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How conservation leadership culture silences the experiences that sustain it Picture a campfire. Not as metaphor yet. Just the thing itself. Imagine a circle. Everyone is equally distant from the center, with no head of the table, no podium, and no raised platform. Warmth is physical and shared. The darkness at the edges surrounds the […]

Why leadership capacity and human capacity are not the same thing Conservation organizations typically evaluate leadership capacity by measuring performance, adaptability, and output. But leadership capacity and regenerative capacity are not the same thing. In mission-driven fields like conservation, high-performing leaders often experience burnout not because they lack skills, but because the internal conditions required […]

Let’s be real. Some days, it feels easier to push emotions down, check off the boxes, and pretend everything’s fine. That emotional silence was the norm in my family—and, as it turns out, also the unspoken rule in much of my conservation career. But it’s costing us our health, our connection, and our purpose. What […]

🔥 Conservation Leadership Is Burning Out—Here’s Why It Matters When I was in college—more years ago than I care to count—I didn’t worry much about the future. The path felt hopeful. The conservation jobs were there. The work ahead felt bright. But now, the emotional tone of the conservation workforce has shifted dramatically. From undergraduates […]