Youth Environmental Leadership Program
Founded in 2014, GreenWorks’ Youth Environmental Leadership Program (YELP) is an eight-week paid internship program for local young people of color in Buncombe County. YELP is a grassroots effort to challenge the status quo and advance equity in the environmental field and youths’ connection to our ecological community.
The only program of its kind in the Asheville area, YELP fosters in young people the development of life skills, knowledge and practical experience to be successful in making informed decisions concerning the natural environment and our place in it.
Since its formation, YELP has evolved into a youth-led program, with program alumni returning to take on leadership roles and being highly sought after by environmental organizations and college programs.
Interns work in the field locally in the City of Asheville and Buncombe County, completing environmental service work, learning from experts, and developing their own group initiatives. The interns complete work at Great Smoky Mountains National Park two days a week throughout the internship. As part of their work they learn to canoe and kayak, camp, hiking etiquette, and nonviolent communication skills. Interns are given training in life skills and outdoor work as well as outdoor adventure. We are serving this community because we are aware of the need to build understanding and action among residents around the environmental issues in their communities, provide paid employment experiences to youth, and introduce young people to career pathways in the environmental field.
The only program of its kind in the Asheville area, YELP fosters in young people the development of life skills, knowledge and practical experience to be successful in making informed decisions concerning the natural environment and our place in it.
Since its formation, YELP has evolved into a youth-led program, with program alumni returning to take on leadership roles and being highly sought after by environmental organizations and college programs.
Interns work in the field locally in the City of Asheville and Buncombe County, completing environmental service work, learning from experts, and developing their own group initiatives. The interns complete work at Great Smoky Mountains National Park two days a week throughout the internship. As part of their work they learn to canoe and kayak, camp, hiking etiquette, and nonviolent communication skills. Interns are given training in life skills and outdoor work as well as outdoor adventure. We are serving this community because we are aware of the need to build understanding and action among residents around the environmental issues in their communities, provide paid employment experiences to youth, and introduce young people to career pathways in the environmental field.
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