Blue Sky Fund: How a Local Nonprofit Closes the Outdoor Experience Gap for Richmond Youth
Partner Spotlights are a platform for Robins Foundation grantees to highlight their important work and for Robins Foundation to recognize the incredible efforts and successes of our partners. This month, our Administrative and Operations Coordinator, Annaliese Santana, interviewed Diane Brown, Development and Communications Director at Blue Sky Fund. Since 2007, Blue Sky Fund has aimed to close the outdoor experience gap in the greater Richmond region. Every year, Blue Sky Fund provides 2,000 youth, between the 3rd and 12th grade, with transformational outdoor experiences – culminating in about 40,000 outdoor hours each year. Throughout her interview, Diane provided eye-opening information on Blue Sky Fund’s impressive local impact, the importance of outdoor experiences, and how Blue Sky Fund addresses disparities in outdoor experience access.
Can you walk me through your three main programs at Blue Sky Fund?
We have three different programs that serve specific age groups: Explorers program (3rd, 4th, and 5th graders), Outdoor Adventure Club (5th-12th graders), and Outdoor Leadership Institute (9th-12th graders).
Our Explorers program happens during school hours and is embedded in 12 Title I Richmond Public Schools’ curriculum. Each 3rd-5th grader with Blue Sky goes on 4-5 trips a year for free. That totals 14 trips that a single kid gets if they stay within our partner schools. Blue Sky Fund even provides transportation to and from those outdoor experiences. Our local outdoor experiences allow children to explore areas such as Belle Isle and Pocahontas State Park all the way to York River State Park. Additionally, everything we do connects to the Virginia Science Standards of Learning (SOL). At Blue Sky Fund, we’ve found that having hands-on experience in nature is a really important educational opportunity that you can’t get in the classroom. Last year, we had 1,900 3rd-5th grade students participate in this program, and each of those students received 12 hours of outdoor experience time.
Our Outdoor Adventure Club (OAC) program is an afterschool program that works with 5th- 12th grade students. This program happens during the school year and meets with students once or twice a week. In fact, before I became the Development and Communications Director at Blue Sky Fund, I volunteered with the OAC program. Similar to the Explorers program, we get students off school grounds and into the outdoors. OAC has a stronger focus on hard skills such as rock climbing, biking, hiking, and making nature-based observations. These nature-based observations include learning about different birds or animals or other elements of Virginia’s park systems. In this program, we worked with about 200 students who each received 60-120 outdoor hours last year.
Our Outdoor Leadership Institute (OLI) is a year long leadership program for Richmond-area high schoolers. Interested participants have to apply and interview for this program. OLI cohorts consist of 16 to 20 students that engage in a year-long commitment with Blue Sky Fund. During the summer, the OLI cohort engages in a two-week program that includes a five day backpacking trip to the highest point in Virginia, Mount Rogers. Then they reconvene once a month for “Service Saturday” meet-ups during the academic year and 2 weeks worth of summer programming. During the “Service Saturday” meet-ups, program participants complete community service projects with their peers, and have a chance to hear from the service partner about their career journey. Each year, OLI students get about 150 outdoor hours and 30 community service hours with us.
As we know, Blue Sky Fund works to close the outdoor experience gap. Can you talk about some typical barriers to access with regard to outdoor nature experiences?
Transportation is one of the biggest barriers to accessing green spaces. Unfortunately, due to Richmond’s history with segregation, discrimination, and redlining, there is a persisting disparity in green space access. I think about the first time learning about backpacking and how it took me over a decade to actually do it because it felt unknown and scary. I don’t think I would’ve done that if I didn’t have a group of friends that acted like mentors and gave me the confidence to try. So, for residents that are part of the many neighborhoods within Richmond that had parks closed during integration or had a highway built through their community, they often don’t have access to green spaces and/or an outdoor-experience mentor. Most of the youth we work with also live in neighborhoods that have been impacted by redlining, further lessening their access to green spaces. That’s why, at Blue Sky Fund, we are intentional about providing free transportation to our program participants and providing students with trusted outdoor-experience mentors. Our core goal is to create a common experience so all Richmond-area youth gain confidence in the outdoors, feel welcomed in green spaces, and know the benefits our natural spaces provide.
Can you share a story—perhaps from a student, family member, or teacher—that captures the heart of your mission and the transformative impact of nature-based learning?
Absolutely, one of my favorite quotes is from Chavon, a 4th grader from Overby-Sheppard ES. While on an Explorers trip to Forest Hill Park he said, “Some people think nature is really scary, but if you just sit on a bench and look around at what’s around you, you’ll realize it’s actually really beautiful. I really like the feeling of being able to calm down in nature.”
I also love hearing stories about inner growth through outdoor adventures from our staff. Like Lee’asia from our Lucille Brown Outdoor Adventure Club who said she “didn’t do ladders” when the team arrived at the Pipeline Walkway to explore last year. With the encouragement of her classmates and our Blue Sky program instructors, not only did Lee’asia climb down the ladder at Pipeline, it also gave her confidence to try rock climbing and reach the top of the wall on another OAC outing. We love seeing how small moments can make a big impact.
What are some of the biggest opportunities or challenges that Blue Sky Fund is navigating as you grow your programs and deepen your impact?
This is especially poignant right now as we are looking to expand our Explorers program by 50%, the biggest expenses are transportation and staffing. Ensuring we have buses so all participating students can access free transportation to and from our outdoor experiences is key. So now, we are looking into purchasing another bus and increasing our bus maintenance fund. Outside of that, anytime we expand the work that we do, people, and particularly children, are depending on us. So, we are continuing to make intentional hiring decisions, properly train new hires, and provide professional development opportunities for our employees throughout their time at Blue Sky Fund. It is important that we create a common experience for young people in our programs, and making sure we have reliable and well trained staff is a key part of that.
What’s your vision for how Blue Sky Fund can be a catalyst for educational or environmental change in Richmond?
As Blue Sky Fund approaches our 20th anniversary, I have begun to think of what our organization’s impact will look like another 20 years from now. At an organizational level, I would love to see Blue Sky create partnerships with as many schools as possible. I think I would want us to continue doing this important work and providing accessible nature-based activities for youth in Richmond and beyond. I would also love for us to continue educating our community on the positive impact of spending time in nature
Is there anything you would like to promote in this interview? Like an upcoming initiative or awareness month?
If you want to get outdoors with Blue Sky, our annual fall fundraiser, Hike for Kids, is a great opportunity and is open to everyone! This Hike-a-thon type event, allows registrants to choose a 3, 7, or 14 mile hike through the James River Park System, then celebrate at a post-hike party with food, drinks, games, and live music.
Together, participants raise funds and awareness of our outdoor education and adventure programs. This year’s event will take place on Saturday, October 25th at the Virginia War Memorial. Anyone can register at blueskyfund.org/hikeforkids – $40 for adults, $15 for youth.
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To learn more about Blue Sky’s incredible work, please visit: https://blueskyfund.org/
