Skills and abilities necessary within the Local Strategy Team:

• Team leader who is experienced in environmental prevention or who has the desire/capacity to be trained in environmental prevention
• Local law enforcement members (i.e. police, sheriff, tribal, university or highway patrol members)
• Community member with prior environmental prevention experienceCommunity member with policy experienceCounty or city commissioners (Note: elected officials are not always desirable on the Strategy Team)
• Community members with medical or public health experience
• Community members with economic or business experience
• Local business owners

PROJECT OFFICER-SKILLS AND ABILITIES

Securing the right person to lead the environmental prevention project is critical.  The core of environmental prevention work revolves around empowering communities to change unhealthy or unsafe norms that may exist within the community context.  It is change-based work and requires a set of skills and abilities very different than that required for individual-focused prevention programs.  Characteristics of individuals who have historically been successful in change-related fields 

• are action- and outcome-oriented
• possess an inner desire to create and engage new potential
• believe that change is possible.

Hiring Project Officers with experience in environmental prevention can be challenging.  An alternative that has proven successful is to hire for aptitude and attitude with the recognition that training will be required for specific project or topic content.  When considering candidates to lead an environmental prevention project, look for the following critical attributes: 

• Strategic ability – ability to think strategically and conceptually about project outcomes and goals; understand the fluid nature of change-based projects.
• Communicative vision - ability to recognize and share the best goals for the group
• Tolerance for ambiguity – ability to decide and act without having all the details.