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The Bay Backpack logo. A school backpack followed by a stylized writing of the words Bay Backpack.

Building a "Trust Fund" for Environmental Literacy

by
Meredith Lemke
Forum participants stand for a group photo outdoors on steps in front of a building.
Group photo of Forum changemakers outside the National Conservation Training Center’s Confluence Center. Photo credit: Sonia Keiner.

by Megan Fink, Partnerships & Policy Manager, NAAEE

Where would we be without trust? To quote a well-known African proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

As West Virginia welcomed us with signs of spring, over 130 education leaders from Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington D.C., and West Virginia came together to discuss strategies for securing sustainable funding for environmental literacy programs. In late February, this audience of environmental literacy changemakers participated in the 2025 Mid-Atlantic Environmental Literacy Forum hosted by the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Education Workgroup and their partners at the National Conservation Training Center.

The purpose of the 2025 Forum was to:

  • Develop an understanding of school district budgets and how local, district-level leaders make decisions in DE, MD, PA, VA, DC, and WV.

  • Craft strategic messages demonstrating the value and impact of investing in sustained, systemic environmental literacy programs and green infrastructure.

  • Identify key partners, tools for strategic outreach, and a timeline for engagement to build long-term, resilient relationships with local leaders and their offices.

The Forum highlighted action-oriented approaches to engage strategically with local leaders to secure sustained funding for environmental literacy initiatives. Sessions featured strategies to build buy-in and support from local government and school district leaders, conversations about the importance of centering youth voices in our networks, and strategic engagement success stories, such as the development of the Caroline County Public Schools' Environmental Literacy Plan.

Six women pose for a photo in front of a poster of a mountainous landscape.
The Caroline County Public Schools’ Environmental Literacy Plan Partner Team pictured from left to right: Autumn Nabors, Meredeth Dash, Becca Schieber, Robin Didlake, Anna Moreau, Dr. Sarah Calveric. Photo credit: Meredeth Dash.

Since Forum participants were each engaging in the Forum’s purpose from different starting points, state breakouts helped them strategize as changemakers to apply lessons learned to their local contexts. Participants collaborated on messaging that would resonate with their local leaders and school board members in state breakouts and used a guiding document to capture notes, draft key messages, and identify next steps to move the work forward when returning to their home communities. Some districts came to the table with Environmental Literacy Plans in hand. Others had a line or two in their district’s strategic plan naming environmental education, green career pathways, or sustainability initiatives as priorities. As we heard from nearly every speaker during this two-day event, there is no wrong way to get started on this work, but aligning with your district’s priorities is key.

Crafting your message and building trust

Once you know who to talk to and what their priorities are, what do you say? Virginia Tech Professor Dr. Marc Stern shared tips for developing an effective message for building support for environmental literacy programs in schools. He challenged forum participants to keep it clear and simple:

  • Make it worthwhile. (Show how the benefits outweigh the costs.)

  • Make it fit. (Align with your school and community culture.)

  • Make it easy. (Remove the barriers.)

Forum participants sit in an auditorium facing a panel of six women on stage. The stage projection screen displays a title, "Community Partner Support."
Forum participants learn about the power of building community partnerships in the auditorium of the National Conservation Training Center. Photo credit: Sonia Keiner.

The Forum also served as a powerful reminder that we are not on this journey alone. Partners and relationship-building are essential and seem to be the magic that is needed in this moment to build resilient environmental literacy programs.

“Community engagement and carefully planned communication are critical to maintaining momentum in this work.”
- Forum attendee

Establishing trust is a central principle of community engagement and any message shared will be more impactful if it comes from a trusted source. Dr. Stern highlighted three types of trust needed to foster long-lasting relationships that can transform our schools and districts.

  • Rational trust: based on perceptions of competence, follow-through, quality, and consistency

  • Affinitive trust: personal affinity or “liking” someone based on similarities

  • Systems-based trust: setting up a process that reduces risk and uncertainty and working together to overcome barriers

Building trust and forming bonds with our local leaders (and each other) is vital to secure funding and help ensure that all students have access to meaningful, high-quality environmental education. Together, we can build an ecosystem of trust and gain the momentum needed to advance systemic, community-based, sustainable environmental literacy programs in our states and districts. Only together, not alone.