W.I.L.D. Program

What you can expect from W.I.L.D.

'12-'13 W.I.L.D. Member Application

Investing in Tomorrow’s Leaders through innovative and unique youth programming: W.I.L.D. (Wildlife Intensive Leadership Development):  A Texas Brigades Endeavor.

The Texas Brigades Youth Leadership Development Program is continually seeking new opportunities to fill in the missing links in achieving large scale agricultural and natural resource literacy in Texas’ youth.

W.I.L.D. was launched in 2006 to fill one of those gaps.  The Texas Brigades has effectively produced thousands of youth volunteers that are skilled and well versed in natural resource issues, ecological processes, and agriculture – wildlife interactions.  The W.I.L.D. program is a prestigious, advanced leadership development and deployment program for the highest achieving former Brigade Cadets.  The program will seek to hone their leadership skills, expose them to agricultural and natural resource policy-making and policy makers, foster development of professional skills, and improve the overall success of the Texas Brigades program through the creation of a Cadet Advisory Group composed of W.I.L.D. participants.

Methodology and Major Actions:

• Create advanced leadership and professional development curriculum for former Texas Brigades Cadets.
   
• Organize and implement unique learning experiences that will expose participant youth to the political interactions and players that create agricultural and natural resource policy in the state of Texas, and hone their leadership, communication, and critical thinking skills (special seminars, field trips and real-world experiences; participation in conferences, meetings of working groups; and interaction with legislative, state agency, and non-profit groups that influence policy decisions).
   
• Implement a Give-Back Program:  Participants in the W.I.L.D. program will serve on a special Cadet Advisory Group to the Texas Brigades.  The first major assignment for W.I.L.D. program participants will be to use their newfound leadership potential to give back to the program that brought them to W.I.L.D.  The participants will serve as (1) student advisors to the Texas Brigades Board of Directors, (2) mentors to current Brigade participants, and (3) official Brigade ambassadors at events across Texas and the United States.

The W.I.L.D. program will be held every two years, with the next class being selected in Spring 2012. 

To see pictures of the previous W.I.L.D. class, click here.