Parks for All Californians

5 residents will receive LLU OEP Leadership Certificates - The LLU OEP Leadership Certificate would be presented to outstanding participants who have shown dedication, leadership, and ownership in the programs. These participants would be identified by leaders as participants that have demonstrated commitment to the environmental justice foundations in the programs, have shared new initiatives with the group, and/or have assisted the programs in an exceptional manner. These certificates would be signed by our university President Dr. Hart and could be added to their resumes and experience CVs.

6 residents will be offered paid LLU Internship: Students and community members can build on their experience and take on leadership opportunities by helping plan and execute the programming. By building on their existing skills and knowledge base they can gain opportunities to participate as the leaders of the opportunities strengthening their logistics skills, administrative background, and program planning and implementation. These internships would offer paid opportunities therefore addressing the inequity in access to unpaid internships and participation in our existing nature and nutrition efforts and new programming. Two interns per quarter (6) will be hosted with all interns coming together during the Summer when there are more planned activities.

Outdoor Outreach provides implementation and coordination of the program which includes transportation to all outdoor engagements, food, education, and organized fun.

San Bernardino County Unified School District - will be providing service learning, career pathway, leadership opportunities, and mentoring youth leaders after the grant

The six interns through the OEP program will each be assigned a mentee whom they will mentor throughout their internship period and for the calendar year after. These mentees will be identified through their leadership, primarily those who have completed either the LLU OEP Leadership Certificate or the Service-Learning components, demonstrating interest and dedication to serving their local community. The interns will utilize their time to connect mentees to local organizations, such as the Sierra Club, for opportunities to learn about advocacy, policy, and to participate in local environmental justice projects such as cleanups. These mentees will also have the opportunity to participate in a networking session after the Careers in Health and Nature Equity Panel. This panel will take place once a year during the grantee’s existing Pipeline Summer program intensive series of events where local youth learn about professions and develop professional skills such as presenting, research, and interviews. Mentees will have a private session to network with these panelists with careers in nature, nutrition, and natural resource management to connect personally with those whose journey they would like to learn more about. Mentees, and all participants in the Summer Pipeline Program, are supported as lifetime alumni of the LLU Pipeline Alumni Association which hosts monthly professional development workshops, quarterly networking events, annual scholarship opportunities, and more.