SCORE goes wild for EducateWild.com

Angie Moline has dedicated her career to the care of our planet; working with environmental issues both in the classroom and in the field. Maintaining the health of our wildlands and fostering the professionals and students who share this passion has led Moline to create her unique business, EducateWild! LLC.

As Moline began to formulate this venture she initially discussed it with her tax accountant, Roberta Motter, CPA, who suggested she contact SCORE. In stepped Fred Meek, one of the Northern Arizona SCORE counselors based in Flagstaff. Meek’s expertise is in Risk Management and Personnel Security. After having served in both the U.S. Air Force and Army, Meek then worked with a Defense Contractor that provided engineering services to the U.S. Army Aviation Command where he was part of the Senior Management Team with responsibility over Human Resources. Meek and his wife chose to retire to Flagstaff where they have lived for nine years and are active in several volunteer organizations.

After their initial meeting, Meek called on Bill Waters to co-counsel Moline. Waters is a retired naval officer as well as a retired executive of a Fortune 100 company. After his service in the Navy, he was general manager of various businesses and supervised global sales for the Fortune 100 company. Waters has invested in several startup businesses and has served on the board of directors of five national and regional nonprofit organizations. Currently, in addition to his work with SCORE, he is a volunteer with the US Forest Service and Northland Pioneer College. Waters is a private pilot, avid bicyclist and amateur photographer. He and his wife Camille are Flagstaff residents.

So what is EducateWild!, LLC? Once Moline began brainstorming with Meek and Waters, her initial plans for her business expanded to include speaking engagements in addition to the consultation and teaching services. Educate Wild! provides consulting support for people who teach field-based education programs. In addition, Moline has begun doing speaking engagements and has designed and produced an instructor resource kit which can be found on the website, EducateWild.com. Currently Moline is working with clients at both Northern Arizona University (NAU) and Prescott College. She is consulting with the NAU Forest Ecology Lab to revise their field policies and is collaborating with the Natural History Institute of Prescott College to write a risk management manual for college faculty who teach field studies.

Moline, with a PhD in Ecology, has found Arizona with its many square miles of public lands a fertile arena for her field work. She previously taught at Prescott College and then served on the NAU faculty for six years. Moline has also been involved in other field-based education programs, most of which were in the western states.

Some of the many issues that Moline tackles for her clients are outdoor field safety; managing the physical and emotional demands of field work and optimizing risk management systems for both the professionals and their students. One of the numerous resources that educators can take advantage of on the Educate Wild! website is a quiz to determine if they are adequately prepared to work in the field. Moline evaluates the answers and provides insight for the professional.

Another offering is a Career Mapping course that provides a structured, creative process that allows the individual to articulate professional goals and make a plan to accomplish a lifetime career. The process utilizes a series of engaging templates and hands on activities that help to literally draw a map to a future in the fields of environmental conservation and / or outdoor education.

Providing both online and on-site services gives Moline’s clients a range of choices that can be customized specifically to the projects they are pursuing.

When talking about the benefit of her SCORE mentors, Moline said, “They have become a valuable part of my team for their guidance and expertise in the business structure. Fred is great with human resources and Bill is an expert at streamlining the message.”

You too can go wild with SCORE. If you are just beginning your business as Moline, or if you are expanding an existing business, the counselors for Northern Arizona SCORE are just a click away.

To get your own SCORE mentor call 928-778-7438 email: scoreoffice@scorenaz.org or go to www.northernarizona.score.org.