At Confluence this April, the Emerging Leadership Working Group is playing match maker – and you’re invited to join in the fun!
The fewer people you know in a room, the more intimidating it can feel. To combat that intimidation, we will be pairing participants interested in being mentees/mentors as an opportunity to connect and learn from each other.
We hope that this effort will help build community, spark new relationships across the Western Collaborative Conservation Network (WCCN), and connect emerging leaders with the broader network of collaborative conservation.
The Emerging Leadership Working Group formed after the 2020 WCCN Confluence highlighted the need to support emerging leaders in collaborative conservation. We see mentorship as an integral part of empowering and enabling the next generation of collaborative leaders across the American West, which is why we’re in the process of developing a Mentorship Toolkit, and launched the Mentorship Match at Confluence 2022.
Haven’t heard of Confluence before? Learn more here!
We recognize that everyone is a mentor in some aspects of their life and career and a mentee in others. Therefore, we encourage Confluence registrants to participate and, no matter your role as mentee/mentor, use this opportunity to build a reciprocal relationship.
WCCN Confluence is an outstanding opportunity to meet individuals throughout the West and share the successful nature of collaborative conservation. Throughout the event the mentors and mentee have an opportunity to shake hands and begin a three-day journey of exchanging ideas, experiences, and aspirations in their current work work and leading the future of collaborative conservation.
Rox Hicks, USF Fish & Wildlife Service, WCCN Mentor
When you register for Confluence you can check the box to participate! We’ll send a follow up survey to learn more about you and help us make your match.
We will be pairing registrants based on:
- Similar interests (such as from bios or peer-to-peer session rankings),
- Similar types of institutions (e.g., government agencies, nonprofits, academia), and
- Different geographies (to weave relationships throughout the WCCN).
We are asking our mentors and mentees to meet four times:
- Once before Confluence at a virtual meet-up on Tuesday March 26.
- Twice during Confluence. There will be a structured networking opportunity the evening of Tuesday April 2. We also encourage matched pairs to connect informally such as before or after a session they both attended, during a meal, or before or after the day’s program.
- Once after the event. We strongly encourage matched pairs (or really anyone that you connected with at Confluence) to connect once after the event to reflect on what you’ve learned and what you intend to do with your new knowledge.
Networking at Confluence
There will be a networking event after dinner on Tuesday 4/2! While focused on match-making and mentoring, this opportunity is open for all Confluence Participants as we will be offering to match people during the first day of Confluence if they missed their chance to fill out the Mentorship Match form, and everyone is welcome to participate to network informally too.
Mentors and mentees will be connected by March 26 and have the opportunity to connect with each other during the Pre-Confluence zoom meeting. If there are any questions, please email Paula Short (paulashort@crowd-conservation.org) for more information.
We hope to see you at Confluence!
