging opportunities, furthering the foundation’s commitment to growing ethical conservation leaders for the 21st century.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Future Leaders Fellowship Program (80%)

· Develop and execute Future Leaders Fellowship Program strategy, planning, and scheduling, including weekly organization of workloads, cultivating professional competencies and building impact through mentorship

· Develop strategic partnerships that maximize program deliverables

· Organize Fellowship experiences including, but not limited to:

 · Schedule all Fellowship Program professional development sessions with subject matter experts

· Schedule all Fellowship Program monthly field days

· Conduct monthly, quarterly, and end of program evaluations and reviews for fellows

· Advance the eight core areas of the Future Leaders Fellowship Program by scheduling subject-matter experts on: professionalism and ethics, conservation leadership, strategic planning, education and interpretation, marketing and communications, philanthropy, applied science and natural history, and socioecology.

· Supervise the Communications Leopold Fellows and the Land Stewardship Leopold Fellows, though they will be under the daily leadership and supervision of other program staff on various projects

· Offer mentoring and career coaching to the Leopold Fellows

· Organize and host the fellowship orientation

· Assist in development of marketing materials for the Fellowship Program such as flyers and brochures

· Coordinate the Fellowship Program alumni network and communications

· Work collaboratively with the foundation’s development staff to create updates for donors to the Fellowship Program

· Work collaboratively with foundation’s communications and marketing staff to create media schedule and share special announcement from the Fellowship Program, including hiring and programs

· Work collaboratively with foundation’s administration to coordinate fellows and guests living or visiting the Future Leaders Center, including quarterly administrative walk-throughs and review of housing policies and procedures with new cohorts.

General Educational Program (20%)

· Assist with the Land Ethic Leader online training program as needed

· Assist with virtual and on-site programming as needed

· Back-up coverage for front desk, additional staffing in the building as needed

· Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

Required:

· Degree in environmental education, natural resources/environmental studies and/or communications with a strong interest in conservation and the environment

· One to three years of environmental education and/or communications education, experience and/or training

· Excellent interpersonal, communication, strategic planning, and organizational abilities

· Ability to work both independently with little supervision and in a team environment

· Demonstrated leadership capabilities

· Demonstrated respect and sensitivity for others; ability to inspire trust and work with integrity

· Demonstrated understanding of the value of inclusiveness and diversity in all its forms: racial and cultural, political, age, gender, economic, and social

· Versatility, flexibility, and a willingness to work within changing priorities

· Proclivity for focusing on strategic outcomes

Desired:

· Familiarity with the work of the Aldo Leopold Foundation and Aldo Leopold’s history and legacy

· Familiarity with a wide range of current issues in natural resources and conservation

· Familiarity with conservation jobs, job sites, and networking platforms

· Experience guiding early career young professionals

· Experience with program and curriculum planning

· Experience leading leadership training, like Clifton Strengths Finder

· Certified Interpretive Guide Training or experience leading interpretive tours

Compensation and Benefits

Pay range: $45,000-$50,000 annually depending on education and/or years of related work experience, with benefits including health, dental, vision, life/AD&D, and short-term disability insurance, retirement plan, Health Savings Account, and paid time off (vacation, floating holidays, and sick leave).

Hours and Schedule

· Full-time; Exempt. This position is an on-site position at our headquarters in Baraboo, Wisconsin, with some flexibility to work remotely on occasion.

· Visitor season (May-November) Tuesday – Saturday; Off-season (December-April) Monday – Friday

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential duties and responsibilities of this position. While performing the duties of this job the employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle or feel, reach with hands and arms, talk and hear. The employee is occasionally required to stand and walk and must be able lift and/or move up to 40 pounds. Vision abilities required for this job include close vision, distance vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.

Position Reports to: Program Manager

Application Instructions

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Position will remain open until filled. Submit cover letter, resume and 3 professional references to Eva Lorraine at eva@aldoleopold.org with the subject line Fellowship Program Coordinator.

For the full position description, application instructions and to learn more about the Aldo Leopold Foundation, please visit our website: https://www.aldoleopold.org/employment/

Organizational Overview

 The mission of the Aldo Leopold Foundation is to foster the land ethic through the legacy of Aldo Leopold. Based in Baraboo, Wisconsin, we manage, interpret, and preserve the renowned Leopold Shack and Farm, a National Historic Landmark, which receives thousands of visitors each year. Our organization is dedicated to a land ethic—an ethical responsibility to care for the natural world. Leopold articulated this philosophy in his masterpiece, A Sand County Almanac. Through our on-the-ground work we demonstrate a land ethic for the 21st Century and reach regional, national, and international audiences through a variety of educational and land stewardship programs designed to reach educators, citizens, natural resource professionals, and landowners.

The Aldo Leopold Foundation headquarters is in an idyllic setting surrounded by 600 acres of foundation-owned property within the 4,000-acre Leopold-Pines Conservation Area and 12,000-acre Important Bird Area (IBA). The Leopold Center, constructed in 2007, is a LEED Certified Platinum “green” building that is home to the foundation’s office space and visitor center.

The Aldo Leopold Foundation is an equal opportunity employer and recognizes that just as a healthy ecosystem depends on biodiversity, so too are cultural and social diversity essential to a healthy human society. We are committed to expanding the conversation on land ethics by acting to achieve a rich diversity of staff, board, volunteers, members, supporters and those we seek to engage with our programming. We encourage applicants to address this foundation goal in their application materials.

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The Aldo Leopold Foundation provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. In addition to federal law requirements, ALF complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.