Please join NPS Chesapeake Gateways for a new opportunity—the Leader Academy for Gateways Communities in Cambridge, MD in February 2025!
This two-day course, starting the afternoon of February 10 and ending at noon on February 11, will inform participants about the Gateways Communities Initiative and how it can help you link nature-based and cultural tourism to support community priorities and encourage local economic initiatives.
Chesapeake Gateways Communities provide locals and visitors alike with an outstanding welcoming orientation to their area, encouraging further exploration by offering a wide range of authentic Chesapeake experiences, resources, and stories. The Chesapeake Gateways Communities Initiative helps communities assess their ability to serve as host and guide to local residents and visitors. The Leader Academy will prepare community leaders from the watershed to take their community through the process, including identifying and recruiting a strong, representative team; completing a self-assessment to identify gaps and opportunities; and prioritizing future action planning, all to help build a stronger connection to the Chesapeake.
Piloted in 2024, the initiative will be available to communities in a virtual format in 2025. The course will review the process a community would undertake as a virtual participant in the initiative and also offer interactive exercises and an opportunity to hear from a pilot community. If you are an existing or emerging community leader from the government, nonprofit, institutional, or private sectors and your community wants to connect residents and visitors to natural, cultural, and recreational experiences that support positive outcomes in the community, this opportunity is for you. Come explore the possibilities for your Gateways Community!
Registration is free and limited to 25 participants. We will run a waitlist once the slots have been filled. Attendees will be responsible for travel and lodging costs. To learn more about the initiative and register for the Leader Academy, visit Gateways Communities Initiative.
As an added benefit, Leader Academy participants will be automatically invited to the 2025 Annual Chesapeake Gateways Partner Meeting, being held at the same location from February 12-13 (with optional site visits on February 11 and 14). More information will be provided to Academy participants on how to register for this separate event.
Please contact Kate Marks, Partnership Coordinator, at kate_marks@nps.gov with any questions about the Gateways Communities Initiative or the Leader Academy.