ANCA New England Region Meeting

Save the date for the 2019 New England Region Meeting at Sharon Audubon Center in Sharon, CT. Topic:

Building Community Engagement through Nature Centers, Erin Kelly, Boston Nature Center

Mass Audubon’s Boston Nature Center (BNC) is a unique wildlife sanctuary located in the heart of the city. In the twenty years since its inception, the BNC has grown into a bustling community-centered green space for both people and wildlife. In this workshop, we will discuss the four areas of BNC’s community engagement: Supportive Environment, Hospitality, Diversity/Inclusion/Equity, and Leadership. In small group work, we will share the successes and the challenges faced by all of our organizations and take a closer look at resources that can help build partnerships, evaluate the impact of engagement efforts and support organizational change. Deepening community engagement is a complex goal that requires thoughtful and individual solutions for each nature center, this important work is needed for environmental organizations to be sustainable and resilient in an ever-changing landscape.

Erin Kelly is the Education Manager at Mass Audubon’s Boston Nature Center with 18 years of leadership in outdoor environmental education and camp programming. She has designed programs to meet the needs of urban audiences in such diverse communities as Boston, New York City, and Los Angeles. Erin earned her B.S. in Environmental Science from Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and a M.S. in Environmental Education from Antioch University New England. At the Boston Nature Center, she directs popular nature camp programs that reach hundreds of families from all over Boston, coordinates year-round educational programs connected to Boston Public Schools, and supervises the center’s Youth Leader program.

See the full agenda here. RSVP to Eileen Fielding at . Check back here for more details in the future.