2025 Conservation Finance Boot Camp

Are you trying to blend different sources of funding to support a conservation project and running into challenges?

Are you hoping to attract private investors to your work but wondering how to understand their needs and interests?

Are you a private investor seeking to understand how a conservation transaction works?

Do you want to meet other conservation finance practitioners also seeking to increase the pace, scale, and impact of their work?

Attend the Conservation Finance Boot Camp to learn the basics of conservation finance and learn about innovative conservation finance tools and projects!

The Conservation Finance Network (CFN) is pleased to announce our 18th annual Conservation Finance Boot Camp. The Boot Camp will be held June 2-6, 2025, at the Yale School of the Environment in New Haven, CT, in partnership with the Yale Center for Business and the Environment. The Boot Camp is a week-long intensive workshop that helps early- and mid-career professionals utilize innovative and effective financing strategies to achieve durable, equitable and climate-resilient conservation, restoration, and stewardship of natural resources.

All interested attendees must submit an application by January 6, 2025. Please access the application by clicking the link below.

We are not currently planning to offer a virtual Boot Camp option in 2025.

  Submit Your Application Here by January 6, 2025!

(If you want to print out PDF, please use this document!)

The Boot Camp offers in-depth insight on trends and opportunities in:  

Public Funding

Philanthropy

Bridge Financing & Loans

Payments for Ecosystem Services

There is a strong emphasis on practical, hands-on tools and case studies. The 2025 Boot Camp will showcase case examples from across the US and focus on topics relevant to attendee interests. 

This year’s Boot Camp will be geared towards those early in their conservation finance journey. Past attendees include conservationists; public agency officials; foundation program officers; land trust project staff and executive directors; impact investing professionals; and more. Attendees are highly encouraged to bring current projects to workshop during the course and seek feedback and advice from their peers and expert Boot Camp resource faculty.

CFN is fortunate to count over 650 alumni since 2007. The course is ideal for those looking for practical information, tools, and fellow travelers on their journey to try something new to increase the speed, scale, and relevancy of their work. 

Please see the frequently asked questions below for more information.  

Dates: June 2 – June 6, 2025 
Location: Yale University, New Haven, CT 
In-Person Tuition: $2,950 plus a small processing fee which includes all local transportation and meals. 
In-Person Registration: The course is limited to 40 participants and has a competitive application process.
Travel: Attendees are responsible for expenses associated with lodging and transportation to and from the course. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Who should apply?

The course is ideal for those who are early in their conservation finance journey. Most of our past attendees come from public and non-profit conservation organizations, but we welcome practitioners from the philanthropic and private sectors. The Boot Camp will offer an introduction to how to integrate conservation finance into land and resource conservation work and will present a range of strategies for funding and financing conservation. We assume some familiarity with land and resource conservation practices, but the Boot Camp will offer a primer in basic principles of both conservation and finance to ensure attendees have shared vocabulary. Content is tailored to conservation project staff who don’t have existing expertise in conservation finance but may be appropriate for those who understand one funding or financing tool well and are seeking to learn about new tools or strategies. We strongly encourage applications from practitioners who are seeking feedback and advice on conservation finance projects they are currently spearheading. We seek to customize course content to participants’ areas of focus and geographies. Please note that the Boot Camp is geared towards project staff, rather than development staff. We do not generally accept current students, given the applied nature of the course.

When are applications due?

January 6, 2025

When will I hear back?

We will communicate decisions in late February. After the first round of decisions is made, we may re-open applications in the case that we have remaining seats in the course.

How are decisions made?

Applicants are selected based on a combination of factors including the applicability of course content to their work, a demonstrated intent to apply what they learn, and cohort balance and composition.

Is there a waitlist?

Yes, if there is sufficient interest. When decisions are made, we will give select applicants the option to be added to the waitlist.

What are the costs of attending?

Tuition is $2,950 plus a small processing fee, which includes all local transportation and meals. Attendees are responsible for covering costs associated with lodging and transportation to/from the course.

Are scholarships available?

Tuition scholarships may be made available for applicants whose organizations demonstrate financial need. However, scholarship funds are very limited and will be tailored to attendees from underrepresented backgrounds and small organizations. There will be a question in the application to detail your need for a scholarship.  

Is the course open to applicants outside the United States?

The course content is geared towards practitioners based in the United States. We draw primarily upon domestic case studies and examples and most examples will be based on the U.S. legal code. Although some topics may be analogous to international projects, we cannot guarantee the tools and strategies covered in the course will be directly applicable to your work.

If you have further questions, please contact CFN Director of Partnerships Katie Michels at kmichels@conservation-finance.org.