2011 Emerging and Innovative Environmental Leaders

In August, ELP held its cross-regional retreat, an opportunity for the 35 Fellows in the 2011 New England and Eastern Regional Networks to come together in Litchfield, CT and engage one another in conversations and shared learning.

The focus for this year's 2nd retreat was on effective storytelling and the use of social media to engage a broader audience in our work.  Stories have always played an important role in our development because they have the ability to create an emotional connection, create a vision of what is possible, allow us to shift others perspective or have our own perspectives challenged.  

Throughout our retreat Fellows learned the importance of developing a portfolio of stories which they may draw from when communicating the success of their organizations, stories that will engage readers or listeners to ask questions for questions are the beginning of the interactive process.  

Unlike traditional media which puts the power of the story telling in the hands of the reporter and the editing team, social media enables us to provide intentionality around what we want our stakeholders to feel and actions we would like them to take. Fellows learned about effectively using Facebook, Twitter, Posterous and other tools for engaging their constituents as well as reaching the next 10% of individuals who should care about their work.

 
"The skill of crafting engaging, persuasive stories and the ability to effectively utilize social media tools are what I need to achieve my goals with customers, co-workers and my constituents. Through ELP I found the confidence to harness work-critical but seldom-understood powers of the narrative and digital frontiers."  

Steve Erario NERN11

Links:

• ELP