The Management Assistance Team (MAT) is an organization development consultancy and leadership development training resource for all fifty state fish and wildlife agencies across the United States.

MAT is a long-standing project of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA, or “the Association”), funded by a MultiState Conservation Grant, and provided guidance by the Association’s Leadership and Professional Development Committee. Since 1999 MAT’s offices have been located on the campus of the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

Background: MAT’s organizational directive is derived from the Association’s 2005 Strategic Plan that identifies “efficient and effective internal operations and business systems to maximize benefits to wildlife resource and the public” as one of four critical issues and includes a five-year strategy to address it: “Plan and begin implementing a leadership development program for member agencies.” 

Committee Charge:  Related to the leadership development strategic priority of the Association, the Leadership and Professional Development Committee (LPDC) plays a primary role.  The LPDC guides the Association’s actions related to developing tools and programs to help States develop new generations of agency leaders who are prepared to address current and future conservation needs in their state, region, and across the US. In this endeavor, the LPDC Committee, essentially, works to facilitate the MAT.

The LPDC Committee charge is to:

1.  Provide oversight and direction to the Association's Management Assistance Team (MAT) – Work with MAT and provide guidance so that MAT is effectively targeting the most important leadership development and agency management needs of state fish and wildlife agencies and Association members.

2.  Through MAT see that leadership development activities are created that may be used by State Association member agencies - Facilitate MAT’s development of a Leadership Development Initiative to provide training and consulting services to States that will help them best address leadership development needs within their borders; facilitate and lead development of a Leadership Institute that provides exceptional training and networking opportunities for the next generation of conservation organizations’ top-leaders. The Institute is also staffed by MAT.

3.  Communicate with Association members on trends related to leadership development and professional development – Communicate with Association members and disseminate state-of-the-art knowledge on trends, latest information, and “Best and Improved Practices” in leadership development. Provide resources so members may share their knowledge and experiences.

4.  Coordinate with the National Conservation Leadership Institute Board of Directors and work with them to facilitate state fish and wildlife agency involvement in the National Conservation Leadership Institute, and to provide continuity in leadership development programming. MAT does the work to make these priorities happen.