Ambassadors for Land Conservation (Example)

Ambassadors for Land Conservation

Empowering Native American youth to become cultural knowledge keepers of lands, water ways and scared sites, and advocating for better policies that protect these spaces.

About the Program

The Ambassadors for Land Conservation (ALC) is a place-based program created to encourage Native American youth, ages 18-24, to advocate for the protection of traditional lands, waterways, and sacred sites. The ALC program supports youth-led change through culturally competent curriculum, intergenerational learning space and promotion of policy change at the local, state and national level. In this program young leaders work alongside community members and like-minded organizations to address issues of man-made disruption, impacts of climate change, and how impacts of natural disasters have impacted the land beneath our feet. Youth receive resources, technical assistance and financial support to address concerns and create the change they desire to see for these sacred places.

The ALC program creates opportunities for Native youth to become cultural knowledge keepers and protectors of lands, waterways, and sacred sites by facilitating youth-driven advocacy and policy change, narrative change, creating cultural learning communities, and empowering community action.

Narrative Change:

The ALC program provides Native youth a platform to share their story of land conservation in their own youth voice, futher changing the narrative and discourse surrounding Native American youth and land conservation. The ALC program implements a culturally relevant curriculum to encourage Ambassadors to approach and reframe conservation efforts from a Native perspective. The program provides several opportunities to highlight the Ambassadors and their efforts through local and national media outlets.

Community of Learning:

As Native American people, we recognize the importance of cultural knowledge. Ambassadors engage with Tribal leaders, members of their community (including elders and peers), land conservationists, policy leaders, and experts to develop comprehensive knowledge of the current threats to the lands, waterways and sacred sites. Ambassadors for Land Conservation encourages youth to learn stories, cultural happenings and the histories of the land from elders. Ultimately, it is our hope that ambassadors become the knowledge keepers of their communities.

We are proud to partner with like-minded organizations committed to Native-led conservation efforts. Ambassadors have access to land conservationists and organizations who mentor and support their efforts in protecting lands, waterways and sacred sites.

List of Partner Organizations:

Community of Action:

At CNAY, we recognize the power of youth-led community initiatives. To support youth-led change, Ambassadors receive micro-grant funding and technical assistance to create Community Action Projects. The Community Action Projects may include written reports, tribal ordinances and resolutions, digital media campaigns, events, producing blogs or other written materials, and more. This experiential learning opportunity facilitates growth in financial literacy, project and grant management, community organizing, and other professional development skills.