How to Apply

If you’re ready to grow as a climate leader and take your work to the next level, we invite you to apply for the COE Leadership Accelerator. Applications for the 2026 cohort are open now. The deadline is May 22, 2026.

Who Should Apply?

– Age: 16–30 years old

– Commitment: Availability and willingness to participate fully in the six-month program, including virtual sessions, small-group coaching, and implementing a community impact project

– Language: Primary instruction in English with multilingual support; coaching delivered in English and Spanish

– Experience: Already active in climate, environmental justice, or community organizing work

– Project Readiness: Ready to implement a hands-on fieldwork project to put learning into practice

Time Commitment

What Participants Will Gain

The COE Leadership Accelerator is designed to strengthen emotional resilience, develop transformational leadership, catalyze local action, and foster a global network. Participants experience coaching, training, fieldwork, and networking to build the following capacities over six months:

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE SKILLS
Tools for honoring and transforming difficult emotions — anxiety, grief, anger, guilt — rather than suppressing or being consumed by them

RESILIENCE SKILLS
Practices for recognizing burnout early and creating sustainable rhythms in organizing work

EMOTIONS IN LEADERSHIP
How to communicate feelings in professional and community contexts, validate others, and lead with emotional intelligence

GROUNDED SPACE FACILITATION
How to hold emotionally resonant, trauma-informed, intergenerational conversations grounded in the Jemez Principles and Psychological First Aid

ENGAGEMENT THROUGH EMPATHY
Using story circles to build empathy, deepen community connection, and transform personal experience into collective action

MEASUREMENT & IMPACT
How to use the COE climate emotions assessment tool to collect, interpret, and share project data

CONNECTED COMMUNITY
An intergenerational, cross-regional network of emotionally intelligent climate changemakers

COE LEADERSHIP CERTIFICATE
Awarded upon completing the program, recognizing your growth as an emotionally intelligent climate leader

Accelerator Components

The Accelerator includes four core components:

Live Learning Sessions: Skill-building sessions led virtually by global experts in emotional intelligence, narrative leadership, facilitation, and communication for change.

Small Group Coaching: Monthly virtual sessions in small groups to deepen self-awareness, confidence, community connection, and project accountability. Coaches provide feedback, hold space for challenges, and help participants connect inner growth to outer action.

Community Impact Project: Each participant designs and delivers a project in their local context — running workshops, story exchanges, or community dialogues focused on emotional and climate wellbeing.

Evaluation & Sustainability Planning: Participants measure impact using the COE assessment tool , reflect on learning, and develop strategies to sustain, share and scale their work.

Who is the Accelerator for?

The Climate of Emotions Leadership Accelerator is for young people (ages 16–30) who are already active in climate or community initiatives and ready to take their leadership to the next level. These youth are organizing, educating, advocating, or creating change, and they recognize that to sustain and scale their impact, they need to build deeper emotional resilience and leadership capacity. Whether they are leading with momentum or feeling disheartened and seeking reconnection, participants share a strong commitment to their communities and a readiness to grow as emotionally intelligent changemakers. Applicants must have a clear focus for their work and be prepared to implement a hands-on fieldwork project; this is not an entry-level program.