by Leanna Joyner, ATC's Program Director for Volunteer Relations

A.T. Leadership Academy 2020 Intent to Participate

Update 8/24: The agenda has been set for the Volunteer Leadership Academy. Find out more and sign up here appalachiantrail.org/VLA

Updated July 13, 2020:

Intended for leaders within A.T. Clubs, A.T. Communities, affinity groups and key partners, the A.T. Volunteer Leadership Academy will be held online and will bring focus to operational best-practices for volunteer management, safe field operations, and fundamentals in A.T. Cooperative Management. This online learning workshop is in place of the Volunteer Leadership Meeting, which happens every other year, and cannot be held in person this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The aim for the Volunteer Leadership Academy is to have “tracks” of learning based on topics of interest or areas of expressed need. Focused on creating opportunities for network capacity building by sharing knowledge, practicing skills and through a collaborative learning environment, we hope this virtual academy translates into meaningful experiences with real-world application for group leaders.

ATC is currently assessing feedback from A.T. leaders on what would be the greatest benefit to participants through a survey found here and through listening sessions with club leaders.

Like most past Volunteer Leadership Meetings, ATC expects clubs will send a minimum of two participants, but unlike face-to-face meetings, the online nature of the Leadership Academy means more than that can easily be accommodated. If you know of others from within your organization who would have interest in participating, please have them express their interest in participation here so that we can include them on invitations to various learning tracks once they are announced. Clubs are specifically requested to send at least one person in each category

  1. a) a current or emerging club leader (a club president or soon-to-be-president, etc)
  2. b) a field leader for the club’s A.T. management work.

When is the A.T. Volunteer Leadership Academy? The date(s) are to be determined. It is envisioned that they there will be some recurring monthly sessions on learning tract topics. As we wrap up leadership survey and listening session conversations in the coming week(s) we’ll have analysis together to inform tracts. At that time we’ll circulate topics by email and tools for scheduling so that the set timing for these online sessions best suit participants’ availability. 

This is  a flagship training for A.T. volunteers that convenes volunteer leaders, and aspiring leaders, from all 14 states to deepen their work with this essential public resource.