Justice Outside

We connect youth to nature by eliminating barriers, providing resources, and promoting outdoor programming as essential for building healthy lives and inspiring future stewards of the planet. Youth Outside is a grantmaking organization of people who are incredibly passionate about finding and investing in organizations that connect underrepresented youth to the great outdoors. We support programs across diverse communities, and we look for unique methodologies that benefit youth in academics, health, and career development. We’re also excited by this work because we know that kids who have exposure to great outdoor programming will become the adults who care for nature. In 2006, the Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council (Stewardship Council) created a Youth Investment Program to support outdoor and environmental programming for youth. Realizing the importance of this work, the Foundation for Youth Investment (FYI) was established as its own entity in 2010, having been granted approximately $10.7 million from the Stewardship Council. In the Fall of 2015, FYI officially changed its name to Youth Outside to truly reflect the heart of our work: connecting youth to nature by eliminating barriers, providing resources, and promoting outdoor programming as essential for building healthy lives and inspiring future stewards of our planet. We know that outdoor education and programming is a powerful tool that can improve health and academic achievement, teach teamwork and problem-solving skills, and prepare youth for the workforce.