Climate Change Leadership Academy

What 2CLA Offers

• Peer Support | 2CLA participants meet, learn alongside, and collaborate with a cohort of ~25 engaged citizens from across the Upper Valley who are concerned about climate change and ready to do something about it. The connections you make with your 2CLA cohort and 2CLA alumni from previous cohorts will be a source of mutual support and connectedness for years to come.
• Networking | 2CLA introduces you to organizations and leaders who are already working to address climate change in the Upper Valley. These are people and groups you can connect with and seek help from now and in the future. 
• Leadership Training | 2CLA provides resources and opportunities to hone your skills in designing and running impactful projects, recruiting and coordinating volunteers, leading equitable community engagement, implementing successful public outreach, and more.
• Learning | 2CLA brings in climate scientists and environmental justice experts to deepen your understanding of the warming, extreme weather, increased precipitation, and drought we are seeing in the Upper Valley; how those changes are affecting our communities; and who is most affected by and most resilient to those changes.
• Action | Each 2CLA participant identifies a climate-related project within the participant’s own community to launch, join, or build upon during and after their 2CLA experience. Identifying, planning, and beginning to dig into your project will be your focus this fall, supported by the many partners and resources offered through 2CLA.

Wondering If This Opportunity Can Work for You?

2CLA is for any Upper Valley resident (as defined here) age 16 or older with an interest in local climate action. 2CLA is FREE, thanks to grant funding. If additional financial support would make it easier for you to participate, Vital Communities has $200 stipends for participants to compensate for time, food, childcare, elder care, or transportation costs. When filling out your application, you can choose whether or not to accept the stipend.

2CLA 2022 Schedule

September 20, 5:30 – 8:00: Kickoff Event (in person in the Lebanon area)

October 4, 6:00 – 7:30: 90-minute virtual session

October 18, 6:00 – 7:30: 90-minute virtual session

November 1, 5:00 – 6:30: 90 minute in-person session. We will hold this session virtually if not advisable to meet in person per public health guidelines.

November 15, 6:00 – 7:30: 90-minute virtual session

December 6, 6:00 – 7:30: 90-minute virtual session

Spring, date and time TBA: Culminating session

How 2CLA Participants are Chosen 

The 2CLA 2022 Design Team (including 2CLA alumni, Upper Valley Adaptation Workgroup members, and Vital Communities staff) will review applications submitted by interested individuals and select up to 25 participants for the 2CLA Class of 2022. Applicants will be selected based on the following criteria:

• In what ways each candidate adds to the diversity of the 2022 cohort through their lived experience, identity, perspectives on climate change, age, geography, etc.
• Ability to participate
• Eagerness to use 2CLA as a starting point for deepening their personal engagement in community-based efforts to address the causes, effects, and inequities of climate change in their own community

We are seeking to build a cohort that is diverse in terms of lived experience, identity, age, location in the Upper Valley, and perspectives on climate change. We also seek those with the ability to fully participate in the live sessions, complete homework, and dedicate time each week to their project. In addition, we will look for responses that indicate an eagerness to use 2CLA as a starting point for deepening their personal engagement in community-based efforts to address the causes, effects, and inequities of climate change in their own community.