6 Women-Founded Organizations Making the Outdoors a Better Place for All
In honor of Women’s History Month, we want to shout out some women founded/led orgs that are doing incredible work in the outdoors community for planet, inclusion, and adventure. We hope this serves as a great starting point for you to dive in and learn more.
Trail Mixed Collective
IG: @TrailMixedCo || Website
Trail Mixed Collective was founded by Liselle Pires and Quena Batres as a way to increase the diversity of women in outdoor sports through education, inspiration, access, and mentorship. Their core purpose is increasing access to outdoor sports for women of color. In addition to facilitating a diverse, safe community for all women, they lead educational courses both online and in person fun events that help people get outside. Their mentorship program is also an amazing way they help women connect and feel comfortable getting outside! We are so happy to have had both Liselle and Quena as Founding Members of the Oath.
Hiking My Feelings
IG: @HikingMyFeelings || Website
Sydney Williams founded Hiking My Feelings to help folks turn the healing power of the outdoors over eating or drinking when actively healing from lived trauma. Sydney is not only a survivor, but is thriving and helping others heal too. Hiking My Feelings is a personal reflection of Sydney’s own healing journey and brings together a safe community of folks to get outside together. Additionally, Sydney has released a ton of educational resources from books to podcasts! The Oath is forever grateful to have Sydney not only as a Founding Member, but also as an Oath Facilitator. You just may catch her at an Oath Workshop this year!
Intersectional Environmentalist
IG: @IntersectionalEnvironmentalist || Website
Intersectional Environmentalist is an organization that empowers + instills joy in people of color and historically excluded communities by amplifying the incredible legacies of diverse people in the environmental space throughout history and in the present. Founded by Leah Thomas, Diandra Marizet Esparza, Sabs Katz, and Kiana Kazemi, IE provides free online resources that help break down various concepts at the intersection of social justice and the environment. They work with a variety of partners to bring educational content and opportunities to their community. We are so lucky to have had guidance from Founding Members Leah, Diandra, and Sabs when starting the Oath. You have the opportunity to join the Stretch Session: Ecofeminism and Radical Imagination with Diandra 3/28. Register here!
Rising Hearts
IG: @Rising_Hearts || Website
Rising Hearts, founded by Jordan Marie Daniels, is an Indigenous led grassroots group devoted to elevating Indigenous voices and promoting intersectional collaborative efforts across all movements with the goals of racial, social, climate, and economic justice. Their focuses are to inform, elevate, mobilize, and organize through strategic and targeted advocacy, establishing collaborative partnerships to help create a better and safer future and environment for all of our relatives who inhabit this planet, past, present and future. You can get involved by donating, joining one of their runs, and educating yourself on Land Back Initiatives and other social justice/environmental issues Indigenous folks are facing today. We are incredibly grateful to have Jordan as one of our Founding Members and to have her as the Stretch Session: Native Lands guest. Log into the Stretch Hub to rewatch this impactful Session.
Native Women’s Wilderness
IG: @NativeWomensWilderness || Website
Founded by Jaylyn Gough, Native Women's Wilderness’s mission is to inspire and raise the voices of Native Women in the Outdoor Realm, encourage a healthy lifestyle within the Wilderness, and to provide education of the Ancestral Lands and its People. NWW does a lot to bring Native women together from their thriving online community to amazing outdoor gatherings and adventures. NWW also draws needed attention to Murdered & Missing Indigenous Women across the US. You can support them by donating, continuing to educate yourself on various issues faced by Indigenous women, and making sure Indigenous voices are included when talking about things surrounding conservation and the outdoors. We are thankful to have Jaylyn as one of our Founding Members and for the Land Acknowledgements she has done for our previous Oath Workshops.
