Darien K N Manning (they/them)

About Darien's Community Action Project (CAP)

My Community Action Project is based in Philadelphia around connecting systemically excluded Philadelphia young people, primarily those who are first-generation-to-college and/or low-income, to long-term entry-level green and environmental jobs in the city of Philadelphia. As a Philadelphia Program Manager with the Student Conservation Association, I have been able to pay youth working in conservation crews over the years and have seen the personal and professional transformations that connection with nature and people have inspired in them. Unfortunately, I have also noticed a consistent gap after they graduate from the program and from high school, in terms of their employment, professional development, and community connections.

I see this employment and support gap for 18+ year-olds as a barrier to the transition of systemically excluded young people into the environmental field. I aim to develop stronger professional and interpersonal pathways, partnerships, and coalitions within Philadelphia to better streamline local employment and hiring pathways, as well as to better empower and highlight young people in recognizing and claiming their achievements. My Community Action Project is ultimately centered around improving alumni engagement for my program, though if truly successful, I hope it will connect with teen environmental programs throughout the city of Philadelphia and ensure environmental and green jobs are filled by well-equipped Philadelphia young people.

More About Me

What is your favorite memory of being in nature?
One of my treasured memories of being in nature is being a young person in high school and spending my weekends and summers volunteering or hanging out at a nature center within 20 minutes driving distance of my house in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. There was a beautiful lake and a small stream and waterfall that I would sit atop and be able to find peace.

What are three environmental values that you try to share with others? OR what are three environmental values you try to emulate?
1) Interbeing, a phrase by Thich Nhat Hanh that speaks to the inherent interconnectedness and intertwined lives of all living beings 2) Environmental justice, a phrase that speaks to the centrality of social justice within the environmental movement, and 3) Ecosystems and bioplurality, which speak to the systems of life to love and steward, over focusing on individual and compartmentalized species and lives.

What is one fun fact people should know about you?
I really love beavers!