Mountaineers Leadership Development
POWERED BY PHILANTHROPY
Our leadership development programs are only made possible through the generous support of our organization’s charitable donors. If you’re inspired to support our programming and wish to contribute, please consider making a donation to The Mountaineers.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Leadership Development Series
- Leadership Conference
- Leadership Development Fund
- Outdoor Leadership Courses
- Resource Center
Leadership Development Series
The Mountaineers is excited to offer an ongoing Leadership Development Series to provide high-quality, continuing education opportunities for our volunteer leaders. This series consists of standalone seminars, as well as short series of sessions, to cover a wide variety of leadership topics. Sessions will be planned between October - April of each year, and they will be held mainly online as remote webinars, with the occasional seminar held at the geographic locations of our branches.
To support our continued dedication to bringing world-class speakers to the Leadership Development Series, we’re introducing a modest registration fee in 2025. This small change ensures we can sustain the program, and honor the time and expertise of our presenters. Scholarships are available for anyone who may be impacted by the new fee.
Categories
What aspect of leadership does the session cover?
- Conservation & Advocacy: Conservation, Stewardship, Low impact recreation, Permits and access, Land managers, and Outdoor advocacy best practices.
- Mental Health: Mental Health, Psychological Safety, Mental Health First Aid, Resilience
- Risk Management: Risk Assessment, Decision Making, Pre-Trip Planning, Case Studies & Incident Review, Legal Considerations
- Education & Instruction: Principles of Instruction, Giving & Receiving Feedback, Lesson Planning, Assessment & Self-Assessment
- Group Facilitation: Group Management & Leadership, Building Cohesive Teams, Setting Goals & Expectations, Conflict Resolution, Effective Communication, Partnership & Mentorship
- Equity & Inclusion: Framework, terminology, and the practical implementation of structural changes to improve equity in Mountaineers programs. Topics will primarily cover race, gender, and sexuality.
- Admin & Logistics: Becoming a Mountaineers Leader, Branch & Committee Chair Leadership, Mentorship, Behavior Complaints & Incident Reporting, Website Tips & Tricks
- Continuing Education: General sessions that build leadership but aren't otherwise directly related to one of the above categories.
Have an idea for a presentation? Please contact Member Services.
Leadership Conference
The Mountaineers Leadership Conference is held twice a year as a one-day conference at the Seattle Program Center in Magnuson Park and the Tacoma Program Center. The program includes both esteemed outdoor professionals and seasoned leaders from our own community at The Mountaineers. A series of interactive sessions explores the many facets of leadership – from honing our decision-making skills, to pedagogy and better teaching, to the "soft-skills" of facilitating positive group dynamics.
Registration typically opens mid-fall. Please keep an eye on our activity calendars and email Member Services with any questions!
Leadership Development Fund
Each year, The Mountaineers designates funds to support the professional growth of our leaders. These funds are made available to individual leaders – as well as small groups of leaders – to support their attendance at conferences, workshops, courses, and other programs that are relevant to their volunteer leadership.
Learn more about the Leadership Development Fund and apply for a grant!
Outdoor Leadership courses
No matter your level of experience, The Mountaineers has a variety of Outdoor Leadership courses to help you hone the skills you need to be a more effective leader.
Emotional Safety in the Outdoors Course
This leadership course addresses equity and inclusion through the lens of emotional safety in the outdoors. The course begins with broad and systems-level concepts around equity and inclusion to make explicit connections between the influences of structural, historical, political, and social contexts on individual and interpersonal experiences and relationships.
- Take the Emotional Safety in the Outdoors course
The Equity & Inclusion Leader Toolkit
The Equity & Inclusion Leader Toolkit is a collection of reading, resources, and reflection. Its purpose is to educate and empower volunteers who are looking for ways to integrate equity and inclusion into their Mountaineers activities or who are simply interested in learning more. It provides volunteers with tools and ideas to think through their activity from start to finish through a lens of equity and inclusion, without having to change the goals of their activity. The toolkit includes basic tips, practical examples, customizable templates, and resources to learn more about a given topic, and topics range from simple tips to create a great activity listing to deeper areas of reflection on things like bystander intervention.
foundations of leadership and instruction
Designed for our current and future volunteer instructors, with a goal of fostering diverse and passionate connections throughout The Mountaineers. These two courses are for current or aspiring volunteers who are proficient in one or more outdoor activities, but are interested in learning more about leading and instructing in the outdoors. Learn more about the Foundations of Leadership and Foundations of Instruction courses.
OUtdoor Leadership Seminar
Many branches offer an Outdoor Leadership Seminar, completion of which results in the Outdoor Leadership Course badge. This badge is currently a prerequisite for many leadership opportunities within The Mountaineers.
Resource Center
The Mountaineers hopes to inspire the ongoing growth of our programs through various leadership development opportunities. Please browse past presentation materials and recordings for additional information and ideas in our Resource Center.