Profile: Colorado Youth Corps Association Executive Director
Scott Segerstrom
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Scott Segerstrom, 44, is a busy man. As the 10-year executive director of the statewide Colorado Youth Corps Association, he works with project partners to grow investments in the state’s eight youth corps associations; maintains corps relations with such entities as Great Outdoors Colorado state lottery trust (GOCO), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and Colorado Department of Natural Resources and its divisions, such as Colorado Parks & Wildlife; spearheads corps-to-corps collaborations; and leads the statewide Careers in Natural Resources Initiative to help youth pursue environmental careers. He also directed CYCA’s five-year strategic planning effort to increase in inclusivity and diversity in the corps sector. Prior to joining CYCA, Scott was trail crew leader for Rocky Mountain Youth Corps in Steamboat, eventually becoming its Conservation Corps director; and a wilderness ranger and wildland firefighter with the US Forest Service. A graduate of Roanoke College and the University of Denver’s Daniels School of Business Leadership program, he is also a recipient of the 2018 Governor’s Service Awards for Outstanding Community Leader. We caught up with him between his busy work schedule and free time exploring Colorado’s public lands (especially birdwatching and photographing elusive owls) for his take on his time at RMYC and how it helped prepare him for his current career.
How did you first get involved with RMYC?
I found RMYC through the 2002-era AmeriCorps website that aggregated service programs from around the country. It was a vintage website in which you put in basic search constraints and small summaries would pop up from around the country. I submitted a generic application and didn’t hear anything for a few months. One day in the spring I received a call from Avrom Feinberg, who was working under Gretchen Van De Carr at the time, and they were recruiting for their summer 2002 crews. I interviewed, was selected, and I was Colorado-bound. I left for Steamboat directly from college graduation—I went right off the stage, had dinner with my folks, and then started driving towards the Rockies.
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What did you do?
My first position was Education Mentor on a high school-age trail crew. This was the first year ever that RMYC ran fire mitigation chainsaw crews and they were cross-training corps members in chainsaw falling so they could plug us in if needed. That was a pivotal moment as I learned I was skilled in using a chainsaw and really enjoyed the fire crew culture. I helped my crew leader manage our trail crew all summer, did fire crew that fall, and finished out my last two weeks on a Colorado Fourteeners high-altitude trail crew and an archaeology crew. I went back home after this magical first season but returned to the West two years later in 2004, working for a former RMYC staff member now running Canyon Country Youth Corps in the Utah canyonlands. In 2005 and 2006, I returned to RMYC for my second stint leading a Continental Divide Trail construction crew. We worked in Colorado and Wyoming helping construct that mega-trail, with the most enjoyable project in the Wind River Range in Bridger-Teton National Forest. We were horse-packed in for four weeks. That project went so well that I was hired by that national forest as a wilderness ranger and wildland firefighter. After serving in the US Forest Service for a couple years, I returned to RMYC for my third stint in 2010—this time as staff. I was the director of the chainsaw program and eventually became the director of the conservation corps program, reporting to Mark Wertheimer. I led a program that deployed 10 crews in the summer and four crews in the fall.
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Any special memories working with RMYC crews?
My best are from 2002 when I was experiencing the magic and intensity of 24/7 corps life for the first time. I was new to the Rockies, having my first post-college professional experience, and developing the strong work ethic needed to succeed. The diversity of life stories also stays with me. I remember working alongside a corps member in his early twenties named Dan, who had stories of riding freight trains and crisscrossing the country. He seemed like a character from the 1930s and I was a little dubious of his claims. Then one day we were in some distant mountain town when he and a young man across the street recognized each other from riding the rails. They hugged, Dan gave me him all the money in his pocket, around $20, and they moved on. These were the types of fascinating people I met, new friends with totally different life experiences from mine. Another time I was leading a Continental Divide trail crew on Divide Peak outside Encampment. The project partner asked us to lay-out and design the stretch of trail so there’s a magical couple miles of the CDT in Wyoming that I designed and oversaw.
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Why is it important to engage youth in the outdoors?
Climate change poses an existential threat, and as we enter an era of disinformation it’s critical that today’s youth have formative experiences that reinforce how valuable our natural resources are. Experiences in the outdoors will lead to these young people being informed voters, engaged conservationists, and confident, resilient people.
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What do you love about youth corps in general?
This answer changes year by year because the corps provides so many solutions to the issues facing youth and young adults. One of the best parts of serving in a corps is making authentic, in-person friendships. We learn more and more about the harmful effects of only socializing in the digital world and conservation corps provide an opportunity to make lifelong, intensely personal friendships. Members learn conflict resolution, empathy, communication skills, and so much more that prepares them to be positive members of their communities. Corps members not only find their purpose in the corps world—they get to share that purpose with others.
Any advice for future crew members or leaders?
If you see the opportunity at RMYC as a pathway to a natural resource career, do some research and preparation beforehand so you maximize the experience. Corps members often realize too late how much employers value details, such as all the different tools you used, how many hours you ran the chainsaw, all the different ecosystems in which you worked. This preparation can also ensure that you don’t miss opportunities to earn additional certifications, cross-train on different skillsets than your crew’s primary focus, and network with project partners so you have contacts when you leave.
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Did your position with RMYC help you prepare you for your current position at CYCA?
Absolutely, my experience at RMYC has been invaluable in assisting me at the statewide association. I can speak with project partners in a more informed, authentic way since I have been a crew leader, mid-level staff, and senior leadership staff. My time at RMYC also gave me existing relationships with staff at the other corps across the state so I was staying in a community I already knew well. I also learned about nonprofit management from Gretchen Van De Carr and Mark Wertheimer because my previous professional experience was with the federal government.
What's your main role at CYCA?
I work with project partners to grow the investments in corps. CYCA is the primary point of contact for Great Outdoors Colorado State Lottery Trust (GOCO), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and its divisions, such as Colorado Parks & Wildlife. It is also my responsibility to foster corps-to-corps learning and collaboration so that we all grow and improve together. Lastly, I helped lead the Careers in Natural Resources Initiative, which is a statewide movement CYCA co-founded aimed at building pathways to environmental careers.
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What's your perspective on the current state of youth corps in Colorado? We‘re seeing the knowledge and awareness of the Conservation Corps’ mission and impact rapidly increase. Corps are being invited to the table for input on policies and are now seen as a critical tool for conservation, and the number of participant applications is on the rise. For our biggest partners, corps are now institutionalized into their operations and are seen as irreplaceable. The momentum behind corps is the strongest we’ve ever experienced.