Yosemite Leadership Program: Year 1 Leadership Seminar
The Yosemite Leadership Program (YLP) strives to be the premier student environmental leadership program in the nation. The YLP will foster synergy among government, business, and academia to develop tomorrow's thoughtful, ethical, and innovative leaders. In partnership with the Yosemite National Park Service, the Wilderness Education Center, and the Margo F. Souza Student Leadership Center at UC Merced, we work together to educate and inspire environmental advocacy and social change through skilled, ethical, innovative, and intentional actions while respecting cultural heritage and community.
Year One: Leadership Seminar
The Yosemite Leadership Program will open applications for the 2024- 2026 cohort in August! The YLP Fall 2024 Cohort Leadership Seminar will take place on Wednesdays 4:30pm - 6:00pm from September 11th, 2024 - December 11th, 2024.
The first year consists of a series of inter-related elemants that give participants a better understanding of their leadership identities, the Social Change Model of Leadership Development, their community, National Parks, the environment, and themselves. Sessions take place on campus every Wednesday during the academic year from 4:30pm - 6:00pm. The program also includes 2 overnight retreats to Yosemite National Park at the beginning and end of the year.
"It is a safe space for anything here. We listen to each other, and we support each other. This program brings new experiences that motivate and push us to try new things and discover sides of ourselves that we have yet to show. This program makes me a better listener, it motivates me to be in nature, to take care of the environment and my community, and it is my pocket of peace for the week when everything can feel okay for an hour." - 2023 - 2025 YLP participant
"The most valuable components of this program are the connections being made through this program alongside learning different types of leadership models. This program provides a way to connect with like minded and leadership-focused individuals and has helped me to make some really good friends..." - 2023-2025 YLP Participant
