Texas A&M Forest Service kicks off seventh annual Leadership Institute
ROUND ROCK, Texas—The Texas A&M Forest Service Leadership Institute kicked off its seventh cohort Oct. 13 to 15 in Round Rock. The institute is a leadership program that rallies existing and emerging leaders within the natural resources and incident response fields and increases their ability to enact meaningful change throughout Texas.
“The Texas A&M Forest Service mission is to conserve forests, trees, and natural resources; protect lives and property; and provide statewide leadership,” said Leighton Gibson, Texas A&M Forest Service Marketing and Communications Manager and institute coordinator. “The leadership institute helps build the capacity of our partners who share that mission through leadership training, furthering our mission and impact across the state.”
The leadership institute offers a transformative experience for participants, hoping to leave a deep and lasting impact on their ability to lead.
This year’s cohort consists a diverse group of 23 members from differing natural resource and incident response organizations across the state including municipality urban foresters, fire chiefs, conservation coordinators and organization directors.
“Being in such a diverse group of local leaders at all points in their careers makes for rich discussions from all perspectives and many “aha” moments,” said participant Megan McNairn with Cooks Branch Conservancy. “The Institute is refreshing in its approach – highly interactive with an emphasis on coaching us on practical tools to use in our day-to-day.”
Session I of cohort seven was designed around leading oneself. During this session, participants focused on building a cohesive team with other cohort members and exploring who they are as leaders through enrichment programs that emphasized interpersonal leadership.
One key to success for the institute is dynamic and engaging speakers. In this session, participants heard from Frank Keck about building a united team and foundations of leadership, Cindi Baldi, PhD about decision making in leadership and Hannah Edwards about discovering strengths.
“The Texas A&M Forest Service Leadership Institute breaks the mold when it comes to leadership training,” said participant Dusten Orsak with Waller-Harris ESD 200. “I learned so much more than I ever expected and made genuine connections with people I doubt I would have spoken with outside of the program.”
Over the next several months, the cohort will participate in monthly lunch and learns, networking opportunities and course activities. The cohort will graduate from the institute in April, after the second three-day session, which will have a new host of presenters and focus on leading others.
To learn more about the Texas A&M Forest Service Leadership Institute, the speakers and how to participate, visit https://
