The 2023 AMS Early Career Leadership Academy

The AMS Early Career Leadership Academy (ECLA) aims to build and sustain a diverse network of early career leaders in the weather, water, and climate (WWC) sciences, especially among women and historically marginalized groups in STEM related fields. ECLA provides an opportunity for participants to connect with colleagues across sectors, learn and grow as leaders, support one another as collaborators and peer mentors with the intent to one day take on leadership roles within their respective workplaces and the AMS. ECLA is a unique AMS program in that it is a cross-commission endeavor. Oversight of the program and selection of the ECLA participants is the responsibility of an Advisory Committee that is chaired by the AMS Commissioner of Education and Engagement and the AMS Commissioner of Professional Affairs. ECLA participants are selected from a pool of applicants who qualify as early career as defined by the AMS, are members of the AMS, and work in the WWC enterprise. The ECLA Planning Committee organizes most ECLA activities and is composed of previous ECLA class members, as well as members of the AMS Board on Representation, Accessibility, Inclusion, and Diversity (BRAID) and the AMS Board for Early Career Professionals (BECP). For the second year in a row, the ECLA 2023 program included the addition of a comprehensive diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training component, led by a team from the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UNEION: UCAR|NCAR Equity and Inclusion training), in addition to program planning contributions from the AMS Director of DEI.

The schedule for the 2023 ECLA program was as follows: there were three virtual leadership webinars and multiple peer mentoring calls that led to a two and a half day, in-person workshop in Phoenix, Arizona. The virtual training component was held from March 2023 through early-June 2023, with the in-person meeting taking place in mid-June 2023. New this year, ECLA was co-located with the 50th Annual Broadcast Conference which provided additional networking opportunities for participants.

To meet the specific leadership needs of participants, most topics for webinars and meeting sessions were derived from participant’s applications. Webinars for the 2023 ECLA program focused on individual leadership assessments and uncertainty, challenges, and trust in science communication. Sessions during the in-person meeting included: societal impacts of ethical research, how to lead from the middle, improvisation in communication, science and climate policy, bystander practice and intervention using real-life scenarios, emotional intelligence, and defining a personal leadership style. In this presentation, we describe the goals of the AMS ECLA program, discuss specific activities carried out by the ECLA 2023 class and how these enhance DEI-founded leadership skills, and provide an overview of future ECLA plans. Application submissions for the 2024 ECLA program will begin to be accepted in early 2024 on the AMS website.