Youth Leadership Training Program
The Youth Leadership Training Program mobilizes the collective power of youth, which is essential to advancing durable solutions for ocean, climate, and biodiversity challenges. Through practical training in advocacy, organizing, and communications, participants gain the skills and confidence needed to engage effectively in civic and policy processes. Whether leading community initiatives, supporting strong conservation policy, or raising public awareness to grow the movement, youth participants contribute meaningfully to conservation outcomes and long-term resilience.
Since 2020, these training programs have drawn approximately 6000 youth from more than 160 countries. In just the last year, we have had nearly 2000 get engaged and we’re hoping to double that number in the years ahead.
We’re grateful for the enthusiasm and support for our Youth Leadership Training Program, and we’re committed to continually strengthening it to better serve young leaders around the world.
Thanks to the speakers for the sessions and to all those participants who completed the post-training survey! We have gathered valuable insights into the program’s impact, what’s working well, and how we can make it even more effective. Your feedback is helping to shape future sessions and will ensure the training reflects what youth most want and need to learn.
In this post, we’re excited to share key findings and outcomes from the survey and highlight how the program is empowering young people to take meaningful action for a healthy ocean and a stable climate.
We encourage you to register and spread the word about this free, virtual training program. Sign up here!
2024-2025 Youth Leadership Training Results
Identifying as a Leader in the Youth Conservation Space
Before the training, fewer than half of participants saw themselves as leaders.
- Before training: 43.5% identified as leaders
- After training: 91.7% identified as leader
Nearly half of all participants (48.5%) shifted from “not a leader” to “leader” over the course of the program, while almost no one moved in the opposite direction. This highlights a strong shift in self-confidence and leadership identity.
Inspired to Take Action
After completing Youth Advocacy Training:
- 92.0% of participants said they felt inspired to take action as a result of the program
This suggests the training informs and motivates participants to move forward with purpose.
Confidence to Take Action (Actionable Steps)
Before the training, participants reported moderate confidence in taking concrete action, with an average score of 51.8 out of 100.
After the training, this increased substantially to an average of 85.0 out of 100.
Overall, participants’ confidence and readiness to take actionable steps increased by 67% in total.
- 80.2% of participants increased their confidence after the program
- 16.3% stayed the same
- Only 3.5% reported a decrease
This shows that the vast majority of participants left the program feeling more prepared to take real-world action.
What Did Our Participants Learn?
Understanding connected global issues (e.g., ocean–climate connection):
- 98.2% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that their understanding improved.
Interest in advocating for conservation issues:
- 96.5% agreed or strongly agreed that they are now more interested in advocating for conservation issues in the future.
Eagerness to connect with other youth conservation leaders globally:
- 95.7% agreed or strongly agreed that they feel more eager to connect with youth leaders around the world.
These results demonstrate that the program effectively builds knowledge, motivation, and a sense of global community among participants.
Session-Level Learning Outcomes
Participants rated all four training sessions extremely highly, with over 90% agreement for every session:
Session 1 (Ocean–Climate Connection): 96.7% agreed or strongly agreed they were able to understand why it’s important to advocate for the ocean and climate together, rather than advocating for them as separate movements.
Session 2 (Communications & Social Media): 95.7% agreed or strongly agreed that the session helped to grow their understanding of social media platforms, and effective communication in general, as a tool for advocacy.
Session 3 (Event Planning & Fundraising): 93.2% agreed or strongly agreed that the session allowed them to understand what it takes to put an event together from start to finish.
Session 4 (Campaign Organizing): 90.7% agreed or strongly agreed the session helps them to understand how to grow a movement and build collective action through collaboration.
Would You Recommend Youth Advocacy Training?
Yes! 99.3% of participants said they would recommend Youth Leadership Training to their peers.
Overall Takeaway
The past 3 cohorts of the Youth Leadership Training program were highly effective in increasing participants’ confidence to take action, strengthening leadership identity, deepening understanding of global conservation issues, and inspiring future advocacy. With strong pre–post gains, near-universal agreement on learning outcomes, and an almost unanimous willingness to recommend the program, these results demonstrate that Youth Leadership Training successfully equips young people with the confidence, skills, and motivation needed to lead for change.