2015 Grantees

Brothers on the Rise (Bay Area) was awarded $40,000 over a 2-year grant period. Brothers on the Rise is a direct service-systems change organization working with urban male youth and adult allies to facilitate effective practice and equitable outcomes for boys and young men of color. Annually, over 100 Oakland male youth aged 8-17 achieve personal, academic, and professional success through a cascading mentorship model that guides boys on a path to a responsible, peaceful, and productive adulthood.

Brown Girl Surf (Bay Area) was awarded $40,000 over a 2-year grant period. Brown Girl Surf is dedicated to creating a more diverse and inclusive surf culture in the Bay Area. Their programs empower girls in San Francisco’s Hunter’s Point neighborhood to develop their own relationships with the ocean through surfing. Their programs integrate awareness of marine and coastal ecology through hands-on explorations and projects. Surfing provides girls with an opportunity to confront and overcome fear, and develop skills in self-reliance, confidence, and leadership.

Center for Land-Based Learning (Greater Sacramento) was awarded $56,000 over a 3-year grant period. The Center for Land-Based Learning inspires and motivates people of all ages to promote a healthy interplay between agriculture, nature, and society through their actions and as leaders in their communities. Each year, their Student and Landowner Education and Watershed Stewardship (SLEWS) program impacts 300 students who are matched with mentors that provide direct connections to conservation careers, college majors, internships, and volunteer opportunities.

Growing Up Wild – sponsored by The Children Are Our Future (Santa Cruz County & Bay Area) was awarded $68,000 over a 3-year grant period. Growing Up Wild is a bilingual nature adventure program that helps economically disadvantaged youth and families in the Watsonville area develop a connection to nature, life skills, and physical fitness. Growing Up Wild accomplishes its mission by implementing two programs: Boys in the Woodz, which is a coming-of-age program that provides four 1-weeklong sessions of camping in the wilderness for adolescent boys; and Nature Now, which brings boys from Oakland and Watsonville together for outdoor weekend trips.

Literacy for Environmental Justice (San Francisco) was awarded $70,000 over a 3-year grant period. Literacy for Environmental Justice promotes ecological health, environmental stewardship, and community development in Southeast San Francisco. Their programs serve underrepresented youth from the Bayview-Hunter’s Point neighborhood, engaging teen interns and recruiting hundreds of youth to participate in diverse nature-based projects and environmental advocacy.

The Mosaic Project (Bay Area) was awarded $70,000 over a 3-year grant period. The Mosaic Project works toward a peaceful future by uniting young people of diverse backgrounds, providing them with essential community building skills, and empowering them to become peacemakers. Through the Youth Leadership Program, high school and college-aged youth have the opportunity to participate in year-round training in leadership, life skills, and outdoor education. Participants also engage in activities addressing issues of injustice, empathy and respect across lines of difference, and empowerment.

Native Alliance of the Sierra Nevada Foothills (DBA Sierra Native Alliance) (Greater Sacramento) was awarded $70,000 over a 3-year grant period. Sierra Native Alliance empowers Native youth and families in the Sierra Nevada Foothills through education, cultural resources, and environmental activities. Youth development programs include leadership, cultural education, mentoring, job training, and advocacy. Programs also connect youth to environmental projects, providing opportunities for youth to participate in the preservation of cultural sites and resources.

Our Wilderness Now – sponsored by Cloud Forest Institute (Mendocino County) was awarded $75,000 over a 3-year grant period. As a direct response to the long-acknowledged need to connect the predominantly Native American local youth with the affirming and healing experience that the outdoors offers, Our Wilderness Now was created as a community-based program that empowers youth through nature connection. Many participants of the program are developing their first sensitivity to stewardship of the environment.

Pie Ranch (Bay Area) was awarded $40,000 over a 2-year grant period. Pie Ranch programs get young people outdoors for hands-on learning and leadership experiences in environmental stewardship, sustainable gardening and farming, community-building, nutrition, and food justice. Workshops, activities, and discussions draw from youths’ own lives, their families’ food stories and cultures, and the challenges they see in their own communities.

Project AVARY (Alternative Ventures for At-Risk Youth) (Bay Area) was awarded $65,000 over a 3-year grant period. Project AVARY is an early intervention/long-term prevention program for children of incarcerated parents. This program builds confidence, physical capacities, and an appreciation of the outdoors among a pool of young outdoor leaders who serve as role models for younger children in the program.

Student Conservation Association (Bay Area) was awarded $70,000 over a 3-year grant period. The Student Conservation Association connects young people to nature and the outdoors to set them on a path to thriving, healthy lives. Along a continuum of hands-on conservation service opportunities, diverse youth progress as stewards and leaders in protecting and preserving their environment.

Waterside Workshops (Bay Area) was awarded $40,000 over a 2-year grant period. Waterside Workshops believes that hands-on learning and outdoor recreation, coupled with nature-based therapeutic services, holds the key to healing for their participants of whom 70% are survivors of major trauma. In Waterside Workshops programs, youth interns work alongside skilled instructors in an apprentice-style setting building watercraft. They also learn professional bike repair and gain work experience and customer service skills helping the public with boat rentals and refurbishing bicycles.

Watsonville Wetlands Watch (Central Coast) was awarded $65,000 over a 3-year grant period. The Wetland Stewards After School program trains local high school mentors to lead trips for elementary and middle school students in exploring the ecology of the wetlands through field trips and school-based activities. The program fosters wetland stewardship among youth while they gain access to meaningful outdoor experiences, thereby improving their health and well-being.

Youth Enrichment Strategies (Bay Area) was awarded $70,000 over a 3-year grant period. YES believes that experiences in nature act as a catalyst for individual and community transformation. The Camp-to-Community youth leadership development program provides outdoor camp and community experiences for teens to develop leadership and life skills that provide successful transition to adulthood. Youth are exposed to careers in the outdoors and have opportunities to practice and advance their skills in outdoor settings.

Environmental Volunteers (Bay Area) will be awarded $30,000 to support the Outdoor Trips Fund to facilitate a new round of field trip bus subsidies for bay area low-income youth for the 2015-2016 academic school year.

Outdoor Educators Institute (Bay Area) was awarded $30,000. Outdoor Educators Institute (OEI) is a 3-month long professional and workforce development program. OEI supports entry level youth development workers in gaining experience in the outdoors, strengthening facilitation skills, and thinking critically about inequities in access within their communities.

The Youth Development Network (Greater Sacramento Area) was awarded $45,000 to facilitate the Cultural Relevancy Institute, which helps organizations create lasting and noticeable change within programs, policies, and procedures to improve engagement with more diverse populations and traditionally hard-to-reach youth.