From January 12-14, 2007, more than 30 youth from the Great Central Valley and the Bay area came together for the first annual WildLink/TEAM Youth Leadership Weekend. This has been a long anticipated collaboration, as both programs provide leadership training for youth, but do it in very different ways. WildLink develops its participants' leadership skills initially in a wilderness setting, then later in their schools and communities through its Wilderness Ambassador Program. TEAM does most of its work in a more urban setting, in which it gives youth the tools, training and opportunities to succeed as community leaders.

One of the most exciting elements of this collaboration is that WildLink is a Yosemite Institute project,and the TEAM youth leadership program is from its sister campus the Headlands Institute, which is located in the Marin Headlands. Each year, TEAM hosts its annual YouthQuest conference, which is an annual environmental youth conference at the Headlands Institute.
It is youth-led and gives attendees a chance to participate in and lead workshops about current environmental issues that are affecting their communities. WildLink's Delta Vista High School group will be attending this event in March.

The weekend was youth-facilitated, with students from each program sharing their skills with one another. Along with snowshoe, cross-country skiing and snowball adventures, they also focused on the concept of leadership. Whether it was the leadership compass activity, in which students explored their personal leadership style; or a literal map and compass activity, which gave them the survival skills they need to thrive in an unfamiliar place, one thing is certain. These youth know where they are headed, and they're ready to lead the way.

Click here to learn more about TEAM.

Click here to learn more about YouthQuest.