What:
Earth Island Institute established the Brower Youth Awards in
2000 to honor renowned environmental advocate David Brower. The
Brower Youth Awards are housed in the New Leaders Initiative program at
Earth Island Institute and we are thrilled to call forth a new generation of
leaders for our 13th Annual Brower Youth Awards.
David Brower was quoted as saying, “I love to see what young people
can do, before someone old tells them it's impossible”. It is with this
spirit that we recognize the outstanding leadership efforts of young
people who are working for the protection of our shared planet. We
elevate the accomplishments of these new leaders and invest in their
continued success by providing ongoing access to resources, mentors, and
opportunities to develop leadership skills.
Who:
Young activist leaders ages 13 to 22 (as of July 1, 2012) living in
North America.
When:
Completed applications must be submitted online by May 14, 2012
9:00 p.m. Pacific time.
The Award
Each of the six recipients of the Brower Youth Awards will receive a $3,000
cash prize, a professionally produced short film about their work, flight
and lodging accommodations for a week long trip to the San Francisco Bay
Area.
During their stay in California, the recipients will participate in a camping
trip, leadership activities as well as speaking engagements, trainings and
environmental conferences giving them a chance to meet with mentors and
peers. The week of activities culminates in the awards ceremony in front of
more than 900 guests at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco on October
23, 2012.
Outstanding Youth Leadership and Project Impact
Outstanding leadership means that you played the major leadership role
in creating, organizing and implementing your project or campaign(s). We
are looking for individuals with vision, motivation, and leadership skills.
Project impact includes how the project benefited the environment and
community in terms of measurable results (e.g. acres of wildlife habitat
protected or restored, number of people engaged in environmental issues
because of the project, numbers of children no longer exposed to toxins,
etc.).
Your project should fall in to one or more of the following broad categories:
Conservation
is work to eliminate or decrease our use of finite natural
resources and our negative impacts on ecosystems and communities.
For example:
A project that plays a substantial role in organizing local community to
pass a public transportation initiative.
Preservation
is work to protect ecosystems, species, indigenous cultures
and other irreplaceable elements of the world’s natural heritage.
For example:
A project that is preserving a unique ecological corridor through youth
education and campaigning.
Restoration
is work to re–establish the healthy functions of an ecosystem;
parts of ecosystems; and human communities that manage ecosystems.
For example:
A project that reclaims an abandoned urban lot and creates an organic
garden.
To learn more about the past Brower Youth Award recipients and projects,
please visit www.broweryouthawards.org.
A Few Tips …
Leadership:
The Brower Youth Awards are looking to recognize the
leader of a group or an effort. While we will consider applicants who are
implementing individual efforts, it is our tendency to focus on leaders of
groups and efforts.
Research and science fair projects:
Most research and science fair
projects are individual and one–time efforts. As such, they are difficult
to compare to the leadership of on-going projects. We will not consider
applicants who are implementing research and science fair projects, unless
it is part of ongoing environmental efforts involving a larger group.
Earth Day and one-time conferences:
We understand the impact and
necessity of Earth Day, conferences and one–time gatherings. However,
we typically will not consider one–time gatherings for the award, unless
the event produced long–term measurable impacts in which you have
continued to play a significant leadership role.
Please note that all applications must be completed using our online
process. No paper submissions will be accepted. Please notify us well in
advance of the deadline if you foresee any problems with submitting an
application online.
You must complete your own application. Parents, friends, mentors,
teachers, etc. must not complete it for you. (If you have a special
circumstance or need and cannot fill out your application yourself
or need assistance accessing our online application please contact us
at bya@earthisland.org or 510-859-9144 to make alternate arrangements.)
Step1:
Please look over the
eligibility requirements and make sure that
you and your project fall under the requirements of the Brower Youth
Awards.
Step 2:
Read the instructions and prompts carefully and fill out the
application. Please keep track of the email and password that you use to
create and save your application. By saving the application, you will be able
to return to it, unlimited times, before the deadline, to work on it.
Step 3:
Supply 1 photograph. Please be aware of the space limit. Keep
photos to jpg or png formats.
Step 4:
Obtain a “Letter of Support”. The letter should be from someone
who is familiar with you and your project. This one page should not come
from a parent or legal guardian. It should describe your relationship with
this person and why they believe you are a strong leader and thus a strong
candidate for the Brower Youth Awards.
Step 5:
Read and sign the “Term of Agreement”.
Applications will be accepted until 9:00 PT May 14, 2012. Please do
not wait until the last minute to submit your application. Applications
submitted after the deadline due to technical issues will not be
accepted. Please contact us well in advance of the deadline for support
with the submission of your application or clarifying questions by
emailing: bya@earthisland.org.
We review all applications and an external panel of judges vets all semi–finalists.
If you are selected as a semi–finalist, we will request a Skype Video
Call with you. We can help you to arrange this call if you do not have access
to Skype. Finalists will be notified by July 10, 2012.