Openlands hosted the 2024 TreeKeepers Gathering and Graduation at the Garfield Park Conservatory on December 7, with 90 attendees celebrating a year of urban forestry efforts across Chicagoland. The event marked the certification of the 2,000th TreeKeeper and highlighted over 300 events, which were summarized on vibrant maps. This gathering also recognized the 10,000th tree planted by Openlands this year, a significant organizational milestone for community forestry.
Out of the 144 TreeKeepers who received their badges and certificates include Openlands President and CEO, Michael Davidson (TK#2053) and the City of Chicago’s First Lady, Stacie Johnson (TK#2068). “If you look around the room, you’ll see that everyone here represents not just different parts of Chicago, but also diverse cultures, customs, beliefs, experiences, and interests. Some TreeKeepers love pruning, others prefer planting, and some enjoy doing inventory work. But we all matter, and we all play a part,” said First Lady Johnson. “This is Chicago. This is what makes our city great.”
Additionally, 25 TreeKeepers were honored with L.E.A.F. Awards for exceptional community building and stewardship. Attendees were encouraged to envision their own “L.E.A.F.” initiatives, furthering their TreeKeeper journey through learning, experiencing, activating, and fostering. Thank you for a memorable year of TreeKeeping—we look forward to continuing to care for and advocate for Chicago’s trees in 2025!
About the L.E.A.F. framework
Learn! Experience! Activate! Foster!
Becoming a TreeKeeper takes time and dedication. There is a month of classes, a test to take, and practical examinations of your pruning skills and tree planting knowledge. While the course is a commitment, it is also structured to get people out there and involved. The real challenge comes after a TreeKeeper has become certified and the structure and scheduling of a course is no longer there to guide their efforts.
The whole concept of L.E.A.F. is to provide a framework for folks to follow as they grow into their life as a TreeKeeper. It all starts with Learning the necessary skills of TreeKeeping and then going out to gain experience with those skills. An experienced TreeKeeper activates themselves and their community by hosting events and providing opportunities for others to get involved. Finally, they foster their success by inviting new people to join in the fun, seek new venues for TreeKeeper activities and ultimately organize themselves into chapters that serve their community in their own unique ways.
This year marked our first-ever L.E.A.F. awards ceremony, where we celebrated TreeKeepers who have demonstrated excellence in four key areas: Learning, Experiencing, Activating, and Fostering all aspects of the TreeKeeper program.
Become inspired by reading through fellow TreeKeepers’ L.E.A.F. goals and watch the video montage showcasing photos from the year. The video also features a poem by forestry program coordinator Liam Nigro, titled What I Have Learned as a TreeKeeper (So Far).
Learn
The L.E.A.F. “LEARN” award recognizes TreeKeepers who excelled in their coursework and passed the final exam with the highest scores in their class, demonstrating a deep understanding of the material. These individuals are the valedictorians of their classes:
Alex Cassidy, Jun Dar Su, Janet Nunez, Jim Mikkelsen, and K. Campbell
Experience
The L.E.A.F. “EXPERIENCE” Award honors TreeKeepers who have attended a wide variety of events and are in the top percentile for volunteer hours. These individuals have shown their dedication through active participation, supporting chapter-led events, and contributing to the community through tree plantings and pruning workdays:
Eileen Holzhauer, Rick Gillies & Colleen Thorne, James Tokuda, Adolfo Castrejon, and Jeanne Mervine
Activate
The L.E.A.F “ACTIVATE” Award is for TreeKeepers who have gone above and beyond to initiate their own workdays, TreePlanters Grants, and have consistently embodied the “TreeKeeper spirit.” These individuals are leaders within their chapters, inspiring others to get involved and passing down their knowledge to new TreeKeepers:
Julia Hickey, Jim Battistoni, Pauline LeBlanc, Carl Hament, Michael Chamberlain, Vicki Capalbo, Paul Naylor, Lorrain Antieau
Foster
The LEAF “FOSTER” Award is given to TreeKeepers who demonstrate exceptional leadership and dedication to building a strong, supportive network. These individuals have led events, conducted inventory trainings, appeared on public television and radio programs, and organized and led planting groups at nearly every TreePlanters Grant event this year. They also play a key role in educating and inspiring others:
Mary Honda, Phil Lange, Risa Prezzano, Pablo Rodriguez, Clara Fourcade, and Neil McIlvain
