Nature Conservancy, Toyota USA Foundation Expand Environmental Action Program

The Nature Conservancy and Toyota USA Foundation are expanding the Leaders in Environmental Action for the Future: LEAF program.

LEAF is a comprehensive environmental leadership program for teenagers and their educators. The Toyota USA Foundation provided an $800,000 grant to help lay the foundation for LEAF to expand into new urban areas beyond New York City in 2011.

“The Toyota USA Foundation believes in supporting programs with long-term sustainable results. The Nature Conservancy and its partner environmental high schools have a successful history of empowering the next generation of environmentalists, and we are incredibly proud to support the growth of this program," said Patricia Salas Pineda, group vice president of philanthropy at Toyota Motor North America.

“Today’s youth are more urban, more diverse, and more technologically advanced than any previous generation in history,” added Mark Tercek, president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy. “They are also more disconnected from nature than any previous generation. What we do today to engage a diverse array of young people in our work will ensure our conservation success in the future.”