Justice Outside’s programs provide both established and aspiring outdoor professionals with the skills necessary to transform the environmental field into a more equitable and culturally relevant sector.
Outdoor Educators Institute
The Outdoor Educators Institute is a three-month workforce and professional development program for 18-24 year-old residents of the Bay Area and Central Valley. Participants learn to view outdoor leadership through the lenses of equity and cultural relevancy. Additionally, participants receive training in topics such as environmental education, group management, and outdoor activities such as sea kayaking and backpacking. Upon completion, graduates of the Outdoor Educators Institute receive guidance and connection to employment opportunities within the field.
Pathfinders
The Pathfinders program focuses on entrepreneurship development by enabling participants to create their own community based outdoor program, event, or project. Pathfinders will enhance their professional skills through workshops, coaching, resources, and connections to other leaders. The program will center Justice Outside’s mission of advancing racial justice and equity in the outdoor and environmental movement.
Rising Leaders Fellowship
The Rising Leaders Fellowship supports the professional development of individuals in entry- to mid-level positions within the environmental sector. Specifically, Justice Outside targets individuals who are enthusiastic about connecting communities to the outdoors in culturally relevant and inclusive ways by effecting culture change within their organizations. The Rising Leaders Fellowship builds professional capacity while creating a supportive network of like-minded leaders through a project-based cohort series that focuses on social justice and racial equity in the outdoors.
Network for Network Leaders: Justice, Community, & Outdoor Learning
Network for Network Leaders works to advance a more equitable, just, and influential network model that centers the experiences and knowledge of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, specifically leaders of networks that impact the outdoors, environmental education, and environmental justice.
Cultural Relevancy Series
The Cultural Relevancy Series consists of a series of workshops designed for decision-makers at outdoor-focused organizations. These leaders form a powerful and dynamic learning community responsible for driving transformative change at their respective organizations. The workshops are designed to help participating organizations build the capacity of the organizations’ leadership, staff, and board on cultural relevancy and equity.
Training and Support
Justice Outside offers training in equity, inclusion, and cultural relevancy, including organizational culture and individual commitments to cultural relevancy. We define cultural relevancy as the ability to effectively reach and engage communities and their youth in a manner consistent with the cultural context and values of that community, while effectively addressing disparities of diversity and inclusion within an organization’s entire structure.