Explore Austin 2022 Impact Report

EXPLORE AUSTIN 2022 IMPACT REPORT A Legacy of Firsts Continues

Letter from the CEO Dear Supporters, When I talk with my peers leading other outdoor adventure programs (and there aren’t many of us!) they are astounded by what Explore Austin does, year after year. In 2022, moving 300-plus people – including youth Explorers, volunteer Mentors and our professional guides – and all of the necessary gear across five states for Summer Wilderness Trips was a true feat.

But or our impact goes beyond this:way We or areanother, the only program in the state of Texas that championed empowered a child in one combines long-term mentorship with year-round, outdoor adventure. In the U.S., there amily member, educator, or volunteer. The need has never been are fewer than five such programs.

In 2022, 95 Mentors r, the U.S. surgeon general warned of a “devastating” mental provided a collective 11,702 hours of mentoring to 266 youth over their 153 Saturday Challenges and 18 Summer Wilderness Trips. dolescents.

Time in is essential our We physical, cognitive and emotional wellbeing, and Explore Austin hasnature been there for ourfor youth. were there studies find that outdoor education is particularly effective at helping low-income students mic, when students were grieving the loss of school, sports and perform better in school and problem solve. Additionally, equipping youth with caring activities, adult and their friends. the communities which Mentors andBecause adventurous time outsidein facilitates trust, belonging, courage and sproportionately impacted by the pandemic, many also perseverance. However, there is a “nature gap" thatbecame has become more pronounced in Austin, he deathsignaling of familyour members, faced economic uncertainty. program and is more needed than ever before.

ntial for our physical, cognitive, and American emotionalForests well-being.

A 2021 report by nonprofit found Austin's high-income and low-income caring adult Mentors and adventurous time outside facilitates neighborhoods have a 20% disparity in canopy coverage – the widest gap in the country. s well as courage and low-income perseverance.

Explore Austin Additionally, neighborhoods of provided color in Austin have 59% less nearby park space urs outside withthan theirhigh-income Mentors inneighborhoods.

2021 and 169 opportunities for milies to spend quality time outside.

The majority of the youth we serve qualify for the Explore Austin program by being eligible for

or reduced lunch, many and most live in economically Explorer,free Anthony overcame challenges, including disadvantaged neighborhoods. Despite having lived in the city limits or in neighboring counties for most of their lives, many have never , a chronically ill mother, and responsibility for his siblings. to Zilker Park or swam atlife Barton before enrolling in Explore Austin. Some have male rolebeen model consistently in [his] untilSprings EA.” Last never learned how to ride a bike. For the majority of our youth, their Summer Wilderness Trip ed a scholarship to play college basketball, a dream realized! marks their first time away from home and their first time on a plane. ew he would need continued support, so they checked in with raduated Explore from the Explore Austin program, andand they2022 helped Austin creates a legacy of firsts, was no exception. We began a new slate ship and financial aidWilderness applications. of Summer Trips in South Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park, California, and City of Rocks, Idaho. We launched a partnership with the YWCA Counseling and Referral

academically at the height ofhealth the services to families, as well as Mentor Centerher to sophomore provide freeyear, or low-cost mental ed in her Mentor while they kayaked during a Saturday training. One-hundred percent of our class of ‘22 Explorers graduated from high school hey madewith a plan to help her track with her a detailed planget forback their on futures, 93 percent of our youth planning to attend college this or trade school, compared 56 percenttoofthe youth from across the state of Texas. aded to college fall. She received a full to scholarship to study Mechanical Engineering.

Thank you for your investment in Explore Austin’s mission! It is only through

vestment your in Explore Austin’s mission! of your more than 250 Explorers continued support that Because we can empower ntinue being a trusted, consistent, and safe presence in the lives annually as they explore nature, grow in adaptive skills and connect with and Elyse. caring adults. As we look to the future together, we will build upon Explore Austin’s legacy as a trusted, consistent and safe presence in the lives of local, economically disadvantaged youth. I am honored to be on this journey with them and with you.

With With gratitude, gratitude,

Kathleen Schneeman, CEO

PAST AND FUTURE

Mountains Climbed in 2022 •

Increased Explorer and Mentor program attendance to close to pre-pandemic numbers

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Forged new school partnerships

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Received Impact Austin’s Community Grant Award

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Began a new partnership with the YWCA to offer free-to-low-cost mental health counseling for our youth and families

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Launched a new slate of Summer Wilderness Trips to locations such as City of Rocks National Reserve, Idaho

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Facilitated a strategic planning process with a focus on adaptability

The Trail Ahead •

Launch an accreditation process through the Association of Experiential Education to deepen the program’s quality and rigor

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Elevate parent voices by re-launching our Parent Council

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Continue developing partnerships with community organizations, city programs and school districts to increase our reach

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Deepen training offerings for Mentors

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Locate land on which to build an Explore Austin headquarters

2022 ADVENTURE BY THE NUMBERS

YOUR IMPACT

"

-KATIE WILSE, MENTOR

NATURE EMPOWERS.

"

Elliott learned to mountain bike on an adaptive recumbent bicycle.

Seventeen-year-old Explorer Elliott Merryman-Stewart, now in her fourth year of Explore Austin, has learned to face life's challenges head on. Due to a diagnosis of cerebral palsy, Elliott’s muscles are weaker on one side of her body, making many day-to-day tasks difficult, let alone intensive outdoor-adventure activities in the Explore Austin program like rock climbing, canoeing and mountain biking.

But she hasn’t let this stop her; in fact, from her patience and perseverance has come adaptation and growth, both on her part and Explore Austin’s.

When Elliott joined the program as a sixth grader, there wasn't yet the breadth of adaptive measures in place for Explorers like her. With the guidance and expertise of the program’s professional Trip Leaders, each discipline has been adapted to enable Elliott’s participation.

Early on in the program, Elliott tackled rock climbing using a modified harness to ascend sheer cliff faces. The next year, she trained hard at Saturday Challenges in Central Texas to learn to canoe with an adapted paddle, all in preparation for paddling 50 miles down the Buffalo River in Arkansas during her team’s Summer Wilderness Trip.

Emma Herzog, one of Elliott’s five Mentors, describes her as “fearless,” with a “never-giveup attitude that’s contagious. With a near-perfect attendance record with Explore Austin, she is a wonderful member of our team and brings humor, leadership skills and a positive

attitude every time she attends an event. We would not be the team we are without her.”

Elliott (center) and her teammates on their Summer Wilderness Trip in Idaho.

Most recently, Elliott and her team entered their mountain-biking year. Explore Austin initially borrowed a recumbent bike for Elliott to use during Saturday Challenges from Ghisallo Cycling Initiative, a nonprofit that helps people access the world by bicycle.

Said Emma, “It was incredible to see Elliott’s skills on the recumbent bike improve with each passing month. Explore Austin did a great job of adding enhancements to the bike, like an electric motor that I like to refer to as ‘turbo power.’ This gave Elliott the flexibility to add some assistance as she peddled, if she wanted to.”

Elliott ultimately saw the benefit this mode of transportation could bring to her dayto-day life – she lives only minutes away from school yet, due to her disability, was limited to taking a bus that took 20-plus minutes to get her there. As someone who tires from walking long distances, peddling to school with “turbo power” support would allow Elliott to get there efficiently and without exhausting herself. Seeing Elliott’s enthusiasm for biking and its potential to benefit her outside the program, Explore Austin worked with Ghisallo Cycling Initiative to get the recumbent bike permanently donated to her.

Elliott and her team capped their recent mountain-biking year with a weeklong Summer Wilderness Trip in Idaho where, said Emma, “Elliott was out on the trails with us every day. On the final optional bike day, she elected to ride the bike again over a nature scavenger hunt. This is just the most recent example of how Elliott takes every opportunity to participate in all that Explore Austin has to offer.”

While she's never doubted herself, Elliott has accomplished more than she ever could have imagined through the Explore Austin program. She says that when she's with her team in nature she feels peaceful and confident. Explore Austin has given her a place to push her limits, grow more self-assured and have a respite from everyday life. Trusting her Mentors and learning alongside her teammates, Elliott is ready to tackle any challenge – now and in the future.

Elliott's Mentors are proud of her “never-give-up attitude.”

" -GEMMA GALVÁN

"

Brother and sister Rodolfo and Gemma.

NATURE CONNECTS. Gemma Galván has felt the ripple effect of Explore Austin. Because the program only served boys at the time, she didn’t have the opportunity to be an Explorer like her brother, Rodolfo Galván; but over the course of his time in the program, Rodolfo shared his newfound love of the outdoors with his family, which Gemma gladly soaked up.

Gemma and Rodolfo were born in Mexico and grew up in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood of east Austin under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, learning English in elementary school. Their father eventually moved back to Mexico to take care of his ailing parents while their mother remained in Austin as a single mother, supporting the family as a breadmaker.

Rodolfo, who has been an alum of the Explore Austin program since 2015, joined as a sixth grader, having never before camped, mountain biked, canoed or rock climbed.

He's now been on the Board of Directors since 2018.

Said Rodolfo, “My first Summer Wilderness Trip was hiking in Colorado. I wasn’t in the best shape of my life, and there was a peak we climbed that gave me a lot of trouble. This happened for a couple more years, but I stuck with the program.

Eventually, I found myself at the front, leading the group. I found this new groove, and found so much beauty in everything we were doing.”

Gemma saw Rodolfo’s confidence and resiliency grow – both in the outdoors and otherwise – and came to understand that the outdoors is a space for everyone.

Each year, her brother would come home from his Summer Wilderness Trips talking nonstop about his adventures. Descriptions of the “impossibly tall mountains he

climbed and treacherous rivers where he whitewater rafted” in landscapes he said “looked like paintings” piqued Gemma’s curiosity – she had to see what he was talking about for herself.

“I set off to Colorado as soon as I could. With $200 in my pocket, I drove 16 hours in my friend’s old, beat-up car. I had never driven in snow or put tire chains on a car, and I would soon learn how severely underdressed I was for the weather. But none of that crossed my mind.”

Gemma was inspired by her brother to go on her own adventures.

Gemma is now an avid adventurer who summits mountains, camps in extreme weather and has kayaked in Alaska. In addition to being inspired by Rodolfo’s love for nature, Gemma also saw – and herself felt – the impact of Rodolfo’s relationship with his Mentors in the Explore Austin program.

Said Rodolfo, “My relationship with my Mentors was much like a father-son relationship, especially because I didn’t have an active father figure for much of my adolescence. Some of my Mentors were leaders in the tech field, and I realized I wanted to pursue a computer-science degree in college, which they encouraged me to do.”

Today, Rodolfo is a software engineer with IBM and Gemma is a software development and operations senior team lead at Accenture. They balance work with time in nature and know the ripple effect of Explore Austin has only just begun in their lives – and beyond.

" " Rodolfo began the Explore Austin program as a sixth grader having never camped before.

EXPLORER/MENTOR DEMOGRAPHICS Spanish speakers 66% / 35% Hispanic 67% / 14% Black/African American 7% / 5% Two or more races 6% / 3% White 3% / 58% Asian/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 0.4% / 6%

EXPLORE AUSTIN FOSTERS

THE FIVE C'S OF POSITIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT.

COMPETENCE

CONFIDENCE

CHARACTER

CONNECTION CARING/COMPASSION

MANIFOLD CBRE • Studio8 Architects • HID • Live Oak • Whole Foods Market • Brigham Minerals

SailPoint • Slalom • Frost Bank • River City Capital Partners *Corporate Partner Program members make an annual gift of $5,250 or more to invest in Explore Austin’s mission. If your business or organization is interested in partnering with Explore Austin, email us at lauren.zurbrugg@exploreaustin.org.

SUPPORTERS $20,000+ Anonymous Buena Vista Foundation Morgan & John Burnham The Cooper Matthews Foundation Regan & William Gammon Margaret & John Matthews Marjorie & Mark McClain Scott Munro The Pine Foundation The Springhouse Foundation

$10,000+ Edith & You Kin Chin Laura & Paul Detke Weslie & Stephen Elliott Laurie Humphreys Crystal & Daniel Perry Lee & John Rippel Christine & Christy Yonge

$5,000+ Laura & Steve Beuerlein The David Wallace Smith and Joan Stowell Smith Charitable Foundation Jessica & Carter Fields Eric Loeffel Danielle & Cory Older Cheryl & Walt Penn Kamila & Kent Radford The Schneeman Family Anne & Richard Smalling Kevin Walbrick

$2,500+ Malia & Steven Aycock Kathy Bowles & H. David Hughes Zawadi Bryant Sophia Bera Daigle & Bryan Daigle Lauren Dupuis Leslie & Brandon Easterling

Morgan & Ben Gaddis Emelie & Will Graham Don Hammill Anna & Jason Herd Dean Lammert Carlotta & Bill McLean Medlock and Nelson Clarke Nolley Nancy & Mark Pollard Charlie Rice Andrea Torres & Lawrence Lyman Amy & Harvey Zinn

$1,750+ Austin Bouldering Project The Barilla Foundation Cathy & Michael Godfrey Kevin Henry Kathleen Irvin Loughlin & Chris Loughlin Mitchell Kalogridis Jennifer Long Molly & Sam McBirney Margaret Ann & Chad McEver Merriman Pitt Anderson, Inc Alexia Rodriguez & Scott Hoopman Jonathan Saad Kim & Mark Voss Courtney & Rob Wilson Catherine & Anton Zurbrugg

GRANTORS Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation Clif Bar Family Foundation HDR Foundation Impact Austin McBride Conservation Fund Foundation The Powell Foundation Seawell Elam Foundation Shield-Ayres Foundation Swantz Family Foundation WoodNext Foundation

2022 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Laura Detke, Chairman • Isaac Albarado • Simms Browning • John Burnham Alex Castillo • Mica Crouse • Rodolfo Galván • Sam Gammage • Jason Herd Robert Malina • Caroline Newman Phillips • Mike Nink • Daniel Perry Kent Radford • Alexia Rodriguez • Catrina Salinas

94% 92%

1111 W 24th St #201 Austin, TX 78705

exploreaustin.org