At Climate Land Leaders, we envision a world where plant, animal, and human communities thrive through our land stewardship. How will we get there? Our new Strategic Plan provides the roadmap for the next two years.
Our mission: to provide community and support for land stewards creating climate resiliency. We are guided by a set of principles:
- Take urgent climate action through land stewardship practices, advocacy, and collective measures
- Grow food and fiber using practices that heal ecosystems and build farm resiliency
- Invite and welcome people at all stages of their land transformation journey
- Be part of the solution in dismantling inequities that limit access to land tenure
- Respect and learn from the natural world through observation, listening, and engagement
- Be guided by Indigenous knowledge and scientific evidence
- Support each other and kindly hold each other accountable
- Work with nonprofit, government, and business partners for greater impact
Carol Bouska has served on three Climate Land Leaders Strategic Planning Committees, including the committee that developed our 2025-26 plan.
Our 2025-26 roadmap includes the following goals:
Goal 1: The Climate Land Leaders Initiative builds and strengthens its community of land stewards
Our task is to grow – for greater impact – while maintaining the camaraderie that is so valued by the group. By December 2026, our cohort will include 300 land stewards who control 80,000 acres in the Midwest. (As of December 2024, there were 190 Climate Land Leaders who steward 46,914 acres.) Climate Land Leaders overwhelmingly report they belong to our Initiative for the community and support they receive from other Climate Land Leaders, so we will work to maintain that camaraderie through a variety of strategies, including offering 50+ online and in-person meetings/events per year on a variety of topics.
Our two-year measurements of success for this goal include: 90 percent of Climate Land Leaders report that the Initiative has given them a strong community, and 95 percent of Climate Land Leaders say they are very likely to recommend the Climate Land Leaders Initiative to a friend.
Goal 2: Participation in the Climate Land Leaders Initiative results in robust implementation of climate solutions
We will continue a core activity: Soliciting conservation goals from participants early in the year and asking Climate Land Leaders for reports on goal achievements at year’s end. Researchers tell us people are more likely to follow through on conservation projects if they share their intentions publicly and have a supportive community that helps them follow through. We also will continue to offer our Perennial stipends to those planting or maintaining trees, shrubs, and grasses.
Our measurements of success include: 90 percent of CLLs report the Initiative is helping them achieve their on-farm conservation and resiliency goals.
Goal 3: The Climate Land Leaders Initiative builds leaders and visibility for natural climate solutions
Our name includes “leaders” for a reason: Most of those participating not only implement on-the-ground conservation, they are willing to share and teach and learn from others. Over the next two years, 35 Climate Land Leaders will serve as federal, regional, state, or local leaders for climate and land use policy, and 120 CLLs will be featured in media and social media urging bold action on natural climate solutions. We will continue our focus on federal policy but also increase participation in state and local opportunities for natural climate solutions
Alanna Koshollek, our Wisconsin lead, facilitated our Strategic Planning calls.
GOAL 4: Equity becomes central throughout the Climate Land Leaders Initiative
Now more than ever, we need to double down on our commitment to make Climate Land Leaders accessible and helpful to all. Our organization – and our country – are stronger when everyone succeeds. At Climate Land Leaders, we firmly believe that diversity is a strength. We will double the number of Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and LGBTQ+ Climate Land Leaders. We will work with 12 Climate Land Leaders to develop plans to more robustly share their wealth and support equity efforts, such as donations to Black, Indigenous and People of Color individuals/groups, and long-term rental or sale to new farmers.
GOAL 5: The Climate Land Leaders Initiative is effective, efficient, and inspiring
We will develop a yearly Operations Plan that includes a variety of targets, such as meeting legal requirements for nonprofit organizations and ensuring diverse sources of funding. We’ll know we’re successful if we meet all metrics for a well-functioning nonprofit from the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits.
We are grateful to all those Climate Land Leaders who provided feedback for this Strategic Plan and to the Strategic Planning Committee: Carol Bouska, Christina Foster, Kate Moos, Meg Nielsen and Lee Tesdell, assisted by Facilitator Alanna Koshellek and staffers Sarah Hunt and Teresa Opheim. Editing support by Sylvia Spalding.
Also, thank you to the following experts for their input: Nathan Aaberg, Illinois Farmlink; Heather Cusick, Climate Bridge Strategies; Patrick A Freeland (Muscogee), the Northwest Climate Resilience Program, Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians; Ben Lilliston, Institute for Ag and Trade Policy; Dr. Michelle Montgomery (Haliwa Saponi/Eastern Band Cherokee), University of Washington Tacoma; and Dr. Katherine Young, Clean Wisconsin.
Find the full 2025-26 Strategic Plan here.