Yosemite Leadership Program (2-year program)
This two-year experience integrates training in leadership skills, education on the theories and practices of leadership, and personal and professional development opportunities to create generations of socially engaged and environmentally aware global stewards.
YLP's innovative design includes leadership seminars, speakers and crystallizing wilderness experiences in the first year. In the second year, YLP participants engage in a capstone legacy project, as well as cross-peer mentoring opportunities.
The first-year elements combine to increase participants’ belief in their own abilities and inspire them to recognize their own potential.
Capstone legacy projects and peer mentorship opportunities provided during the Leadership Practicum (second year of YLP) allow students to apply their skills and knowledge to create the social and environmental change they want to see.
In each of its components, YLP links didactic learning to practical, field-based experiences, which creates personal transformations and empowers students to move from theory to action.
The YLP first-year experience occurs every Wednesday throughout the academic year from 4:30 - 6:00 PM. We expect participants to attend all sessions.
Applications for Fall 2025 open in August 2025 in the Margo F. Souza Student Leadership Center WEBSITE.
Yosemite Leadership Program Summer Internship (YLPSI)
The summer internship creates meaningful connections to the environment and provides intensive professional development and mentorship for students. The greatest benefit of this summer program is that it takes students out of the context in which they “know” themselves and connects them to a larger world of opportunities. Students do not have to participate in the two-year program to engage in the summer internship, but learning through YLP is like compound interest: the more you engage, the greater experience and network you will walk away with.
Please note that Yosemite Leadership Program (YLP) and YLP Summer Internship (YLPSI) are two separate programs with separate applications and deadlines. Admission into one program does not guarantee admission into the other. Students may choose to apply to one of these programs or both.
The Summer Internship program applications will open on February 2024.
