OVERVIEW

The Environmental Leadership Program Eastern Regional Network Fellowship Program for Emerging Leaders is an innovative program designed to build the leadership capacity of the environmental and social change fields' most promising emerging practitioners in the greater Eastern area.

We define emerging leaders as practitioners who are relatively new to the environmental and social change fields with approximately three to ten years of experience. We define "environmental" broadly to include public health, transportation policy and planning, economic development, and broad-based community organizing. Our regional scope includes in PA: Berks, Bradford, Bucks, Carbon, Chester, Columbia, Delaware, Dauphin, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Montgomery, Montour, Northampton, Northumberland, Philadelphia, Pike, Schuylkill, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Wayne, Wyoming, York; Delaware, New Jersey and New York.

Each year, the Eastern Regional Network selects a new class of regional fellows to join ELP's community of environmental professionals from diverse backgrounds, sectors, and areas of expertise. The year-long Regional Fellowship offers unique networking opportunities, intensive leadership and skills training, support, and time for personal and professional reflection. The Fellowship provides an opportunity for talented individuals to have a unique and substantial impact on environmental and social progress in the Philadelphia metropolitan region through collaboration with other emerging leaders.

Applications for the 2009 All application materials must be received by November 28, 2008.

Required Commitments
Applicants for the 2009 ELP Regional Fellowship Program must commit to participating in three training retreats in their entirety. The three 2009 retreats will be held in the Eastern regional area on the following days:

• Thursday-Sunday: February 26 - March 1 (overnight)
• Friday-Sunrday: May 15 - 17 (overnight)
• Friday-Sunday: October 30-November 1 (overnight)

Tuition
The Regional Fellowship Program is provided free of charge to participants through the generous sponsorship of the William Penn Foundation, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and other supporters of the Environmental Leadership Program.

Retreats
Retreats lie at the heart of the ELP Regional Fellowship Program. Through hands-on training, community-building activities, and participatory group discussions held at retreats, regional fellows learn the practical skills of public leadership, develop a strong peer network, and explore ways to achieve lifelong personal and professional goals. Retreats offer an array of training opportunities on topics including leadership development, diversity, strategic communications, coalition and movement building, and public writing, which help regional fellows increase their effectiveness and professional expertise.

Regional fellows participate in discussions on the current state and future of environmental and social politics and practices; the role of all types of diversity in the environmental and social change fields; and the complexities of stimulating public dialogue, negotiating institutional politics, and building diverse coalitions. In addition, associates engage in peer-learning sessions on current environmental and social change issues, discussions with established environmental leaders, and conversations about leadership. Retreats also offer the opportunity for personal reflection and play a critical role in helping regional fellows form a collaborative and supportive peer network.

Personal Leadership Plans
Following the first retreat, each regional fellow drafts a personal leadership plan (PLP) to outline specific goals for their ELP participation and the activities they will conduct to meet them. The PLP helps regional fellows identify short and long-term personal and professionals goals and provides a written guide for their ELP experience.

Activity Fund
ELP Senior Fellows, individuals who have completed the Training Series, can apply for grants from the ELP Activity Fund to support collaborative leadership-building activities through specific projects. Senior Fellows are encouraged to pursue activities that enhance their public leadership skills, build community, and strive for tangible environmental outcomes. The Activity Fund offers Senior Fellows he opportunity to collaborate with others within the ELP community to expand their work beyond their specific area of expertise. In addition to funding Activity Fund projects, ELP provides access to professional support services, such as consultation on writing, media, technical, legal, and financial issues.

Optional Activities
In addition to the required elements of the Regional Fellowship Program, ELP regional fellows have the opportunity to participate in optional activities throughout the year. These activities vary from year to year, and may include: in-depth training workshops; distance-learning courses; individual consultation with trainers; discussion groups on particular topics; working with a peer mentor; and networking events or collaborations with other ELP regional and national fellows.

Regional Issues Forums
ELP sponsors Regional Issues Forums to provide a venue for dialogue on key environmental issues facing the Eastern regional area and create a platform to raise the visibility of emerging environmental and social change leaders in the region. Regional and Senior Fellows are encouraged to serve as speakers and lead the forums.

Senior Fellows Network
ELP considers the active one-year Regional Fellowship as only the first phase of a lifecycle of support and participation in ELP. Once fellows complete the Training Series, they become part of a dynamic group of Senior Fellows.

For further information, contact us at:

Environmental Leadership Program
Eastern Regional Network
215.988.8802
eastern@elpnet.org

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