2022 Schedule – Central Time

This workshop will introduce participants to the foundations of designing inclusive organizations from the inside out. Participants will explore the key concepts of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and identify the characteristics of inclusive organizations. Using case studies and dialogue, this session will introduce participants to strategies and tools that create and sustain an internal culture of inclusion. We will outline the leverage points for inclusive organizational design, including board and staff development, organizational policies, systems, and processes. Participants will be invited to activate what they’ve learned in this session by outlining at least five action items to bring these concepts to life inside their home organizations.

Perhaps you have heard the expression that people are our best assets. At the same time, conservation organizations (among all organizations) are struggling to keep their talent inspired, and to retain institutional knowledge and specific expertise. Succession planning is the process of identifying the important roles at your organization and creating a plan for how you can support individuals to assume those roles. Land Trust staff often arrive at an organization with passion for the mission and the work they are doing. But for these employees to commit to working at your organization for many years, they must feel that they can continually build their individual skills and talents and be at a workplace that allows them to thrive.In this workshop we will provide participants with ideas on how to create organizational standards, define the core competencies of leadership, and put a leadership development process in place. We will discuss how to create a succession plan that ties into your strategic planning and action planning process. We will talk about the role of the individual who is likely to grow into a critical role at your organization and we’ll discuss the role of supervisors and the board in the process. We will share some examples of best practices for small and large organizations that will help to illustrate how you can take concrete steps to create a more sustainable future for your land trust, with leaders who are in it for the long term.

Be prepared! Actively using Land Trust Standards and Practices and the accreditation requirements in your daily practice, you will feel ready to prepare your best accreditation application. Learn from Commission staff about how they review your application and gain insights into the accreditation requirements and documentation. As a participant you will leave knowing timesaving short-cuts, how to pre-screen your documents to avoid common problems, how to leverage the Requirements Manual, and more. Appropriate for land trust staff and board members with an interest in first-time or renewal of accreditation that have some familiarity with the land trust accreditation process.

People get stuck thinking about how to build their organization. What should be simple is often very difficult. This session intends to help people understand the fundamental elements of successful land trusts by looking at several specific icons – circles, triangles, and arrows – that offer clarity as they help define the systems and structure of land trusts. Using icons that have been developed and refined over three decades of work with land trusts, the session will explore six core issues that many land trusts face: leadership development, lines of authority, delegation, strategic planning, and board-engaged fundraising.

Knowledge is power! Bring your curiosity and your questions to this introduction of the accreditation renewal process. Participants will receive an overview of the renewal process and timing, how to get help and information throughout the process, and how and when to start preparing for your renewal application. (Hint: it’s never too early!) Participants will leave confident about preparing, organizing, and uploading application documents for review. Appropriate for accredited land trust staff and board members unfamiliar with the accreditation renewal process.

Land trusts face myriad issues that require legal advice. Whether drafting conservation easements, preparing board resolutions, reviewing contracts, or defending property boundaries and easement terms, having the support of competent counsel is critical to success. However, most land trusts do not employ in-house counsel and therefore must turn to outside attorneys. This workshop covers when land trusts should consider using outside legal counsel, what experience they should look for in a candidate, and how they should work with selected outside counsel, as well as what expectations attorneys often have for their land trust clients. The panel is composed of both attorneys and land trust board members who will share their experience and expertise in addressing legal needs common among land trusts.

Think. Act. Lead. It seems simple enough. But recognizing the complex systems you are working in, building a dynamic network of partners capable of solving challenging problems, crafting a consensus that points your collaborators in a unified direction, and managing toward a robust and entrepreneurial response is never easy. All of this is harder, but even more necessary, in the deep inter-sector collaborations that are vital to work in the conservation lands field. Yet, we rarely consider the skills needed to create and maintain these partnerships. Most of us learn these skills by trial, error, and many times, failure. Worse, we typically stay in our self-reinforcing silos, sharing perspectives and frustrations with like-minded people, limiting our vision of what land partnerships can become. So, what do leaders need to create sustainable partnerships at the intersection of public, corporate, and nonprofit sectors that solve complex social and economic challenges? We will introduce you to a roadmap of skills, practices, and compelling examples to inspire new possibilities in partnership.

You earned it, now promote it! The accreditation seal means your land trust has been verified to be operating at the highest national conservation standards. Join us for a discussion on promoting your accredited status on your website, social media and fundraising endeavors. We also will be soliciting feedback on a new accreditation promotional toolkit.