Our Grants

2023-2024 Outdoor Grants

Current Year Grant Summary
In 2023, the National Recreation Foundation awarded 42 Outdoor Grants totaling $982,000.

Black Kids Adventures

Black Kids Adventures

Black Kids Adventure’s (BKA) works to expose, educate, and empower Black and Brown families through nature-based outdoor recreation. BKA serves families in Alabama and beyond and seeks to redefine and challenge the idea of who enjoys outdoor activities.

NRF funding supports BKA’s Family Camp program, which introduces families to camping basics. Onsite staff and volunteers provide programming throughout camp while families build community and togetherness. Families learn how to choose a tent site, set up and break down a tent, and what to keep inside and outside the tent. They participate in activities such as fire-building, hiking, paddling, Leave No Trace workshops, and land tours. There is also time to play in the creek, create nature art, and spend time with each other. Camp ends with families sharing how the weekend impacted them.

Brothers on the Rise

Brothers on the Rise (BOTR) equips agents of change with tools and resources to transform communities through responsible manhood development and strategic initiatives. Its Trail Brothers programming enables boys and young men of color to participate in hands-on environmental learning while providing them with much-needed access to the local areas. The youth participate in nature-rich activities and get exposure to nature-based careers, which empowers them to become stewards of local and regional green areas and contribute to their confidence-building, conflict resolution and coping skills, and career awareness. Through culturally grounded rites of passage and manhood training, tree care and habitat restoration, community service and social action, the youth learn about their responsibility to protect green areas. The trips provide equitable access, and a peaceful and grounding respite, from stressors the youth face in their urban environment.

BGC

Brown Girls Climb

A critical need exists to empower and engage young girls and non-binary individuals of color, ages 18-24, in outdoor rock climbing. The lack of representation and access to these experiences hinders personal and outdoor development. The Brown Girls Climb (BGC) Youth Program directly addresses these needs by creating an opportunity for young individuals of color to gain outdoor rock climbing skills. In partnership with Girl Scout troops in the NYC area, BGC launched a program to create a learning environment with current BGC leaders. Outdoor skills and education topics covered include: intro to climbing, knots and essentials, movement and technique, history lessons on climbing from the Black and Indigenous perspective, and outdoor ethics and understanding mindfulness of leaving no trace. The program starts with indoor climbing sessions conducted at a local gym. As the program progresses, the focus shifts to outdoor climbing experiences, transitioning the participants to natural settings. These sessions provide an opportunity to connect with nature while applying the skills learned indoors. The program incorporates Leave No Trace principles and teaches participants the importance of responsible and sustainable outdoor practices. Simultaneously, it weaves in Black and Indigenous history, providing a cultural context for outdoor experiences. This holistic approach builds outdoor competency and fosters a sense of connection to the natural environment and cultural heritage, empowering participants to become leaders in the climbing community.

Brushwood Center

Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods

Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods’ Nature Explorer Backpack/Mochilas de Explorador program increases equitable access to the many health benefits of nature, strengthens environmental awareness and action through youth empowerment, and cultivates rich cultural connections to the natural world. Building on three years of success, Brushwood is expanding the program for families in Waukegan, North Chicago, Round Lake, and Highwood, IL through partnerships with more than 20 community organizations. Brushwood Center’s work introduces youth from these communities to Lake County's natural resources, so that they can enjoy the benefits of nature, including improved physical and mental health and positive community experiences.

Bus for Outdoor Access & Training

Bus for Outdoor Access & Teaching

Being outside is awesome—but getting outside can be tough. By turning a school bus into a fully equipped outdoor program, Bus for Outdoor Access & Training (BOAT) makes it easy to get groups outside. BOAT has established a turnkey outdoor program that provides organizations affordable outdoor wilderness access through 5-7 day "Choose Your Own Adventure" trips, which include backpacking expeditions, basecamp programs, and adventure road trips.

The focus of these trips is the integration of social-emotional learning, leadership, justice education, and outdoor spaces. The trips are an intentional group process that allows mentors, educators, or youth leaders to partner with the youth in their organizations to plan a custom trip that is a "best fit" for them. BOAT helps the organizations clear barriers to outdoor access by providing knowledge of activities, access to gear, and ability to transport groups to recreational areas. BOAT staff also partner with chaperones to discuss risk management, and key cultural and philosophical barriers and preferences to ensure that BOAT can support the organizations in leading a trip that feels like an extension of their existing work.

Catamount Institute

Catamount Institute (CI) acknowledges that environmental and outdoor education, recreation, and adventure are not yet truly accessible to all, especially to those in historically excluded and underserved populations such as Indigenous, Black, racially, and ethnically diverse, LGBTQ2S+, those with disabilities and neuro diversity, low-income, inner-city, and rural communities. CI addresses this through its YES Club, a subsidized program providing connection to outdoor nature and recreational activities to youth that wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity due to access barriers. YES Club’s overarching goal is to use experiential environmental education and recreation to foster knowledge, appreciation and stewardship of natural resources while providing a safe after school opportunity. Participants build confidence and skills and are encouraged to engage in an active outdoor lifestyle in recreation and adventure. YES Club is offered through a robust collaboration between CI, school districts, and community-based organizations. CI utilizes place-based nature activities, recognizing and knocking down access barriers. By providing YES Club as an after-school program, CI engages schoolteachers, provides a curriculum that complements school lessons, and surrounds those kids who would not otherwise have the opportunity with increased protective factors while connecting them to the outdoors.

CREATE

Center for Recreation Education Arts Technology & Enterprise

Center for Recreation Education Arts Technology & Enterprise (CREATE) provides holistic support and transformative opportunities to school-aged middle Georgia youth who are facing adversity. CREATE aspires to ignite their potential and guide them toward a brighter future. Its Outdoor Adventures Program provides experiences that promote physical activity, leadership development, and career exploration. The program includes an expansion of CREATE’s cycling program and introduces camping leadership, canoeing, and wilderness first aid training opportunities.

The biking program's partnership with the local public school system has facilitated the introduction of balance bikes and bike handling instruction within the school's physical education curriculum. This initiative ensures that all school children in Baldwin County have the opportunity to learn to ride, fostering a foundation for a lifelong love of cycling.

Collaborating with Georgia College Outdoor Education students, CREATE participants learn essential camping skills prior to participating in any biking expeditions. Its participants also have the opportunity to become certified canoe instructors, broadening their skill set and potential career prospects, and be trained in Wilderness First Aid.

Center of Southwest Culture

The Center of Southwest Culture

The Center of Southwest Culture (CSC) works to develop healthy Indigenous and Mexicano/Chicano communities through economic development and cultural educational programs. CSC takes a linguistically and culturally supportive approach and is centered on cultural lifeways, traditional knowledge, and existing resources to increase overall community health. New Mexicans have always relied on the land to sustain communities and families and to facilitate Indigenous learning. However, many of the communities have lost their daily connection to their natural traditional environments due to climate impact, increased reliance on technology, or economic barriers.

CSC’s Story Riders program empowers youth to reconnect with their natural and cultural heritage while providing practical training in bicycle safety and maintenance and guided cycling experiences exploring local stories and spaces. The youth develop critical thinking and self-awareness by learning about current issues affecting the natural environment and local history through interviews and activities with elders while engaging in outdoor activity. Story Riders safely reintroduces youth of color to the natural beauty and knowledge of New Mexico's outdoor spaces to offer the physical benefit of cycling and the social and emotional benefits of reconnecting to land and culture. 

Chill Foudnation
 

Chill Foundation

Young people living in urban areas encounter financial and societal barriers to accessing natural spaces and recreation, especially those from historically marginalized communities, BIPOC youth, and youth from low-income families. Chill Foundation (Chill) recognizes that board sports, especially snow sports, are not easily accessible for many young people due to both financial and societal barriers to access. Chill wants all youth to experience the wonders of the natural environment and the positive impacts of learning new skills in a safe and supportive setting. Its no-cost programs break down these barriers, so that any young person, regardless of background or circumstances, can participate and see themselves in a community of riders. Chill’s positive youth development snowboarding programs in Portland, OR, Reno, NV, Tahoe, CA, and Salt Lake City, UT, support young people, ages 11-19, who come from historically marginalized communities or face other challenges in their lives. The program provides everything youth need to participate, including gear, passes, instruction, transportation, and food. By bringing a more diverse population into the outdoor community, Chill works towards building and sustaining a more welcoming and inclusive community for current and future young people to enjoy.

Connecticut Institute for Communities

  • Website: cifc.org
  • Grant amount: $30,000

Many children in Danbury, CT, do not have access to or take advantage of outdoor recreation, especially on the water, despite the area's reputation as an outdoor recreation destination. The benefits of being outside can increase the impact of recreation's health benefits even more, making the lack of outdoor recreation for local children even more concerning. Connecticut Institute for Communities, Inc. (CIFC) works to instill a love for the outdoors in children and families as well as a commitment to preserving natural resources and the opportunities they provide.

CIFC recently launched a fishing program that provides transportation, education, and a guided fishing opportunity on local bodies of water (including Candlewood Lake, one of the most productive U.S. lakes for anglers) for children who have completed CIFC’s free swim lesson program and an accompanying parent. The fishing trips are hosted by a guide who teaches the foundations of fishing, including regulations and good environmental stewardship, in hopes that the families will continue to fish together after gaining the knowledge and skills. This is especially important as a parent’s attitude toward outdoor recreation is one of the greatest predictors of a similar attitude in their children.

Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps

Conservation Legacy

Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps (ALCC), a program of Conservation Legacy, fosters the next generation of Indigenous leaders by reconnecting youth and young adults to their ancestral and public lands through activities that provide cultural reconnection, peer and professional mentorship, and healing outdoor experiences.

ALCC recognizes the need to build an ethic of community service and land stewardship in the next generation of Indigenous leaders and to increase the representation of traditional ecological knowledge in public land management agencies and conservation movements. ALCC believes this knowledge is key to the current climate crisis and the health of the Indigenous communities, which are often at the forefront of these issues. ALCC engages Indigenous youth and young adults in outdoor activities such as conservation projects, traditional farming, targeted field trips and more on public and ancestral lands to foster cultural reconnection and for healing for the participants and their communities, as well as life skills and personal development to support their personal success.

CultureSeed

CultureSeed

The Columbia Gorge region of the Pacific Northwest is one of the largest national scenic areas in the United States. Despite being an area where people from around the world come to recreate, the rural communities surrounding the Columbia Gorge, which are predominantly Latinx, face pronounced economic disparities. CultureSeed shapes its organization and programming through a racial justice lens and works to strengthen connection to the community and to nature while addressing youth mental health issues. CultureSeed creates a supportive environment that empowers youth, ages 13-18, to navigate challenges they may face during their formative teenage years through: outdoor experiences and multi-day immersions (including hikes, camps, river trips and a variety of other outdoor experiences and adventures), outdoor economic opportunities, weekly peer circles, counseling and therapy, and access funds in order to connect youth with nature and to promote mental well-being and resilience. Local youth attend free and ongoing year-round outdoor programming and can return year-after-year until they graduate high school. 

Diné WE CAN 

Diné WE CAN’s SiiHasin Bike Program empowers participants through the sport of bicycling, while emphasizing the importance of goal setting, promoting healthy lifestyles, and recognizing the positive effect of K'e (kinship). It also provides educational services from the seat of a bicycle and cultural experiences that include livestock shearing, butchering, traditional meals, riding under the stars, learning about local landmarks, kindship through clan, and bike repair lessons (that teach participants to take care of their bicycles and ultimately take care of oneself). A vital part of the program is relationship building with elders in the community, which is important to the Navajo Nation’s culture. Diné WE CAN is focused on serving the Navajo Nation in Indian Wells, AZ, but also reaches the surrounding communities and the Hopi Reservation, as every family deserves the opportunity to know the joy of riding a bike while enjoying the freedom to explore the natural world on two wheels.

Elevate Youth

Elevate Youth

Elevate Youth (EY) works to break down systemic barriers to outdoor access, diversify outdoor spaces, and create opportunities for positive mentoring relationships in Greater Boston. Its impact centers on creating self-efficacy in youth, a sense of belonging in natural spaces, and empowering the next generation of diverse environmental stewards and leaders. EY is amplifying its impact by extending programming to overnight camping and backpacking, full-day ocean sailing and kayaking trips, and full-day environmental service experiences. Through its Summer Voyagers Program, EY provides youth, ages 9-16, with a week of these innovative day trips in and around the Boston area, and with a culminating overnight camping trip. The youth experience immersive nature opportunities during the summer months, solidify the skills and lessons learned throughout the school year, and open up pathways for further engagement in nature. The programs offer a progressive learning curriculum to introduce students to outdoor activities, such as hiking, skiing, fishing, kayaking, rock climbing, and more, while being supported by adult mentors and EY staff. By introducing kids to a diverse range of outdoor recreational activities, the youth are given the chance to find an outdoor activity they would like to pursue further.

Explore Austin

Explore Austin

The youth served by Explore Austin live in economically and racially segregated neighborhoods, where members of these communities are underrepresented in outdoor recreation and face barriers to accessing nature. Through outdoor adventure and long-term mentorship, Explore Austin supports adventurous youth from these communities as they develop into confident and courageous adults. Its free, six-year program connects Explorers (grades 6-12) with caring mentors to cultivate authentic relationships and self-discovery through teamwork and outdoor adventure. Over the six years, a youth Explorer spends 1,100 hours in nature, being physically active, developing social-emotional competencies, and boosting their mental health, alongside supportive mentors. Explore Austin facilitates trust and belonging by creating a safe space to try and do hard things. As Explorers gain technical skills through backpacking, climbing, biking, and canoeing, they develop confidence, integrity, and courage to pursue their own version of success.

Field Institute of Taos

Field Institute of Taos

Field Institute of Taos (FITaos) inspires stewards of the environment who understand the multi-faceted value of the natural environment as a sanctuary and as an opportunity for scientific research, physical challenge, exploration, experiencing beauty, and mental strength. By developing a “sense of place” and connection with the natural world in its backyard, FITaos helps youth become stewards of the environment and engage in a more active and proactive lifestyle, which ultimately results in increased self-worth; confidence; resilience; increased future aspirations; increased capacity for learning; decreased obesity; decreased community violence; and increased and ongoing access to a protected natural environment.

FITaos offers exceptional, professional programming in a safe, impactful manner. FITaos’ programs include Mountain Camps, after school mountain bike club, EdVentures (school field trips), Building Bikes, and Building Futures at Taos Pueblo (school field trips and out-of-school adventures).

Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida

Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida

The Florida Youth Conservation Centers Network (FYCCN) is part of the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). FYCCN aims to uphold Florida's outdoor heritage by educating and empowering Florida's youth and educators with outdoor knowledge and conservation concepts. FYCCN and its partners are teaching kids to hunt responsibly, fish ethically, hike attentively, camp resourcefully, think critically, and explore curiously. FYCCN works through the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, which seeks to protect outstanding animals and plants and the lands and waters they need to survive.

FYCCN has made great strides in getting kids outdoors and creating the next generation that cares via its five centers and a network of nearly 400 partners. FYCCN continues to reach new partners, new schools, and new youth, as well as support current partners in ways that lead to more inclusion of participants from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.

FRWC

Flint River Watershed Coalition

Michigan-based Flint River Watershed Coalition (FRWC) works to protect, promote, and improve the Flint River ecosystem and its watershed to benefit and promote ecosystem health, community health, economic health, and education and recreation. FRWC recognizes that it is essential to support families impacted by ongoing structural racism and inequities in environmental justice (including the Flint Water Crisis) and to break down barriers affiliated with the cost of outdoor recreation. FRWC BIPOC Youth Service Expansion is reimagining access to Kayak Flint programming by applying a lens of environmental and social justice to its work. Through collaborations with youth-serving organizations, churches and neighborhood groups, FRWC provides free kayak and paddle board opportunities, transportation support, expanded location offerings, and space for discussions related to safety and concerns.

Friends of Anacostia Park

Friends of Anacostia Park

Friends of Anacostia Park (FoAP) enriches the lives of Washington, D.C. residents by preserving Anacostia Park and connecting surrounding communities. FoAP’s work centers on outdoor programming that enriches the mental and physical health of residents who otherwise wouldn’t have access to opportunities for growth and rest.

FoAP’s THRIVE program gives youth a safe space to focus on mental, social, and physical health through recreational offerings the first seven weeks of the school year. FoAP’s is growing its THRIVE cohort and connecting the youth to its youth-focused programs that are offered throughout the year. During THRIVE programming, students have the option to rotate through guided arts and crafts, a meditation corner near the river, facilitated physical fitness, homework help and park stewardship. All students are required to participate in ME TIME, a guided group discussion focused on social-emotional health.

THRIVE students also have opportunities to engage with FoAP programming through expansion of its in-school outdoor recreation and education programming for Anacostia High School's Environmental Stewardship Club (during the winter) and through volunteering during FoAP’s NatureFest (during spring break), Family Days and Late Skates. Increasing the number of times FoAP connects with THRIVE youth throughout the year also helps grow the THRIVE Anacostia Park Youth Corps comprised of students who are deputized as conservation and community engagement experts in the park.

Friends of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks

Friends of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks

New Mexico is blessed with an abundance of outdoor recreation opportunities, but many of those remain out of reach for the local community. Lack of resources from a family perspective as well as a lack of opportunities for after-school enrichment programs combine to make spending time outdoors difficult for families. Friends of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks’ Moving Montañas program addresses these issues by leveraging expertise and extensive relationships within the school and after-school program community to remove barriers and create opportunities for authentic and enriching engagement in outdoor spaces.

Moving Montañas Fourth Grade Hikes program is part of the nationwide program that grants a year-long entry pass to all national parks and monuments to 4th grade students and their families. To raise awareness of this program, Moving Montañas hosts field trips (both during school and after school) to local national monuments and parks. During the summer, Moving Montañas holds summer programs and camps that include weekly trips and more immersive outdoor experiences, such as rock climbing and mountain biking. Moving Montañas also continues to engage middle school and high school youth through outdoor clubs that provide valuable after school options as well as create opportunities for older students to step into leadership roles around the protection of public lands. 

Gateway to the Great Outdoors

Gateway to the Great Outdoors

Gateway to the Great Outdoors (GGO) partners with Title I schools in Chicago and St. Louis where more than 90% of the students are eligible for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program. For many students, GGO's program offers transformative first-time experiences, including learning to ride a bike, encountering local wildlife, and growing produce. To provide such meaningful experiences, GGO maintains a strong connection to the community and recruits student mentors from local universities.

GGO’s Trail Blazers is a year of camping trips and two units of environmental education for classrooms across six different Title I public schools in Chicago and St. Louis. GGO provides students with social and emotional learning lessons, nature connection field trips, and fun-filled camping trips that promote positive youth development and equitable access to outdoor recreation and education opportunities. Some of the students’ favorite activities include: identifying native flora, creating respectful and awe-inspiring relationships with wild elk, and building community and outdoor recreation skills by kayaking on local waterways. By establishing connections between students and the outdoors, GGO fosters environmental stewardship values, builds necessary skills, and nurtures supportive relationships that help students reach their full potential.

Generations Indigenous Ways

An affiliate of Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples

Generations Indigenous Ways provides positive cultural appropriate programming and a safe place for youth to excel in STEM education and discovery at the Pine Ridge Reservation and its surrounding areas.

The goal of its Lakota Summer Science Field Institute is to motivate youth to discover and explore science, technology, engineering, and math. Participants learn how physics, mathematics, and the scientific methods are required and used in designing a traditional bow; harvesting traditional plants and foods; water and air quality; and creating traditional beadwork and quillwork. Other learning topics that supplement the STEM curriculum are Astronomy, Paleontology & Geology, and a Tipi erecting presentation.

Greeing Youth Foundation

Greening Youth Foundation

Research indicates that African Americans constitute 10.8% of the overall workforce, but only represent 5.9% of those employed in life and physical science occupations. This disparity can be attributed to a lack of childhood exposure to natural resource fields and outdoor activities. While summer camps present an excellent opportunity to introduce children to greenspaces, low-cost summer camps often do not offer environmentally focused camp experiences. Greening Youth Foundation (GYF) began by offering environmental conservation education to elementary students in Gwinnett County, Georgia. Now it focuses on connecting students and young adults of color to conservation careers, and is one of the country’s leading organizations that links youth to careers in natural resource management.

GYF’s Eco-Summer Camp provides free, nature-focused activities to low-income residents of Atlanta’s Westside. The six-week camp experience offers environmental education and awareness to students in grades K-5, by engaging them in outdoor activities at the Urban Conservation Training Institute (a four-acre urban working farm that features various areas like farming spaces, an outdoor classroom, community gardening space, walking trails, composting area, chicken coop, irrigation well, and an old farmhouse). The camp also provides visits to environmental sites across the Atlanta metro area.

GTG Outdoors

GTG Outdoors "Families Around the Fire" pilot program, is a 6-12-month mentorship program specifically designed for BIPOC families. The program promotes time in nature through a series of bi-weekly meetings covering essential outdoor skills and experiences. From "Leave No Trace" principles and outdoor cooking to wildlife education, the curriculum is crafted to foster appreciation, skills, and a sense of belonging in the natural world. Additionally, the program addresses the need for cultural inclusivity and safety in outdoor spaces, aiming to break the cycle of environmental disconnection and build a community that values and actively participates in conservation efforts. For families seeking deeper engagement, an extended six-month backpacking mentorship offers specialized training in backcountry skills, ensuring families are well equipped to explore nature independently. "Families Around the Fire" isn’t just an outdoor mentorship program—it's a strategic initiative to reconnect BIPOC families with nature, addressing both the symptoms and root causes of disengagement, and empowering them to claim their space in the great outdoors while fostering a sustainable relationship with the environment.

Hands and Hearts for Horses

Hands and Hearts for Horses

Hands and Hearts for Horses provides therapeutic horseback riding services to people with challenges including autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injuries and behavioral, emotional, and cognitive difficulties. It brings together horses and certified instructors who collaborate with professionals in the medical, psychological, and educational fields to enrich lives and promote independence. The center serves children and adults with disabilities from south Georgia and north Florida, including self-contained school groups. One of the many challenges people living with disabilities face is safe access to nature. Hands and Hearts for Horses has a sensory trail on its property which is being expanded and renovated so that it is usable year-round. Renovations will include bridges over the streams; an above ground plank walkway; and weather resistant items, like metal chimes. The natural and man-made sensory experiences encourage integration of the senses, motor planning, problem solving and multifaceted sensory stimulation that comes from being immersed in nature.

Heritage Trails Partnership of the Mississippi Gulf Coast

Heritage Trails Partnership of the Mississippi Gulf Coast

Heritage Trails Partnership of the Mississippi Gulf Coast believes a healthy physical and mental lifestyle is achievable for all individuals through access to natural, safe outdoor spaces. The partnership advocates for and supports the vision of a safe, coast-wide network of diverse trails that connect neighborhoods to businesses, schools, green spaces, and blue spaces so that everyone can enjoy scenic, historic, educational, and natural areas. Heritage Trails’ Youth Trails Stewardship Program encourages children and young adults to explore and appreciate nature as well as the many workforce opportunities available in the outdoor recreation industry. Through this program, Heritage Trails Partnership of the Mississippi Gulf Coast hosts monthly bike rides from local neighborhoods to the Clower-Thornton Nature Area where youth participate in outdoor activities that support and promote their interest in nature. Rides also encourage continued discussion around areas in the city and region where protected rides are possible and places where changes are needed to improve bike and pedestrian safety.

Humble Hustle

The Humble Hustle

While Roanoke, VA, is full of outdoor opportunities, those spaces are sometimes closed off to communities of color, especially youth. Many outdoor spaces can be challenging to access and require prohibitively expensive specialized equipment. Humble Hustle aims to remove these barriers so that youth of color can access and enjoy the outdoors worry free by providing all gear, transportation, lunch, water, and snacks.

Humble Hustle participants learn about the outdoors, recreate, and experience a relaxing time while enjoying nature. Humble Hustle is launching a consistent overnight camping program as well as a yearly conference for Humble Hikes, which would bring together youth and outdoor enthusiasts for one day to develop excitement and education around the outdoors. Humble Hikes aims to expose, educate, and empower Black youth to the outdoors. It is also is working to increase female participation in its outdoor recreation programming.

Jefferson County Youth Council

Jefferson County Youth Council

  • Grant amount: $15,000

Jefferson County Youth Council's mission is to serve as a strong advocate for the county’s youth. It provides a safe and accessible environment that promotes academic and social growth at no cost to participating youth. The vast majority of the youth the Council serves have limited exposure to experiences that encourage growth and learning and limited access to safe, outdoor green spaces. The Council coordinates activities in partnership with various youth-serving organizations and provides support to local schools, both public and private, the Jefferson Art’s Council, the Jefferson County 4-H program and the Jefferson County Education Foundation.

Jefferson County Youth Council exposes youth (13-17 years old) to “hands on” visits to state parks, recreation areas, college campuses, museums, aquariums, the state capitol, and various other field trips. It also concentrates on promoting respect for the environment by engaging in activities that focus on valued natural resources. Being introduced to these new opportunities and experiences will promote physical activity and academic and social growth for the youth the Council serves. 

Khmer Community of Seattle King County

Khmer Community of Seattle King County

The Khmer Community of Seattle King County empowers the Khmer community and bridges the intergenerational gap between elders and youth through cultural preservation and promoting well-being. Khmer refugees have come from a predominantly agrarian society, with extensive knowledge of how to live on the land. These practices may have been lost, suppressed, or unable to be exercised upon resettlement into the United States. The Khmer Youth Environmental Leadership project helps bridge invaluable intergenerational connections, connect youth to outdoor recreation and natural resources in the region, and further contribute to the preservation of Khmer culture and environmental knowledge. Khmer youth will learn from Khmer elders, a passing on of the community’s environmental and cultural values. Program activities include intergenerational camping weekends; learning the importance of cultural plants, herbs, vegetables, and growing practices; hands-on Native American, indigenous plants and cooking experiences; Youth Environmental Learning Cultural Exchanges; and intergenerational snowboard/ski trips.

La Semilla Food Center

La Semilla Food Center

La Semilla Food Center’s mission is to foster a healthy, self-reliant, fair, and sustainable food system in the Paso del Norte region, which includes Southern New Mexico, El Paso, TX, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Through its six community-centered and land-based programs, La Semilla Food Center builds relationships and creates empowering spaces for youth and families to grow and cook healthy food, create positive change, and foster connections among nature, health, foodways, and local economies.

La Semilla Food Center’s Food and Farm Apprenticeship Program provides youth apprentices training grounded in agroecology, experiential on-site outdoor learning, and leadership opportunities. It increases connection with natural sites and resources, as well as local growers and other experts, and it lays a foundation for a more sustainable food system. The program also expands a growing network of younger generations of local growers and food justice advocates that are more deeply connected and knowledgeable about the regional ecosystem. The apprentices assist with a diverse range of farm production and marketing activities, including produce sales and the development of value-added products. Apprentices also play a critical role as Crew Leaders for La Semilla Food Center’s Raíces 6-week program, which guides participants (ages 14-22) as they explore how food and methods of production are intrinsically tied to the health and wellbeing of a community and local economies. The youth examine their own histories and links to agriculture, learn “seed-to-table” skills, and develop leadership and entrepreneurial skills to address complex food injustices experienced in the food system.

Laru Beya Collective

Laru Beya Collective

The Laru Beya Collective is a grassroots organization committed to addressing racial disparities in drownings, particularly among Black children, ages 5-19, who are 5.5 times more likely to drown than their white peers (CDC, 2014). It is dedicated to empowering the historically excluded youth of Far Rockaway and New York City. The two main vehicles Laru Beya has built to drive change are its Water Safety Coalition and its healing justice work through surf therapy. Laru Beya provides body-positive, diversity-embracing spaces for surf therapy and innovative wellness programming. Its weekly offerings include surf therapy, rock climbing, beach cleanups, art projects, mentorship, and mindfulness sessions, for girls, boys, and gender-expansive youth. These activities are alternatives to passive entertainment and foster psychologically adaptive habits and skills essential for long-term mental well-being. Laru Beya uses surfing and its natural connection to the ocean as a community space for people to come together and build its base of support for the Water Safety Campaign. It provide transportation, food, equipment, instruction, extracurricular mentorship, and a pathway to sustained community engagement.

Latinos Progresando

Latinos Progresando

Latinos Progresando (LP) is hyper-focused on the east side of Chicago’s South Lawndale community, historically known as Marshall Square and home to predominantly Mexican families. Its Marshall Square Monarch Project is centered on the monarch butterfly, a meaningful symbol for migration and immigration in Mexican culture. The project strengthens connection to the outdoors, promotes mental health, provides out-of-school enrichment opportunities, and increases social connection, while protecting and preserving an endangered species.

Through LP’s train-the-trainer style social and emotional learning (SEL) programming, parents in four neighborhood elementary schools learn skills to manage stress and communicate emotions, heal from trauma, nurture healthy relationships and home environments, and support the development of those skills in their children. LP is launching the next phase of programming, which includes expansion of the curriculum to incorporate gardening with native plants that support the monarch population, horticultural therapy, and career pathways. This programming is supported through LP’s annual summer camp and includes nature-based learning, conservation activities, and SEL, arts, sports, and STEM programs. The monarch-focused curriculum is incorporated into the summer camp. Youth also join parents and siblings in nature-based activities on school campuses, around the neighborhood, in home gardens, as well as in forest preserves, prairie areas and botanical gardens.

LOOP NOLA

LOOP NOLA

LOOP NOLA is focused on making the outdoors more equitably accessible for youth so that everyone can experience the physical and mental health benefits of outdoor recreation along with the joy and awe generated in natural spaces. By providing equitable access to the mental and health benefits of the outdoors, the overall well-being of youth increases, no matter socioeconomic background. This positively impacts youth’s ability to be engaged at school, work, and in their community. LOOP NOLA’s Partner Programs offers age-appropriate school day programming in local parks. Most first-time participants have little experience with structured outdoor recreation activities and have little understanding of the ecology of southeast Louisiana. The activities offered include canoeing, low and high ropes, and environmental education experiences. 

Mountain Dreamers

Mountain Dreamers

Mountain Dreamers' (MD) Oso Snowboard program focuses on serving BIPOC and immigrant youth in rural Summit County, CO, addressing the accessibility of snowsports like skiing and snowboarding. Despite a BIPOC student population of 44% in the Summit School District, only 5.6% of skier visits are from Latino individuals, reflecting broader trends in the U.S. where BIPOC communities represent only 12.9% of ski visits. This is especially disturbing since Summit County is home to four world class ski resorts. Skiing and snowboarding are vital for social life in the area, but increasing participation means dismantling the social, cultural, and financial barriers that BIPOC youth face. Oso nurtures youth outdoor leaders, advocates for policy changes, and designs sustainable programs. Its goal is to integrate local youth and families into outdoor environments like Colorado mountain ski resorts, ensuring sustained access beyond program durations by breaking down the cultural, financial and gear barriers. At no cost, Oso provides a series of beginner group lessons to local young people (18-24) and adults who have never been able to access this opportunity. This initiative equips the youth with tangible skills, bolstering confidence and leadership abilities and resulting in positive ripple effects on their families and social environments.

Movement Education Outdoors

Movement Education Outdoors

A fiscally sponsored project of New Urban Arts

Though Rhode Island is called the “Ocean State,” redlining, gentrification, and environmental racism exclude communities of color from waterways suitable for fishing, swimming, and recreation. In these communities, waterways often are seen as hazards rather than safe recreational resources. Movement Education Outdoors inspires youth to connect to the land they live on and the communities they live in. Its MOBILE Fellowship program empowers BIPOC high school students as environmental justice changemakers through shared reclamation of ancestral knowledge and practices. The fellows experience Rhode Island’s coast by land and water and explore the intersections between marine science, Black and Indigenous history, and food and environmental justice in their communities. The fellows participate in hands-on projects to monitor water quality and to promote oyster restoration. After the completion of their projects, the fellows develop materials to educate others about these practices and share what they’ve learned in a culminating intergenerational hike and oyster cookout.

New Treks

New Treks

Research demonstrates that access to nature and outdoor learning is linked to positive impacts on physical and mental health. This includes reducing stress and anxiety, while increasing creativity, self-sufficiency, and resiliency. One of the ways that Denver-based New Treks increases access to the outdoors for youth is through hosting an outdoor elective course at Title 1 schools. The students earn course credits as they learn about and participate in hiking, rock climbing, backpacking, and paddling programs. Programming enables the youth to build a positive relationship with the outdoors and have opportunities to regularly experience the outdoors and nature.

New Treks is growing rapidly and annually increasing the numbers of schools at which it offers the outdoor elective course. Over the summer, New Treks also works with youth service organizations and transitional housing facilities to provide outdoor experiences for additional youth. Outdoor education goes hand-in-hand with developing the social-emotional skills needed to communicate better, manage emotions, and work with others. These skills are reinforced when students work together to try new outdoor activities outside of their comfort zone.

Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project

Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project

When a child catches their first trout, sees an eagle take flight, or explores a backcountry trail, they light up, they learn something new, they connect. But it's not always easy to get outside. Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project (NTCP) was created with the sole purpose of connecting New Mexico youth to the places they might not otherwise see—public lands, urban green spaces, mountains, deserts, and rivers. Nature Niños (NN) is an entry point to the outdoors for communities who experience "nature nerves"  from a lack of exposure. NTCP and NN partnered to create Nuestro Futuro, a program that advances equity, access, and representation in the outdoors for all New Mexico youth through empowerment and engagement in outdoor recreation and education. Nuestro Futuro is expanding learning opportunities inside and outside the classroom. Its Albuquerque program directly serves Title 1 schools in South Valley with school-time outdoor experiences, which are tailored to the needs of each individual school partner to ensure that the students are having their needs and interests met in ways that are culturally responsive. Project opportunities vary from six-week long fishing and sustainable eating experiences to public land hikes that work to educate the youth on regional flora and fauna. A main component of all programming is the use of nature journaling, which fosters a deeper connection with the natural world and enhances various aspects of youth well-being.

Outdoor Inclusion Coalition

Outdoor Inclusion Coalition

A fiscally sponsored project of New Sun Rising

The Outdoor Inclusion Coalition (OIC), based out of Millvale, PA, addresses representation in the outdoors and works to break down barriers associated with winter sports (including the costs of a quality experience at a resort, transportation, gear, and lessons). Its Ski & Snowboard Program introduces first-time skiers and snowboard students, ages 7-23, to the winter sports industry through a seven-week, on-snow education curriculum led by instructors that facilitate skill progression through mentorship and confidence building. The no-cost program covers all expenses related to a quality experience including gear, rentals, transportation, and education. OIC’s program supports sport and individual growth through a cultivated space that celebrates underrepresented expression. Participants experience life skills development through social-emotional learning, gain a greater understanding of self, and experience a greater connection to community and mentors through positive interactions. 

Outdoor Outreach

Outdoor Outreach

Outdoor Outreach reaches youth, ages 9-24, from communities characterized as “under-parked” (having less than three acres of parkland per 1,000 people and a median household income below $45,000). Seventy-five percent of Outdoor Outreach’s youth participants report that they lack transportation to outdoor spaces; 44% are not aware of green spaces near their home; and 13% report that gangs or crime make close-to-home green spaces unsafe. Outdoor Outreach provides adventure-based outdoor programs for young people through adventure-based youth development programs. With multiple opportunities to surf, bike, kayak, or climb each year, youth gain more than access to outdoor recreation—they share new experiences and tap into their strengths, while building a support system of peers and mentors who believe in them and show them they matter. To accomplish this, Outdoor Outreach partners with 50+ Title I schools and social service agencies. It serves San Diego County youth (from low-income communities and other groups, including Native youth, medical and juvenile justice-involved youth, LGBTQIA+ youth, youth from military families, and those from immigrant families, who experience disproportionate levels of mental health challenges in comparison to the general population by directly removing barriers) by providing outdoors-based programs and all necessary equipment, transportation, instruction, meals and snacks to participants at no cost.

Oyate Teca Project

Oyate Teca Project

Oyate Teca Project (OTP), centrally located on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, in Kyle, SD, works to promote the well-being of children and families through education, health, culture, and recreational programs and activities. Recognizing the community need for more usable outdoor recreation spaces, OTP started hosting lake day activities, such as kayaking, paddle boarding, peddle boating and fishing at a local dam. The new lake program provides OTP's youth and families an opportunity to learn new skills and recreate outdoors.

Red Cloud Renewable

Red Cloud Renewable

Pine Ridge Reservation rests on a relatively barren landscape, with limited water and extreme climate events. Over the years, wildfires have destroyed large sections of the pine forests that have historically dotted the land. The federal government, who is responsible for managing the land, has never led a reforestation initiative at Pine Ridge, and, as a result, tree cover has declined substantially. Tribal residents often live in outdated government-issued trailers, spending upwards of $400 per month on utility bills in winter and suffering from lack of air conditioning in the extreme heat of summer. Red Cloud Renewable (RCR) works to bring workforce development and energy independence to tribal communities with renewable solar energy and safe, affordable, and efficient homes.

With a focus on youth development and teaching youth to be responsible caretakers of their ancestral lands, RCR has gathered Native youth who want to increase biodiversity and see their lands protected and restored for the next seven generations. Youth crews participate in RCR’s efforts to reforest the surrounding hills of Pine Ridge. RCR is focused on planting 22,000 trees in shelter belts around individual tribal residents’ homes, making them more energy efficient and resilient against harsh climate extremes. These reforestation efforts result in improved land resilience, habitat quality, watershed protection, and are a means to contribute in a practical way towards climate change solutions. In addition, RCR is planting traditional fruit bearing trees, such as choke cherry, buffalo berry, and American plum, as well as larger shade trees like cottonwood and ponderosa pine. The fruit trees will provide tribal residents with access to ingredients for traditional and ceremonial Lakota dishes, and the shade trees will help reduce interior air temperature increases.

River Newe

River Newe

River Newe works to overcome Shoshone-Bannock disconnection to traditional knowledge due to limited access to homelands and learning experiences on land. River Newe supports Shoshone-Bannock youth through experiential, river-based programming on traditional and historic tribal lands. Students participate in cultural and river-based activities to exercise treaty rights, impact confidence and identity, and build skills through river-based learning. Through a Newe-centered approach, this program increases representation and creates spaces of equity through learning experiences on homelands with Shoshone-Bannocks, Indigenous, and minoritized communities on and off river landscapes.

Saved By Nature

Saved By Nature

California-based Saved By Nature’s programming intentionally is designed to address barriers to accessing nature and public lands and to connect underrepresented communities to nearby natural surroundings. Its Alive Outside Adventure Series provides Hispanic youth (ages 13-18) free access to professional guided hikes and backpacking trips and outdoor leadership opportunities through hands-on activities. The adventure series includes an orientation hike among the redwoods at Mt. Madonna County Park; a preparation hike at Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve; and a two-day/one-night backpacking adventure at Henry Coe State Park. Saved By Nature calls Spanish-speaking parents individually to invite, encourage, and increase participation, provides transportation, and opens access to its REI Gear Library. This library has all the camping gear necessary for these hiking and camping outings. The Alive Outside Adventure Series fosters an understanding of nature as a vehicle to healing and provides a guide to manage stress and anxiety. 

SheJumps

SheJumps

For girls, fears of rejection, labels, stereotypes, failure, being spoken over, and being told how they should act hold them back. Girls from refugee and immigrant communities face additional barriers to participating in outdoor activities, such as prohibitive costs, lack of equipment, and belief that they don’t belong. SheJumps works to ensure a future where all girls and women–regardless of background, race, ethnicity, or identity–have the confidence and skills to enjoy, appreciate, and steward the great outdoors.

SheJumps is expanding its Into the Canyon Outdoor Recreation program for immigrant and refugee girls in Salt Lake County, UT. This series provides no-cost, accessible opportunities for participants to experience the outdoors with guidance and mentorship from supportive women role models. SheJumps is collaborating with Hartland Community 4 Youth & Families (HC4YF) to get Salt Lake County’s marginalized populations involved in active out-of-school time programming. Having this positive outlet has proven to keep youth focused on their education and away from crime, drugs, and gangs. SheJumps also is working to develop a model that can be replicated at other SheJumps program sites across the United States to further multiply its impact.

SHRED Foundation

The SHRED Foundation identifies a critical need within the communities of Newburgh and Albany where BIPOC youth face significant barriers to recreational sports participation, notably snowboarding. Economic constraints, limited access to suitable facilities, and a lack of representation within the sport create a divide between potential young enthusiasts and the enriching experiences snowboarding can offer. These challenges prevent youth from engaging in a sport that promotes physical health, mental well-being, and social connections. Further, this hinders the development of future talent and diversity within the snowboarding community and industry. SHRED's comprehensive approach aims to dismantle economic and social barriers, enabling participants to enjoy the mental and physical benefits of snowboarding and gain valuable leadership and teaching skills through the instructor training program. This foster a sustainable, inclusive environment within the snowboarding community, encouraging participants to become mentors and role models for future generations. SHRED provides comprehensive support, including access to gear, mentorship, and career opportunities in snowboarding to ensure that the transformative benefits of this sport (including improved mental health, enhanced decision-making, and increased confidence) are accessible to all—fostering a more inclusive and equitable environment for personal and community growth, and significantly impacting the lives of the youth SHRED serves. Ultimately, this contributes to a more diverse and equitable snowboarding culture.

Siċaŋġu Community Development Corporation

Sicangu Community Development Corporation

Siċaŋġu Community Development Corporation’s (Siċaŋġu Co) works to improve the well-being of the Siċaŋġu Lakota Oyate. Siċaŋġu Co is guided by the 7Gen Vision, which imagines the type of world people would want to see their ancestors living in 175 years from now. Grounded in cultural wisdom, Siċaŋġu Co works towards Wicozani (the good way of life) for the Siċaŋġu Oyate, focusing on holistic health, economic self-sufficiency, cultural revitalization, sustainable housing, food sovereignty, climate resilience, and shared, lasting prosperity.

Siċaŋġu Co’s Wotakuye Youth Camp is offered to Siċaŋġu youth living on the Rosebud Reservation. The camps are held at the Wolakota Buffalo Range and other recreation areas on the reservation, and the programming addresses the physical and spiritual health disparities that Siċaŋġu youth face. Wotakuye Youth Camps focus on encouraging physical activities in a positive, outdoor environment to help reverse the negative health outcomes for Siċaŋġu youth.

Sierra Nevada Journeys

Sierra Nevada Journeys

Sierra Nevada Journeys’ (SNJ) mission is to deliver innovative outdoor, science-based education programs for youth to develop critical thinking skills and to inspire natural resource stewardship. At the heart of its programs is the desire to create top-tiered opportunities for all children to learn science and fall in love with the natural world,  regardless of their socio-economic background or where they live.

SNJ’s works to promote the ethics of service learning, environmental stewardship, and social-emotional development with California and Nevada youth through its immersive Overnight Outdoor Learning camp experience. Camp programming includes interactive team-building activities and extensive exposure to the natural world to inspire a connection with the land and to help build the foundation of a successful future. The camp setting enables participants to escape the complexities of their communities and engage with nature, which research indicates can reduce stress, aid healing, enhance focus, and positively influence attitudes toward the environment. SNJ also serve students in an urban setting, connecting youth to local nature sites through Classrooms Unleashed, which explicitly targets children historically excluded from outdoor spaces to bridge the gap.

Soul Trak Outdoors

Soul Trak Outdoors

Soul Trak Outdoors’ mission is to connect local communities of color, help minorities reclaim their relationship with the outdoors, and facilitate outdoor skills training and environmental education. Its activities run the gamut of outdoor adventure. While recreation is worthwhile, environmental stewardship is just as salient to its purpose. Soul Trak also leads several local conservation efforts, including park cleanups, trail maintenance, and tree plantings.

In marginalized communities, notably Washington, D.C.'s Wards 7 and 8, barriers aren't solely physical but also financial. Soul Trak's Youth Adventure Cohort actively works to dismantle these barriers. The cohort welcomes students aged 12-16 into its program during two 8-week sessions each year with the intent to introduce youth to the wonders of the outdoors and to inspire the adults in their lives, including parents and guardians, to join them in this journey. The program includes a diverse array of activities, from day trips to overnight adventures, including hiking, rock climbing, canoeing, biking, camping, and service trips. To equip participants for these experiences, Soul Trak offers training workshops that enhance outdoor technical skills and environmental knowledge. Through this holistic approach, the program not only connects youth with the great outdoors but also prioritizes representative leadership and instruction. Soul Trak believes that if youth see themselves in their facilitators, it fosters a sense of belonging and encourages them to envision themselves as future leaders in the outdoor community.

Diamond Willow Ministries/Tokata Youth Center

Tokata Youth Center

The Tokata Youth Center (TYC) assists the youth of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe in overcoming daily obstacles so they can become the next generation of people leading the community towards a better and brighter future.

TYC recently constructed a new youth center, which tripled the number of youth that can be served on a daily basis. The center’s outdoor physical activity and nutrition space includes more than 100 feet of garden beds, an outdoor patio, wheelchair ramp, and multipurpose sports field. TYC is providing increased opportunities for recreation and physical activity so that the youth have even more space to be active and outdoors. Phase two of the youth center includes a baseball diamond (used for baseball, t-ball, and kickball), volleyball area, and gaga ball pit. The new recreation areas will be used on a daily basis, allowing the youth to spend more time outdoors.

Urban Adventure Squad

Urban Adventure Squad

The demand for free and low-cost outdoor programming is high in Washington, D.C., particularly as schools and communities deal with a youth mental health crisis, the effects of trauma on students, and the long-term effects of virtual learning on academic achievement. Urban Adventure Squad supports schools and school communities in every D.C. ward with equitable outdoor education programs. At C.W. Harris Elementary School, Urban Adventure Squad works to develop, build, and sustain an outdoor learning culture that supports students (grades 1-5) and teachers by leveraging the school's existing resources (garden, greenspaces, and bioretention areas) to dramatically increase the school population's outdoor time; support teachers in aligning outdoor time to classroom lessons; and engage the broader community in supporting outdoor learning. Hands-on activities take place during recess, as part of classes, after school, and through school-wide community events. The project purposefully blurs the lines the public education system has created which messages to students, educators, and families that indoors is for learning and outdoors is for play. C.W. Harris is a demonstration model for building an outdoor learning culture that connects students to nature and the neighborhood in a historically under resourced, urban public school district.

ViVe Wellness

ViVe Wellness

ViVe Wellness’ mission is to address health equity in Denver’s underserved communities through movement, wellness, and education. As a community-led organization, ViVe is committed to addressing needs identified by community members. As a result of the community’s voice and input, ViVe’s programming has continued to expand each year.

ViVe’s swim classes build water safety skills and confidence and serve as an entryway to additional outdoor recreation activities (such as kayaking, rafting and paddle boarding, mountain biking, hiking, fishing, and camping). ViVe integrates educational components into its outdoor programming and includes skill development and workforce pathway programs. ViVe’s Youth Pathway Program supports youth who would like to be certified as lifeguards, swim instructors, outdoor recreation leaders, and after school physical activity assistants. The Pathway Program helps participants develop job skills, as well as skills related to leadership, communication and teamwork, responsibility, critical thinking, and time management. The participants work closely with ViVe staff who serve as mentors, providing guidance, instruction, and skill development across multiple wellness areas. This program contributes to the development of a culturally responsive workforce and could create a pipeline for a bilingual health and wellness workforce that can serve the city of Denver and surrounding communities.

Wasatch Mountain Institute

Wastach Mountain Institute

Wasatch Mountain Institute (WMI) began by working in collaboration with Utah State Parks to revitalize the Rock Cliff Recreation Area at Jordanelle State Park, which transformed a underutilized state-run public facility into an active campus for outdoor science education which includes a nature center, boardwalk trails through wetlands, and six campsites along the Provo River. Today, WMI is dedicated to improving experiential learning for K-8 students while also increasing awareness, care, and stewardship of the Wasatch Mountains. 

WMI’s programs—Field Ecology in the fall and spring and SnowSchool in the winter—are led by a team of trained field instructors and supported by school teachers/chaperones. WMI integrates State of Utah curriculum standards, social-emotional learning opportunities, reflective journaling, art, and recreation into the programming. All students are outfitted with clothing and equipment from WMI’s Gear Library, ensuring equitable access to a safe and comfortable outdoor learning experience. WMI serves youth from Salt Lake (all 12 Title 1 schools) and Park City (all five elementary schools) school districts. Both districts have many families who live adjacent to world-class recreation but lack access to the time, training, and equipment to engage in the activities that bring visitors from all over the world to the Wasatch Mountains.

In addition to hosting year-round student field trips, Rock Cliff Nature Center is also open to the public Wednesday-Sunday during the summer and on Saturdays and Sundays during the school year. Working with State Parks staff, WMI presents free, guided programs on a weekly basis in the summer and winter on topics such as stargazing, birdwatching, and hydrology.

The Watersmith Guild

The Watersmith Guild

Pennsylvania’s waterways provide a perfect canvas to engage youth in outdoor recreation and conservation. Lack of access, however, has limited BIPOC and underserved communities from benefitting from these resources. Moreover, watersheds in these communities have suffered disparate levels of pollution and the effects of climate change resulting in reduced quality of life for residents. Finally, these Environmental Justice areas are disproportionately impacted by childhood obesity, sedentary behavior, and the risk of drug and alcohol use. The Watersmith Guild’s origins are with the foundation of First Waves, a first-of-its-kind program that combined standup paddleboarding, river surfing, and the art of filmmaking as a catalyst to inspire conservation of local waterways and mentorship for these youth. In 2014, the inaugural project included transformative elements of outdoor adventure, environmental education, and conservation actions that fostered love and appreciation for the outdoors and improved the lives of students in areas with limited opportunities and access. Youth participants learned to become proficient paddlers, spearheaded river cleanups, and created documentary films to inspire others. Through paddleboarding and outdoor recreation, First Waves provides a blueprint for low-impact and widely available forms of exercise that can be practiced over a lifetime and inspires love and appreciation for the outdoors. Furthermore, the programs empower youth with education in the fields of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics.

Wellfit Girls

Wellfit Girls

The need for empowering programs for middle school girls has never been more critical. During this formative adolescence period, girls grapple with issues related to self-esteem, identity formation, and social dynamics, which can significantly impact their academic performance, mental health, and overall well-being. Research indicates that girls face barriers to leadership and self-empowerment, including societal expectations, gender stereotypes, and limited access to supportive resources and role models. Wellfit Girls’ mission is to inspire, challenge and empower teen girls to climb high in all areas of life through transformational leadership programs. Its Wellfit Adventure Camp (WAC) program aims to address the pressing societal issue of adolescent mental health and well-being by providing a supportive and inclusive environment where girls explore their potential, build essential life skills, and develop a strong sense of self-confidence and resilience through experiential learning, mentorship, and outdoor exploration. WAC benefits individuals and contributes to broader societal goals of promoting gender equity, fostering diversity, and cultivating the next generation of change makers. By engaging in outdoor adventures, team-building activities, and meaningful discussions, participants benefit from enhanced self-esteem, improved emotional regulation, and strengthened social connections. Ultimately, the goal is to equip young girls with the tools and skills they need to navigate adolescence with resilience and thrive in all aspects of their lives.

West Atlanta Watershed Alliance

West Atlanta Watershed Alliance

The West Atlanta Watershed Alliance (WAWA) is dedicated to growing a cleaner, greener, healthier, and more sustainable West Atlanta. Its mission is to improve the quality of life within the West Atlanta Watershed by protecting, preserving, and restoring the community’s natural resources. By providing a continuum of opportunities to entire families throughout the year, WAWA boosts healthy development for youth and families and addresses the gap in access to nature.

WAWA’s works to address the lack of outdoor-based learning programs for youth and families in the watersheds it serves (Utoy, Sandy, and Proctor Creeks), and it aims to support youth and families through outdoor programming and activities that include hands-on lessons, exploration of nature, and youth exposure to outdoor and leadership skills. The youth and families gain knowledge about Leave No Trace ethics, identification of local flora and fauna, tracking, observation of local environmental conditions and impacts, team building, conflict resolution, and positive social interaction.

Wild Earth Wilderness School

Wild Earth Wilderness School

At the intersection of nature connection and mentoring, Wild Earth strives to help New York’s Ulster County youth understand that nature is not a concept separate and distant, but instead part of their everyday world. Through this understanding, Wild Earth instills a sense of awe and nurtures a sense of belonging to and stewardship for communities small and large. Since 2015, Wild Earth has held its Nature Connection & Experiential Education (NCEE) project in partnership with the Kingston City School District (KCSD). Led by Wild Earth’s culturally diverse staff, the NCEE project strives to meet young people where they are developmentally, building relationships through long-term mentoring and nurturing social-emotional growth through connection to the natural world and its rhythms. Over the past eight years, this partnership has grown to support K-12 students in five district schools, providing guided recess activities, afterschool programming, immersive field trips for incoming middle schoolers, and a paid eight-month internship for high school students. Based on the success of its work in KCSD, Wild Earth is expanding to serve youth in Ellenville Central School District's elementary and middle schools through access to inspiring mentors leading experiential activities in the natural world, and fostering deeper exploration, inquisitiveness, self-empowerment, and connection to community.

Wildseed Gear Library

Wildseed Gear Library

A fiscally sponsored project of The Fly Girl Network

Through its Natural Families Learning Community, Wildseed Gear Library works to encourage and increase the ability of all families (especially urban families of color) to go camping and hiking together and to develop a closer relationship away from the distractions of city life in Baltimore. The pilot program supports a cohort of families who encourage each other by creating opportunities for their children to learn and explore natural settings. The organization’s gear library removes the barriers associated with acquiring camping and hiking gear and creates a safe space for families to try on and ask questions about the equipment that they are borrowing. Wildseed Gear Library helps reframe cultural norms about relationships to nature, exercise, and family recreation, in hopes that many families begin to see themselves reflected in both the history and the future of these landscapes. 

Yellow Bird Life Ways

Yellow Bird Life Ways

Nearly 60% of Northern Cheyenne population is 18 or younger. The large youth population and substantial socioeconomic, educational, and overall health disparities led Yellow Bird Life Ways founders to establish youth programming that addresses these issues at a grassroots level and breaks the cycle of trauma through youth and community empowerment. Its programming revolves around the circular connection between youth and elders, transmitting knowledge of land, language, culture, and identity to the next generation.

Yellow Bird Life Way’s programming for Youth Empowerment and Experiences, including its summer Journey to the Center and winter Fort Robinson Outbreak Spiritual Run. These trips span between 5-8 days and are immersive experiences that bring youth into direct relationship with Elders, Spiritual leaders, and the land, moving them into a space of ceremony and reverence.

Youth Enrichment Services

Youth Enrichment Services

Youth of color and lower income families do not have equal access to nature and the same opportunity for impactful experiences in the outdoors as other children. These youth miss out on the physical, emotional, and psychological benefits that come from being active in the outdoors. With a mission to inspire young people through outdoor experiences and leadership opportunities that build confidence and prepare them to summit life’s challenges, many Boston families rely on Youth Enrichment Services (YES) to provide low-cost and free outdoor programs to their children and teens that offer year-round outdoor youth development and physical activity programs. YES closes the nature gap for these youth, with a priority focus on engaging youth, ages 7-18, from the high-need neighborhoods of Roxbury, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain and Mattapan, in outdoor- and sports-based positive youth development programming. Without YES, youth would not have the opportunities and access to nature. With YES, youth engage in a wide range of sports-based programming in the outdoors, from paddle sports to skiing, rock climbing, snowboarding, and more. All YES programs are no/low fee, with fees waived for youth from the lowest income families. In addition to increasing their physical activity and skills, YES helps youth set the foundation for active and healthy lifestyles. Youth also develop life skills, including the confidence to face a challenge, form relationships with supportive adults and peers, and develop a positive connection to the outdoors.

Youth Seen

Youth Seen (YS) was founded to change the opportunities for QTBIPOC (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous People of Color) youth and their families. CampSeen was developed and is run by LGBTQIA+ and QTBIPoC community members to address the current voids within the community around Black and Brown queer spaces in nature. It exists because too often LGBTQIA+ and QTBIPoC people (youth in particular) are not afforded opportunities to access outdoor spaces, let alone outdoor spaces that support their mental health and well-being. CampSeen is a 7-day summer camp nestled in the foothills in the Rocky Mountains where QTBIPoC and other LGBTQ youth (10-18) have an opportunity to meet youth like themselves in a safe, sober environment, free of judgments and expectations. YS maintains contact with campers and their families throughout the year, giving youth a chance for continued connection with supportive LGBTQ adults to develop their mentorship skills through learning about transformative healing and community accountability. Along with providing LGBTQIA + BIPOC youth the opportunity for recreation, healing, and social connection, Youth Seen also educates campers about the importance of conservation and their impact on the outdoors. The knowledge and experience garnered by these youth build support for natural resource protection, stewardship, and conservation upon which outdoor recreation depends. ​Providing the opportunity to develop ethical outdoor behavior by demonstrating respect for land, water, and wildlife in their formative years, creates future stewards of these resources. This experience also allows these young people to see themselves working in the outdoors, conservation, or other environmental fields.

Zuni Youth Enrichment Project

Zuni Youth Enrichment Project

  • Website: zyep.org
  • Grant amount: $10,000

Forty percent of Zuni’s 6,302 residents are under 25, making youth the tribe’s largest subpopulation. Strong familial, cultural, and natural resources can make Zuni a special place to grow up, but many face the harsh realities of socioeconomic, educational, and health disparities as they transition into adulthood. The Zuni community knows that connection to its culture is a strong protective factor for its youth. Zuni Youth Enrichment Project (ZYEP) works to build that powerful connection through its flagship program, a five-week culturally enriching summer camp that serves youth, ages 6-12.

At camp, cultural bearers teach Zuni language, history, and traditions through fun and meaningful gardening, nutrition, sport, dance, art, and connection to land activities. The camp is proven to promote youth participants' learning and health, while deepening their connection to their culture and community. The success of summer camp hinges on ZYEP’s youth mentor program. ZYEP hires adolescent/young adult mentors, ages 16-24, to build positive relationships and guide campers through culturally enriching activities. As part of their professional development, the youth mentors participate in a four-day outdoor retreat to a culturally significant site where they will bond as a team, set intentions for mentoring the next generation, and learn about the significance of the cultural site. ZYEP’s summer camp experience is life-changing because of the connections its young people develop with themselves, peers, intergenerational role models, their food, the natural environment, and culture.