LeaderShift is an immersive environmental justice and advocacy training program for college-age students. With the land as our classroom, we travel across various corners of the Colorado Plateau; sleep under the stars; and spend our days learning from local changemakers and each other.
LeaderShift examines the legacy of energy extraction, its impacts on local communities, and paths toward a just and equitable future. Participants see firsthand how Native communities are transitioning away from fossil fuels toward healthy economies. We'll explore strategies for change at personal, community, and political levels, alongside experienced activists, storytellers, artists, and scientists.
Topics, field trips, workshops, and program structure vary from year to year. Typically, LeaderShift runs during the summer, with the application cycle starting in February.
Come along with us to gain leadership skills, share stories, build community, and connect to the Colorado Plateau.
This program is for young leaders between the ages of 18 and 27 who love the Colorado Plateau and are eager to be part of the environmental justice movement.
The application for LeaderShift 2024 is now closed. Applications will reopen in spring 2025 for the summer 2025 program. Sign up for Rising Leaders Program email updates to be notified when the application period reopens ›
Locations range from Tuba City to Kykotsmovi Village to Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon.
Participants should expect to camp out. The Trust will provide all meals, snacks, and equipment. Our gear packing list will help you prepare. We have some camping items to loan, please contact us.
This is an immersive field study experience with pre-readings and homework.
The LeaderShift curriculum and program is based on feedback from past participants. Young people are both the teachers and the students. We balance our days of lectures, workshops, and discussions with hands-on farming projects, hikes, shared meals, and lots of fun. The facilitators for LeaderShift are Danya Gorel and Amber Benally.
Examples of past activities
Examples of past workshops
Students learn action-based strategies to create social and environmental change in their own communities.
LeaderShift looks at the legacy of resource extraction, its impacts on local communities, and paths forward.
Students get to dig in the dirt, hike through slot canyons, and practice their newfound skills through hands-on learning.
This year, we took to Zoom for LeaderShift, an environmental advocacy training program for young leaders.
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Calling all young people (ages 16-22)! Join us for an online course that follows fossil fuels from their source to their destination and explores environmental justice issues.
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Summers are for road trips. Read about a group of students who piled in a van and set off to learn about uranium mining on the Colorado Plateau.
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