Finding the Next Wave of Leaders
It’s been a few weeks since my last post, and for once it’s not because I haven’t been thinking about birds. It’s because I’ve been spending a lot of time working behind the scenes with the Kitsap Audubon community.
Recently, I attended a regional meeting with leaders from nearby chapters. We talked through what’s working, what isn’t, and what challenges we’re all facing. One thing that stood out was how different each chapter looks depending on its location. In our area, the demographics lean older, which naturally shapes who is leading and organizing. That’s not a bad thing—it’s where a lot of knowledge and experience lives—but it does highlight something important for the future.
What’s been exciting is seeing the beginnings of change in our own chapter.
We’re starting to see more people getting involved who are 50 or younger, including our soon-to-be president, who’s in his 30s. There’s a different kind of energy that comes with that. Not better—just different. And it opens the door to new ideas about how we bring people into birding.
We’ve started to lean into that with events like Let’s Go Birding Together, aimed at creating a more welcoming space for newer and younger birders. At our last event, two people in their 20s showed up, both eager, curious, and ready to do more than just attend. They wanted to build something.
That conversation quickly turned into the idea of a NextGen Birders group.
When I first joined, I wasn’t sure how I would make an impact. Leaders identified a concept—DEI—that needed effort, but that was it. No specifics, no path. There wasn’t an obvious task to take on. It took me a few years before I was really running with the concept.
That experience has stuck with me. It’s part of why this matters now. People are excited, eager. I want to set them up to make an impact immediately.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working with them to help get things off the ground. We met up for an afternoon hike—less about the birds and more about the conversation. The forest was quiet that day. We didn’t see much. But I walked away learning far more than I expected.
These two have ideas, energy, and a willingness to try something new. And it reminded me of something I think is easy to forget.
If you have a vision of what something could be, it’s worth pursuing.
It doesn’t happen overnight. Most things don’t. But if you keep showing up, keep putting in the effort, and keep inviting others into that vision, something starts to take shape.
And more often than not, you find out you weren’t the only one thinking about it.
Field Notes - Banner Forest
Location: Banner Forest Heritage Park, Port Orchard, Washington
Date: March 2026
Habitat: Mixed coniferous-deciduous forest with dense understory and moss-covered trails
Conditions: Warm, clear early spring day with calm air and quiet forest conditions.
Naturalist Notes: Some of the most meaningful days in the field aren't defined by what we see, but by the conversations we have along the trail. This hike reinforced that conservation depends as much on people as it does on wildlife. Creating opportunities for others to contribute, share ideas, and take ownership may leave a longer-lasting impact than any single bird observation.
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