This program utilizes qualified non-profit youth- and veteran-serving organizations to carry out appropriate natural and cultural resource conservation, education, volunteer service and education…

Sodas Life Inc., a woman-owned and Black American-owned non-profit organization based in Kansas City, Missouri, received a $275,909 Cooperative Agreement award from the Department of the Interior National Park Service (NPS) under the Youth and Veteran Organizations Conservation Activities program (CFDA 15.931) on July 17, 2025, with a completion date of December 31, 2026. The primary deliverable is the recruitment and placement of high-performing students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in paid internships focused on natural, cultural, and historical resource management at national parks and monuments.

Under this cooperative agreement, Sodas Life Inc. will provide interns with hands-on experience in conservation projects while delivering mentorship and professional development opportunities that contribute to mission-critical resource management needs on Department of Interior lands. The program is designed to create a skilled conservation workforce by combining meaningful conservation work with career pathway development, benefiting both participating students and the National Park Service through the completion of essential conservation and preservation projects.

This program utilizes qualified non-profit youth- and veteran-serving organizations to carry out appropriate natural and cultural resource conservation, education, volunteer service and education projects on department of the interior lands through authorized national park service programs. This project recruits high-performing students from historically black colleges and universities for internships in natural, cultural, and historical resource management. Participants will gain hands-on experience while contributing to conservation projects at national parks. Deliverables include mentorship opportunities and completion of mission-critical projects. The expected outcome is a skilled workforce in conservation, benefiting students and the national park service. Beneficiaries include private non-profit institutions and organizations public and private non-profit academic institutions state and local government agencies quasi-public non-profit institutions and organizations that support youth and young adult career training and development, and education in the areas of natural and or cultural resource conservation and management. Individuals families students and the general public will receive a benefitfrom the development and execution of these programs and projects.