By Lily Long, ACC Vice President of Grassroots
August has always been one of my favorite, and busiest, seasons at ACC. It’s been that way since I initially joined as Southern Regional Director in August 2022. The excitement of a new school year energizes us and gives us momentum unlike any other.
While the weather forecast still says summer (who else is over these 100-plus-degree days?), we’re already thinking about fall kickoff events, tailgates, hikes, and more. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes preparation that leads us to this moment, so when August comes around, we’re ready.
For the past two years, our annual Summit has taken place during the first weekend of August. That’s an intentional choice. We want to end the summer on a high note while preparing our members for an exciting rest of the year.
This year’s Summit brought our Top 50 members to Medora, North Dakota, for a weekend centered around our movement, time outdoors, and conversations with incredible speakers.
There is a lot of planning that goes into making this event special. At ACC, we pride ourselves on the member experience, and no detail goes unnoticed. From custom shirts to swag bags filled with high-quality, made-in-the-USA goods, we want our members to know that the work they put into this movement matters, and that we notice it.
But - Summit isn’t only about celebrating what our members have already accomplished. It’s about preparing them for what’s next.
One of the things we spend a lot of time focused on as a field team is fall branch planning, and we intentionally incorporate that work into our Summit programming. It’s rare that we’re able to gather so many of our top members in one place, and even more rare to have every member of the field team there alongside them to offer support in person. There’s something different about planning your semester in a room full of people who are just as excited about this movement as you are.
Our college breakout at the Summit might have been the best example of that. As a field team, we had an agenda and a presentation. We had spent several hours together preparing exactly how we wanted the conversation to go.
Then, we threw it all aside.
Once our members started talking, we realized they didn’t need us to lead the conversation. Our job was simply to sit back, listen, and step in when they needed us.
For the rest of the breakout, members traded ideas, told stories, asked each other questions, and learned from what was working on campuses completely different from their own.
Texas branch leader Nick Walker shared his plans for a back-to-school Buc-ee’s social. Our Utah members talked about the ways they connect the dots between their ACC work and other conservative organizations on campus. Our Florida members explained how inflatable sharks have somehow become a way to draw attention to their work on campus (this is the kind of thing that could only happen in Florida).
There were stories about pulling off large events, ideas for recruiting new members, plenty of humor, and moments when one person’s story immediately sparked an idea for someone sitting across the room. Staff barely had to say a word.
When the breakout ended, field staff looked at each other and laughed. We’d spent several hours preparing for a conversation that our members had just led better than we ever could have.
Our National Field Director, Hanna van Loon, said it best: “That was way better than we could have done.”
And it was. I think that’s part of what makes Summit so special.
We can create the agenda. We can bring everyone to Medora. We can find great speakers, plan the programming, order the swag, and make sure every detail is taken care of. But even with all that planning, we can’t manufacture what happened in that room.
That comes from bringing together young leaders who genuinely care about this movement and giving them the space to learn from one another. Those organic moments are where the Summit becomes more than an event.
A member from Texas hears something from a member in Colorado and takes the idea home. Someone from North Carolina shares a lesson learned the hard way that saves another branch leader from making the same mistake. Another member walks away inspired by the stories around the room, ready to get more involved with ACC.
That’s community, and ultimately what makes our movement stronger. This is where the excitement of the weekend begins turning into something tangible.
Now, we get to watch those plans leave Medora.
Over the next few weeks, our members will return to campuses. Our young professionals and hubs will host an exciting slate of events across the country. Soon, the ideas scribbled down during Summit will become kickoff meetings, tailgates, panels, hikes, cleanups, tabling events, and conversations with people who may be encountering ACC for the first time.
That’s what makes this time of year so exciting for our field team.
We know how much work has happened behind the scenes to get here. We’ve watched these members grow as leaders. We’ve sat beside them as they’ve mapped out their goals. Now, we get to see them take ownership of what comes next.
Our Top 50 left Medora energized, but the goal was never for that energy to stay with 50 people. They go back to their branches and communities. They bring in new members. Those members bring their friends. New leaders emerge. New branches grow. And little by little, campus by campus and city by city, the movement gets stronger.
This year, I’m experiencing this season from a new perspective. As a new mom, conversations about the “next generation” feel a little different than they used to. Watching young leaders take ownership of their communities, learn from one another, and choose to build something bigger than themselves gives me a lot of hope for the world my daughter will grow up in.
Maybe that’s part of why this Summit felt so special to me. We spend a lot of time talking about building a better future. In Medora, I got to sit quietly in a room and watch some of the people who are going to build it.
That’s the momentum we’re carrying into this fall. And if Medora was any indication of what’s ahead, we’re just getting started.
Lily Long is the Vice President of Grassroots at the American Conservation Coalition (ACC). She lives in Northwest Tennessee with her husband, Jordan, and their daughter, Ellie.