OEN’s member organizations support access to outdoor adventures for tens of thousands of youth each year. Members partner with community-based youth service agencies, schools, and other youth-centered groups to make transformative outdoor experiences happen through our core programs: gear, training, and community support.

GEAR

Members reduce one of the biggest barriers to getting outside—access to gear—by curating and providing access to outdoor equipment libraries that make it possible for schools and youth service organizations to take their youth outdoors safely. Gear libraries can look different in different communities, using a wide array of partnerships, click here to read more about how to get one going in your community.  

TRAINING

Members provide a host of experiential, skills-based trainings for teachers and youth workers in their regions so they are empowered to take youth outdoors on their own. For every adult trained, 20+ youth get a chance to experience the power of nature. For many young people, this is the first time they’ll see the Milky Way, hear a rushing waterfall, or experience an environment free of the urban cacophony of horns, sirens, and cell phones. Nature-based experiences change lives.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

These include mini-grants, transportation subsidies, online connections through social media and listservs, and in some cases, exclusive access to campgrounds that allow near-nature experiences to happen as simply as possible. 

Being part of OEN gives members the opportunity to build networks, share best practices, collectively fundraise for gear, and see the national impact of our work. Our core “train and support” program model brings together a wide variety of members, from small grassroots organizations to large government agencies, all of us working together to bring equity and access to the outdoors.