ABOUT
Leadership
Governing
Board
Board of Directors
Executive Director
History
Evolution
of NAELS
History
of NAELS (.doc)
The Evolution of NAELS
The Seed:
In the late 1980's a small group of students from numerous law schools gathered to form NAELS. The first conferences were held at the University of Michigan in 1988 and at the University of Colorado School of Law in 1989. The simple and elegant goal was to create a student-run organization that unified America’s ELSs by sharing ideas, supporting each other, and gathering a central repository of information about environmentally-related activities at law schools.
The Vision:
In March 2000, NAELS voted to launch a new vision for
the organization at the annual NAELS Conference hosted by Stanford
Law School. This vision included the institution of a formal governance
structure, incorporation as a 501(c)(3) organization, and hiring
staff to launch new programs. Each program was structured to add
value to the efforts of ELSs at schools across the country. Broadly,
our programmatic goal is to help ELSs better prepare each generation
of new leaders in environmental law with the tools to:
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practice solution-oriented environmental law,
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lead organizations,
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engage in the political process, and
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launch careers with the public’s interest in mind.
NAELS
Today & Tomorrow:
From
2000-2002 NAELS made solid progress toward these goals. The organization
established a Board of Directors comprised
of respected leaders and educators in environmental law, adopted
formal bylaws, obtained 501(c)(3) status, and built a Student
Governing Board comprised of student representatives from
law schools across the country.
NAELS recently complemented this structure with the hiring of an Executive Director, the development of this website. NAELS is now poised to launch several national projects and provide students with an unparalleled set of resources.
Copyright: National Association of Environmental Law Societies, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
Webmaster: Dan Worth