PF's Leathers Graduates from National Conservation Leadership Institute
NCLI is Groundbreaking Effort to Gear Up Next Generation of Conservation Leaders
Credit: (Pheasants Forever)
Source: pheasantsforever.org
Published: Jun. 16, 2009
Ron Leathers, director of public finance at Pheasants Forever, Inc. and Quail Forever and a resident of Blaine, Minnesota recently graduated from the National Conservation Leadership Institute, an intense eight-month experience to address one of the nation's most significant conservation challenges—preparing and retaining leaders. Leathers is one of 33 Fellows from across the country who was selected to participate in the prestigious Institute.
Already nearly one-third of today's natural resource leaders are retiring. According to research conducted in 2004, about 77 percent of state fish and wildlife agency senior leadership will retire by 2015, and more than half of federal conservation leaders even sooner.
Executive Director of the Institute, Dr. Sally Guynn, says, "Training alone is insufficient to develop the extraordinary leadership called for in our uncertain times. The Institute is a unique, comprehensive learning experience designed to challenge assumptions, teach skills, facilitate networking, and strengthen confidence. It is not a redundant program; it is a remarkable experience to prepare an extraordinary leadership capacity for the future."
"To be chosen among a nation of conservation professionals to take part in the third class of the Institute is a great honor," says Leathers. "The Institute is very unique and has had a profound impact on me. Leadership development is paramount to ensuring the legacy of natural resource conservation will continue in the future."
The National Conservation Leadership Institute (NCLI) was created to equip tomorrow's conservation leaders in adaptive leadership, the cutting-edge connective tissue in the Institute's curriculum of the latest leadership thinking and practice. Each Fellow learns from some of the nation's most influential conservation leaders and leadership experts including Harvard's Kennedy School of Government professor Marty Linsky, co-author of the book, Leadership on the Line. Through the Institute, 21 employees from state fish and wildlife agencies, 6 from federal conservation agencies, 2 tribal members and 4 from nongovernmental organizations worked together over the past eight months on priority leadership challenges and solutions.
"This year, from all across the nation and from the potential hundreds of natural resource related conservation organizations, 33 Fellows were selected through a competitive process to participate in this year's world class leadership experience," says Steve Williams, Chairman of the Institute board and President of the Wildlife Management Institute. "Those selected represented a diverse mix of people and perspectives from across the country and across organizational boundaries. The Institute is having a powerful impact."
In Fall 2008, the 33 Fellows conquered the Institute's intense 11-day residency at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. In late April, the Fellows re-convened at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Missouri, to present the results of their six-month leadership challenge projects where they had individually experimented with their learning from the Fall and carried out real, in-the-trenches applications in their respective organizations.
A native of Laramie, Wyoming, Leathers received his master's in wildlife science from South Dakota Sate University. He has been with Pheasants Forever since 2003, when he began in Parker, South Dakota, as Pheasants Forever's first-ever Farm Bill Biologist. Since 2003, Farm Bill biologists have provided conservation technical assistance to over 20,000 landowners. Those relationships have translated into over 1 million acres of habitat improvements. Leathers now oversees all public financing efforts by Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever.
The NCLI is offered each year to a select group of approximately 36 individuals identified by their nominating organizations as "high potentials." Each Fellow was chosen for their capacity to build effective coalitions, lead organizational change, and deliver results, as well as for their work experience, passion and goals.
The National Conservation Leadership Institute, a 501©3 non-profit, is supported by the nation's most passionate conservation interests. Sponsors include: The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment, The Weatherby Foundation, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Boone and Crockett, the Pope and Young Club, and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies among others.
Anthony Hauck (651)209-4972 AHauck@pheasantsforever.org
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