Kinship Conservation Fellows launches Focus 2012: Connection. Collaboration. Impact.

A full year of strengthening community, building relationships and impacting the world

CHICAGO, IL, November 1, 2011 –/WORLD-WIRE/– Kinship Conservation Fellows today announced Focus 2012: Connection. Collaboration. Impact, a year-long series of events and activities aimed at engaging past Fellows to build leadership capacity and to continue creating connections between women and men from around the world who are committed to exploring deeper, more impactful ways to apply market-based approaches to environmental concerns.

For the last 10 years, Kinship has engaged 174 Fellows to take part in a month-long training program, providing Fellows with a network of conservation alliances and the opportunity to forge important and enduring relationships as part of a growing community committed to environmental stewardship. Kinship seeks to extend the value of the fellowship experience well beyond the month-long program into a lasting community of conservation leaders.

“We have decided that every five years we want to devote a full year to reflecting on past years and focusing on strengthening the Kinship community,” says Kinship Director, Jim Tolisano. “By reconnecting Fellows with one another and engaging them in new experiences that continue building their leadership skills, we’re providing them with new opportunities to learn from and inspire one another that extend beyond the program.”

Kinship will dedicate 2012 to connecting its Fellows, both in-person and virtually, through a series of events, topical workshops and online webinars that provide multiple vehicles and opportunities to get involved. While Kinship undertakes the special year ahead designed to strengthen the fellowship program and community, it will not be selecting a new cohort of Fellows for 2012.

“We’ve got an exciting year of engagement opportunities and activities for our Fellows,” says Jim Tolisano. “We will not only continue to build and expand our robust community of environmental conservation leaders, we will also strengthen their ability to create impact both individually and collectively around the world. “

ABOUT KINSHIP

The mission of Kinship Conservation Fellows is to develop a community of leaders dedicated to collaborative approaches to environmental issues with an emphasis on market-based principles.

Chosen from hundreds of applicants from around the world, Kinship Conservation Fellows are mid-career conservation professionals with at least five years of experience who are demonstrated leaders, innovative thinkers and mission-driven achievers. Fellows participate in a month-long in-residence program with training in leadership skills and business management, core instruction in the application of market-based tools to create environmental change, hands-on application of learning through real-life individual or group projects, and interaction with faculty with international expertise.

For more information about Kinship contact Sarah Knobloch at (312) 803-6200, sarah.knobloch@kinshiptrustco.com, or visit www.kinshipfellows.org.

CONTACT:
Sarah Knobloch
312-803-6200
Sarah.knobloch@kinshiptrustco.com