JACKSON, WY — SHIFT’s Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) announced the next group of Emerging Leaders yesterday.
ELP invites 17 budding professionals to the SHIFT conference a week early for thee days of professional development addressing nature as medicine, leadership enhancement, and other SHIFT Festival topics.
SHIFT, and specifically the ELP, and Executive Director Christian Beckwith came under fire earlier this year after former ELP participants accused Beckwith and the festival of creating an environment that was hostile and violent toward people of color. The “17” started a campaign demanding Beckwith’s resignation. Beckwith has maintained his position, but stepped down as leader of the Emerging Leaders Program, handing it over instead to Dr. Morgan Green.
“It is my great honor to announce the Emerging Leader Program (ELP) 2019 cohort and the facilitators who will help me guide our experience,” Green wrote in the announcement on SHIFT’s website.
“I’ve gotten to know the 17 Emerging Leaders pretty well; as we’ve navigated discussion around hard topics, shared expectations so they could be very clear if what we offer would be desirable for their professional development. And really laid out the core values that drive the vision of our organization. I’ve been happy to find that they resonate with our participants.”
This year’s Emerging Leaders include Tiana Wilson-Blindman, a Master’s Student at Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Wilson-Blindman grew up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota and spent summers in Jackson growing up. She moved to Jackson as an adult to teach for Teton Science Schools through Americorp and served as Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance’s Civic Engagement Fellow.
Other 2019 Emerging Leaders include public health professionals, doctoral students, conservationists, and outdoor educators. Meet all 17 Emerging Leaders on SHIFT’s website.
