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Six Rungs to the Future
Our Career Ladder program works to improve the quality and accessibility of science education for youth with the ultimate goal of increasing the number and diversity of future conservation leaders. The program is sequential, with the lowest rung on the Career Ladder designed for children as young as three and the sixth and highest rung designed for college students.
How Career Ladder Promotes Conservation Leadership
Now in its sixth year, the program is successfully promoting conservation leadership by:
- Providing environmental education opportunities for underserved youth and families. These opportunities complement school curricula.
- Exposing youth from diverse backgrounds to environmental careers and providing training in a variety of scientific and professional disciplines.
- Promoting the development of communication and job-related skills.
- Helping participants find connections between their skills and protecting the environment.
- Inspiring future generations of conservationists and conservation-minded citizens.
The Rungs of the Career Ladder
The six rungs on our Career Ladder are designed to take advantage of the personal strengths of participating youths and offer rewarding opportunities for scientific exploration. The program encourages continued scientific interest from early childhood through adulthood by offering engaging programs for each stage of academic development.
The lowest rung on the ladder is Zoo Adventure Passport (ZAP!), a program that introduces children to basic science and conservation through fun, family-based activities. From there, children climb to the second rung—Kids’ Club—an after-school program for middle school students that develops key science skills. High school youth can then progress to the third rung, our competitive Youth Volunteer Corps, which provides hands-on, project-driven mentoring and training in science and conservation. Fourth, we offer paid positions in a real-world conservation setting at Brookfield Zoo for high school and college students. The sixth rung consists of merit-based scholarship support for college education in conservation and science, as well as opportunities for paid and unpaid internships in animal programs, education, and administration.
Increasing Diversity, Promoting Opportunity
The sequential design of this program is effective at engaging both racially and economically diverse local youth and providing a realistic prospect of a professional career linked to nature conservation.
Career Ladder builds on our strong relationships within the communities we serve to encourage scientific aptitude and an enduring interest in conservation among today’s young people. To help ensure a diverse conservation workforce in the future, we offer paid and unpaid internships, provide need-based support for economically disadvantaged participants, and target additional culturally diverse communities for recruitment into the program. Youth from all backgrounds who are interested in a career in the environmental sciences have the opportunity to pursue their interests despite having potentially limited resources.
Our approach provides a progression of opportunities that inspire youth to develop leadership skills, generate confidence in their abilities, and expand professional horizons through scientific exploration. Students gain crucial life skills that transcend cultural barriers and reach beyond traditional academic subjects, such as public speaking skills, professional interviews, and public presentations. By leveraging our long-term relationships with some of Chicago’s underserved communities, we are able to bring the program to racially and economically diverse audiences.