Sustainability Now & Into the Future
Now, more than ever, it’s imperative that we nurture children, their well-being, and environmental sustainability through connecting and learning in nature. Help us build a legacy, rooted in community and based in nature, that addresses today’s challenges of engaging children throughout our community with the benefits of a connection to the natural world.
WE ARE 89% OF THE WAY TO OUR $3M GOAL. CAN YOU HELP US RAISE $345K?
Together, we can ensure that children take the critical first steps in understanding the importance of balancing the needs of our community and those of the ecological systems that are vital to our existence. The Building Our Legacy Campaign, with its goal of $3 million, sets the Aldo Leopold Nature Center on a course towards sustainable equitable access to life-changing children’s environmental programming. Our mission is to nurture children, their well-being, and environmental sustainability through connecting and learning in nature and we do this through a wide range of early childhood and school-age programming as well as public events that we subsidize the costs of so that public schools and working families can afford our programs.
Our major focus continues to be providing high-quality, affordable children’s care, rooted in nature. We create access to children and families from underserved households and marginalized neighborhoods by subsidizing program costs and providing tuition assistance… And, with your help, we can provide more assistance sustainably.
For more information…
Please contact Kelley Van Egeren, Director of Development & Stewardship, at kelley@aldoleopoldnaturecenter.org or (608) 335-3155.
$3M to Prioritize Equity & Sustainability
EQUITABLE EDUCATION INITIATIVES
- Fund low- or no-cost programs and bridge financial, language, and transportation barriers
- Support Nature Net: The Environmental Learning Network
- Provide equitable staff compensation to retain quality staff
ESSENTIAL CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS
- Install engaging, multi-language interpretive signage
- Replace boardwalk, outdated roof, and solar panels
- Restore trails, docks, and bridges for accessibility
- Upgrade Science on a Sphere and the Immersion Theater climate science exhibits
ACCESS FOR GENERATIONS TO COME
- Grow endowment fund to annually support access initiatives
ROOTED IN COMMUNITY
Thirty years ago, the land where the Aldo Leopold Nature Center sits was slated for development until a group of concerned Monona residents came together and petitioned the city to purchase the land. The proposal went to referendum and Monona residents voted to save the land from development, preserving it as a natural space for all to enjoy.
BASED IN NATURE
Nature is the heart of every program and children spend a majority of their time outside, using all of their senses to experience and connect with the natural world around them, providing daily opportunities for growth and achievement. Our philosophy, inspired by Aldo Leopold, is that children learn with nature, through nature, and in nature.
ADDRESSING TODAY’S CHALLENGES
The work of the Aldo Leopold Nature Center stands at the intersection of children’s health and environmental education, and serves as childcare for many families. Through our work, we’re addressing two of the greatest and inextricably-linked challenges today: the health of our children and the sustainability of our planet.
2024 PROGRAM COST vs. PROGRAM REVENUE*
*This means that everything you see in green is subsidies.
