Nature Canada’s Women for Nature is launching an exciting new Young Nature Leadership Grant today. The goal of the grant is to encourage, foster and nurture youth to demonstrate their own leadership for nature.
Canadian youth are invited to develop and implement (in 2017) a project inspired by the Canadian Parks Council’s recently published The Nature Playbook that connects a new generation with nature by bringing them into the nature game. Grant recipients will have the opportunity to be mentored and coached by Women for Nature.
“As the 101st founding member of Nature Canada’s Women for Nature, it gives me great pleasure to be part of this new initiative that encourages, fosters and nurtures youth to demonstrate their own leadership for nature,” said The Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. “This bursary will enable young Canadians to better connect with nature and to its precious wildlife and habitats.”
“We are very excited about the launch of the Women for Nature Young Nature Leadership Grant,” says Eleanor Fast, Executive Director of Nature Canada. “Women for Nature are Canadian women with a vision – women of influence with a passion for nature. This new Grant is an excellent way for them to pass their passion on to young leaders to help protect our natural heritage and connect a new generation of Canadians to nature.”
“The more Canadians experience the awesome benefits of nature, the more support there will be for its conservation,” says Dawn Carr, Women of Nature member and Executive Director, Canadian Parks Council. “The Young Nature Leadership Grant, developed collaboratively with the Council and Women for Nature, is an opportunity to nurture and empower our emerging young leaders to champion nature. By working together we can protect, and encourage new generations to connect with, nature. Nature’s future, our future depends on it.”
If you are under 30 who cares deeply about nature and want to inspire and engage the next generation to connect with nature, learn about wildlife and parks and become a voice for nature, please apply for the Women for Nature Young Nature Leadership Grant.
Nature Canada was founded in 1939 because of the passion and initiative of Mabel Frances Whittemore, a teacher and nature lover whose main goal in life was to share her passion for nature with others. Today, Nature Canada represents a network comprised of 50,000 members and supporters and more than 350 nature organizations across the country. Over the past 75 years, Nature Canada has helped protect more than 63 million acres of parks and wildlife areas in Canada and countless species that depend on this habitat as well as engaging hundreds of thousands of Canadians especially children in nature through its activities.
Nature Canada‘s signature “Women for Nature” initiative raises awareness about the need to connect more Canadians of all ages to nature. The Women for Nature initiative is comprised of women from diverse sectors and backgrounds who come together to champion the importance of nature in the daily lives of all Canadians and to encourage more Canadians to connect with nature. Our founding members include women of influence such as Her Excellency Sharon Johnston, Senator Diane Griffin (Honorary Chair of Women for Nature), Her Excellency Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Madame Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, Minister Catherine McKenna and Margaret Atwood to name a few. Our members champion efforts to inspire youth and families to spend time in nature, to learn and experience our natural heritage and in doing so, ensure the health and well-being of our Canadian society. It also has a goal of being 150 Women Strong by Canada’s 150th anniversary.
For information on the Women for Nature Young Nature Leaders grant please contact:
Jodi Joy, Director of Development, Nature Canada, 613-295-6769 | 1-800-267-4088, or at jjoy@naturecanada.ca.