Stewardship Institute

Collaboration & Engagement

Using Collaboration to improve your practice

Leadership for Change

Connecting leaders to support change

Research & Evaluation

Facilitating learning through research and evaluation

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What we do

The Stewardship Institute, based at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, is a partner with NPS Learning & Development based in the Northeast Region. The Institute is a collaborative for change, rooted in the idea that the National Park Service is an organization of great public purpose and that its people need to be supported, challenged, and provided opportunities for renewal. Our approach is collaborative, convening people of diverse training and experience, stewarding the National Park Service into the 21st century.

News & Events

Join the Pilot of iSWOOP Online, Interpreters and Scientists Working on Our Parks
Join the pilot of iSWOOP Online, Interpreters and Scientists Working... Keep Reading
Communities of Practice Workshop
In March, the Institute invited 30 individuals to the Communities... Keep Reading

See All News & Events

Meet The Team

Rebecca Stanfield McCown

Virginia Farley

Leslie Shahi

Moses Chun

Our Vision

The Stewardship Institute, based at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park includes a small team and a large network, actively engaged in keeping the National Park Service at the leading edge of stewardship for our natural and cultural heritage. Rooted in scholarship, the Institute pushes beyond the realm of abstracts and theories and into real-world, field-based application. The Institute advances learning through cultivating networks of inspired people. Through these networks, the Institute is able to collaborate at scale and address organizational needs faster and more systemically. The Institute believes that:

Illuminating outstanding practices and ideas from parks, programs, and partners around the country empowers the sharing of innovation.
Proactive engagement with experts from within and outside of the National Park Service creates new, cutting-edge directions in our stewardship work.
Good processes deliver great outcomes—program analysis, organizational development, evaluation, and facilitation of effective stakeholder engagement bring ideas off the drawing board and into our parks and communities.