5 Years in … a Look at the Maryland Climate Leadership Academy

Five years ago, while walking through an airport on the way to administer a CC-P® training workshop, I received a voicemail from Matt Fleming, then the Director of the Maryland Chesapeake and Coastal Service[SS1] .  By good or bad fortune, Matt had recently sat in on a similar workshop in Washington, DC, because one of his staff had enrolled in the series but left the agency mid-series.  When I heard his message asking me to call him back about training all of his agency personnel, I nearly dropped my phone!  Since 2009, I had been speaking at public events (and administering programs for the White House and EPA) and shared this sort of vision, hoping to find an early adopter.

A few weeks later, we met and planning began for ACCO’s first contract and, to our knowledge, the Maryland Chesapeake and Coastal Service became the first government agency or company in the United States to require all of its personnel to complete a comprehensive climate change training program such as the CC-P® curriculum.  Six months later, I invited Matt to join me at the Colorado Communities Symposium, a first-of-its-kind convening of state agency and local government officials and staff focused on climate change.  ACCO was administering the Compact of Colorado Communities at the time, an initiative of several dozen local governments working together to build capacity on climate change centered around their commitments to train their personnel, executives, and elected officials.

At the end of the event, Matt suggested to me that he wanted to build an academy in Maryland.  Later that year, the Maryland Climate Leadership Academy (the Academy) was launched at the State of the Coast Conference in Cambridge, MD.  Championed by Matt, then DNR Secretary Mark Belton, and then MDE Secretary Ben Grumbles, we brought together elected officials and staff from local governments, state agency officials, academics, corporate executives, and subject matter experts and facilitated a workshop that would shape the Academy.

By Fall 2018, the Academy was launched and three in-person CC-P® training cohorts were immediately scheduled and conducted across the state. ACCO conducted three more in-person training cohorts in 2019 and hosted a 1-day primer for elected and appointed officials.  Governor Hogan recognized the first wave of CC-P® professionals in Maryland at a publicly televised event. In addition, a community of alumni emerged through the variety of in-person and online programs offered and worked together to launch ACCO’s first state chapter.

Then in March 2020, Covid-19 put a pause on life as we knew it.  In-person cohorts were no longer viable. So, we adapted. 

Since March 2020, the Academy has administered 18 online CC-P® cohorts and more than a dozen webinars and town halls. 

Since the launch of the Academy, more than 1,300 Maryland professionals across sectors have participated in the various programs ACCO has administered.  But times have changed considerably.

Governor Hogan’s term as governor ends this year, so Marylanders will see new leadership in 2023. Numerous climate-related bills have been proposed, and some passed, by the Maryland General Assembly. The  Maryland Commission on Climate Change is now being led by Dr. Suzanne Dorsey.

As autumn arrives, we’re continuing to move the Academy forward. On Monday, September 12, ACCO will launch the first of a series of Fall 2022 virtual town halls to explore options for the Academy to pursue as it evolves to meet the changing needs of climate professionals in the state.  ACCO and our state agency partners want to share the latest on what’s happening in the executive branch, but they also want to hear from you.  We’d like to hear your thoughts on future programs, launching working groups to identify and share alumni needs with state agency leaders, and opportunities for alumni networking and collaboration.

It’s time for Academy alumni to come together to lead on Maryland’s climate action.  We hope to see you next week!