About the Program

In 2020, the Western Conservation Leadership Development Program was established after program founders and their staff recognized that national and other leadership programs were not able to meet the growing demand for conservation training.

Based on a needs assessment completed by western conservation agencies, it was determined that there was a shared interest in beginning the work of addressing the significant gap in access to professional development to support a changing agency workforce; prepare staff moving from mid-career positions to senior authority roles; and develop leadership capacities for teams working at all scales to collaborate on complex conservation challenges, especially conservation embedded with conflict. With ingenuity, responsiveness, and a willingness to experiment, the founders launched this inspiring program.

The WCLDP operates with an Executive Board, Advisory Council, and Technical Team. Our fiscal agent is the WYldlife Fund.

Our Mission

The mission of the Western Conservation Leadership Development Program is: to build leadership capacity for a broad array of partners to implement landscape conservation for the future.

Three Core Objectives

Cultivating Leadership Capacity
Leadership isn’t reserved for a title or a corner office — it can emerge from anyone, at any level, in any context. We build the competencies and skills that help conservation professionals show up with confidence, resilience, and real impact, wherever they are in their careers.
Supporting a Rapidly Changing Conservation Workforce
Conservation organizations are navigating a demanding moment: doing more with less, preparing the next generation for critical work, and staying relevant to an increasingly broad array of communities and stakeholders. This program is one of the most meaningful investments an organization can make — building the kind of durability that helps teams not just survive uncertainty, but grow through it.
Addressing Large-Scale Conservation Challenges
Participants don’t just study leadership in the abstract — they practice it on real conservation challenges alongside real people. The work contributes directly to habitat protection and restoration, species management, parks and recreation, private and Tribal lands collaboration, and cross-sector stakeholder engagement. Learning and impact happen together.

Western Conservation Leadership Development Program

Program Design

This program is made up of independent courses, collectively designed to equip western conservationists with the adaptive skills and practical capacities needed to lead with purpose — regardless of title, role, or affiliation.

Through our courses, participants develop a deeper awareness of their own behaviors and practices, and begin to see the conservation landscape through a new lens. The goal is clarity — a clearer understanding of the complex challenges facing the West, and a stronger sense of how to act within larger systems. Participants leave with new tools, knowledge, and confidence to influence others, navigate difficult situations, and inform the decisions that matter most to their work.

What sets this program apart?

Three things distinguish how this program is designed and delivered. First, real western conservation challenges are the heart of the work — leadership development isn’t abstract here, it’s grounded in the landscapes, species, and communities participants already care about. Second, courses bring together people from different agencies, organizations, disciplines, backgrounds, and geographic locations across the West, creating the conditions for broad-minded thinking, meaningful collaboration, and lasting partnerships. Third, this program was built by western conservationists and a community of practice that collectively brings years of on-the-ground expertise — in both conservation and leadership — resulting in learning experiences that meet people where they are.

We are building courses to help conservationists across all lands and sectors identify, navigate, and overcome the barriers standing between them and lasting conservation impact.

Visit this page to hear stories from our alumni about their experience with the program.

About the Program

Our Mission

The mission of the Western Conservation Leadership Development Program is: to build leadership capacity for a broad array of partners to implement landscape conservation for the future.

Three Core Objectives

Program Design

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