The following blog was written by Rebekah Martin, a member of the leadership development council implementation team. Rebekah was the vision process coordinator for the Conserving the Future: Wildlife Refuges and the Next Generation conference. She has since become the Deputy Refuge Manager at Eastern Virginia Rivers NWR Complex.
My years in the Washington Office as the Vision Process Coordinator ignited in me a deep appreciation for and interest in our conservation past. Working with Refuge System history buffs through a vision process and toward a conference for only the second time in Refuge System history gave me a sense of time and place that I had before only peripherally noticed. That may explain then why my favorite recommendation in the Leadership chapter of Conserving the Future is recommendation 23 – to revisit Fulfilling the Promise to seek innovative ways to reinvigorate our commitment to leadership development.
During the Leadership Development Council’s recent meeting at Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR, I discovered that others shared my excitement for opening worn copies of Fulfilling the Promise and discussing our success, our lack of progress, and new ideas for pushing leadership within the Refuge System and Service further. We likely could have spent most of our week together focused on this single recommendation.
Although the history side of this recommendation is what draws me to it, the future side is what urges me onward. What are innovative ways in which we can reinvigorate our commitment to leadership development? Many of you provided great ideas during the creation of Conserving the Future. The LDC is considering those and tossing around a few more as well. A few examples include developing career pathways reports for functional disciplines not already represented, building accountability for employee development into supervisory performance plans, and creating a job-swap board akin to ride-share boards to enable folks to gain new skills and experiences. Your ideas are welcome additions to the ones that you will see when the Conserving the Future implementation teams’ work plans are put online in the coming weeks.
Conserving the Future calls Refuge System leaders to develop the next generation of conservation stewards, instilling in them the “Service’s commitment to being stewards of a sacred trust.” Two weeks ago, to celebrate the 109th birthday of the National Wildlife Refuge System, we hosted a number of school group field trips at the refuge. I overheard one young boy exclaim, “This is the best day I’ve ever had!” Now isn’t that what conservation leadership is all about?
- Rebekah Martin
*This is the second “In the Spotlight” blog post that will keep you informed on the nine implementation teams and the work they are performing to make the vision a reality. Check out our Facebook page and Twitter for continual updates!
