Lissa with Fellows in San Francisco

Wow.  Where do we even begin?!  As we prepare to welcome Sarah to her new role, we are also seeing the end of an era for the Switzer Foundation!  Thanks to all of our Fellows who were able to make it to the farewell parties for Lissa in San Francisco and Boston.  Luckily, Lissa will remain an esteemed member of the Switzer Network, as a 1992 Fellow.  She will be taking a few months of well-earned summer rest here in Maine, and then looks forward to working as a philanthropic advisor to foundations and donors, deepening the themes of environmental leadership, equity and impact.  She will be here in the E.D. role until June 30th.  In the meantime, Lissa and Sarah have started working together to make the impending transition as smooth as can be.  

Amidst the exciting staff transitions, we also managed to select 20 new Switzer Fellows and award a Leadership Grant earlier this month!  We promise, we will announce the 2019 Switzer Fellows as soon as we can (shortly!), so please stay tuned for that.  

Nick Jensen

The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) has been awarded a $20,000 Switzer Leadership Grant to support Switzer Fellow Nick Jensen's role as its first Southern California Conservation Analyst.  CNPS was awarded a $25,000 grant last year to help create the new position for Nick, and we were glad to be able to support them for a second year as Nick continues his work as a botanist and grassroots conservation leader in southern California.

Photo: The Goodman Center

The Goodman Center is once again offering discounted tuition ($400) to Switzer Fellows interested in improving their storytelling abilities!  In " Storytelling: Tapping the Power of Narrative," participants will learn how effective storytelling can help translate complex issues in a meaningful and relatable way to your audience.  (Fellows have taken this training before and given it high marks.)  The training is web-based and takes place on four dates in July.  All trainings are recorded in case you have to miss one.  If you are interested, please contact Erin for the link to the registration!  We are also able to support Fellows' tuition through the Switzer Professional Development Grant Program if needed.