Environmental Leadership Program
The Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) is a cutting-edge program launched by the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The program is designed to prepare Illinois undergraduates for leadership roles in the sustainability field.
The ELP focuses on developing the students’ communications skills around environmental problems, mobilizing social resources, and implementing plans for sustainable change. The program also provides students with networking opportunities with leaders in various fields in the environmental domain. This will prepare students for careers in both the public and private sectors. The introduction of the ELP is one of the key educational objectives in the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) 2020.
In Spring 2024, participants will learn about the policy-building process at the local and state levels, develop real-world environmental policy linked to the current legislative session, engage with local and state government officials, and present their policies to legislative staff and decision-makers in Springfield and Urbana-Champaign.
Moreover, the program will expand into corporate sustainability with a trip to Chicago! Students will connect with companies in a variety of industries and discuss opportunities with business professionals who are making the decisions to implement sustainable change.
Funding for the Program
The Alvin H. Baum Family Fund has made a generous gift to help support the ELP, including assistance for student travel expenses. Read more about the Baum Fund’s continuing support of iSEE >>>
Program Details
The Spring 2024 program consisted of:
- Two-day intensive training in local and state government, corporate operations, and environmental policy and advocacy. The training was Friday-Saturday, Jan. 12-13, 2024, before the start of the Spring semester. During these two days, participants learned more about environmental advocacy, policy building, stakeholder engagement and decision-making for sustainable change. Participants attended sessions about local and state government (e.g., its administration, operations, and policies) and corporate governance — and interacted with other experts in the field.
- Weekly working meetings (between Jan. 19 and March 8) in which students heard from expert speakers about career opportunities and pathways in environmental leadership, developed and refined their policy presentations, and prepared for meetings with legislators and company executives. Eight one-hour meetings were planned, several of which included presentations from guest speakers.
- Five days of intensive experiential learning with trips to Chicago corporate offices, the State Capitol in Springfield, and Urbana City Council. These trips were during Spring Break (March 11-15). Networking events during that time helped students meet with legislators, staff at state agencies, and business professionals. Travel expenses were funded by our donor.
View the PDF of our detailed program schedule >>>
Learn more about the 2024 cohort of students >>>
Early Student Successes
The 2022 and ’23 cohorts of students have already shown plenty of accomplishments, both personally and with the policies they have championed.
Read an article by iSEE Communications Intern Kratika Tandon >>>
ELP Advisory Board
iSEE is grateful to the following people for their participation and valued advice:
• Harriet Hentges, President and CEO, Hentges Associates
• Eban Goodstein, Director, Center for Environmental Policy and MBA in Sustainability, Bard College
• Doug Sitton, Senior Principal, IMEG Corp.
• Jennifer Walling, Executive Director, Illinois Environmental Council; read this Q&A with Walling about environmental advocacy >>>
• Jonathan Coppess, Associate Professor of Agricultural & Consumer Economics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Contact us!
For any inquiries about the program, please email us at isee-elp@illinois.edu.
Spring 2023 Program
Twenty-five undergraduate students from numerous colleges and departments across campus were selected to be part of the second ELP cohort. The details:
Program Outline
The Spring 2023 program consisted of:
- Two-day intensive training in local government environmental policy research, and advocacy. The training was Thursday-Friday, Jan. 12-13, 2023, before the start of the Spring semester. During these two days, participants learned more about environmental advocacy, policy building, and stakeholder engagement at the local and state level. Participants attended sessions about local government (e.g., its administration, operations, and policies) and interact with other experts in the field.
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The Urbana City Council listens to ELP students discuss food insecurity.
Weekly working meetings (between Jan. 20 and March 10) in which students developed and refined their policy presentations, heard from expert speakers about career opportunities and pathways in environmental leadership, and prepared for meetings with legislators. Eight one-hour meetings were held in Spring 2023, several of which include presentations from guest speakers. The remaining meetings were for supporting and providing students with feedback on their presentations.
- Four days of intensive experiential learning with trips to the State Capitol in Springfield as well as the Urbana and Champaign City Councils to deliver presentations to local and state legislators and policy decision-makers. The trips were scheduled for Spring Break (March 13-16). Networking events during that time helped students meet with legislators, staff, and state agencies. Travel expenses for Springfield were funded by our donor.
More about the 2023 Program
See a 2023 highlight video (click this link or view the video above).
Learn more about the 2023 cohort of students >>>
Spring 2022 Program
iSEE launched its full ELP immersive experience in Spring 2022. Twenty-one undergraduate students from numerous colleges and departments across campus were selected to be part of the first ELP cohort. The details:
Program Outline
The Spring 2022 Environmental Leadership Program consisted of:
- Two-day intensive training in local government environmental policy research and advocacy before the start of the Spring semester. During these two days, participants learned more about environmental advocacy, policy building, and stakeholder engagement at the local and state level. Participants attended sessions about local government (e.g. its administration, operations, and policies) and interacted with other experts in the field.
- Weekly working meetings (between Jan. 24 and March 11) in which students developed and refined policy presentations, heard from expert speakers about career opportunities and pathways in environmental leadership, and prepared for meetings with legislators. Seven one-hour lunchtime meetings were held in Spring 2022, five of which included presentations from guest speakers. The remaining meetings were for supporting and providing students with feedback on their presentations.
- Four days of intensive experiential learning with trips during Spring Break to the State Capitol in Springfield and to the Urbana and Champaign City Councils. During these trips, students delivered presentations to local and state legislators and policy decision-makers. Networking events were organized for students to meet with legislators and staff. The students also met with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources directors and the director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and participated in several cohort-building activities. Travel expenses for Springfield were funded by our donor.
- PDF of the Spring 2022 program >>>
More about the 2022 Program
Spring 2021 ELP Pilot Program
iSEE piloted two ELP workshops in Spring 2021, focused on environmental policy and corporate sustainability. These workshops allowed students to develop their sustainability leadership and communication skills, to learn about career paths in sustainability, and to establish valuable networking connections. Successful professionals in the environmental policy and corporate sustainability fields led workshop sessions.
Wednesday, March 24, 2021: Environmental Policy Workshop
In this online workshop, participants learned how to better communicate and advocate for the environmental issues of most importance to them. The workshop featured plenary talks by
- Eban Goodstein, Professor and Director of the Center for Environmental Policy at Bard College (view video above or on YouTube >>>); and
- Jennifer Walling, Executive Director of the Illinois Environmental Council (view video below or on YouTube >>>).
Students worked in teams to develop and deliver compelling talks about environmental issues of interest to a panel of judges. The first-place presentation was by Nicole Palella and Tori Lawlor on environmental justice, and the runner-up presentation was by Omar Kazi, Michael Dzianott, and Jacob Yoo on waste management.
iSEE is pleased to announce that the workshop filled to its capacity within three days of open registration!
Click this link for details about the speakers and a full agenda >>>
Tuesday, April 13, 2021: Corporate Sustainability Workshop
This online workshop gave students the opportunity to enhance their understanding of corporate sustainability, establish networking opportunities with representatives from various companies, and apply for internships or full-time employment!
The workshop opened with a keynote address by Harriet Hentges, President and CEO of Hentges Associates and an expert in sustainability in the food industry (view video above or on YouTube >>>).
Next, a panel discussion on the different views of sustainability in the private sector included:
- Holly Emerson, Global Senior Director of the Global Sustainability team, Johnson Controls
- Pedro Leon de la Barra, Project Manager, Sol Customer Solutions
- Stu Levenick, Retired Group President, Caterpillar Inc., and iSEE donor
- Chris O’Brien, Director of Business Development, CustomerFirst Renewables
View a video of the panel discussion below or on YouTube >>>
After a brief networking event, students particpated in a mini “green career fair,” in which representatives from the Career Center assisted participants with last-minute improvements to their resumes and elevator pitchesr.
Participants then engaged with human resources staff from various companies and apply for internships or full-time employment opportunities in sustainability. The professional participants: Brunswick i-Jet Lab; Dayempur Herbals and Dayempur Farm; Para La Tierra; Resource Environmental Solutions; Sol Systems; Sun Tribe; The Nature Conservancy; Waterborne Environmental; WWOOF-USA; and the Illinois Professional Science Master’s Program.
iSEE is pleased to announce that the workshop filled to its capacity within three days of its launch!