Nonprofit Spotlight: Outdoor Afro

During the month of February Outdoor Prolink is proud to have Outdoor Afro as our featured nonprofit during checkout. Every year, Outdoor Prolink partners with nonprofits to give back to organizations we align with. To honor these amazing nonprofits, we’re spotlighting each one and sharing why you should care about their missions too.

Outdoor Afro is a not-for-profit organization celebrating and inspiring Black connections and leadership in nature. Through outdoor education, recreation, and conservation, they are on a mission to reconnect Black people to our lands, water, and wildlife. We sat down with Outdoor Afro to get the full scoop on their amazing organization and how people can get involved to support their mission. Read on to learn more!

What’s the story behind Outdoor Afro?

Outdoor Afro is a love story with nature. What started as a kitchen table blog by Founder and CEO Rue Mapp in 2009 is now a national not-for-profit organization 15 years later. Mapp’s appreciation and care for nature started with her family. Their Northern county family farm in California provided endless revelations about the natural world, its seasons, wildlife, and how to live in harmony with it all. As Mapp got older, she saw firsthand the lack of leadership, preparation, and welcoming in nature-based group trips that she experienced as a youth through her young adulthood. Mapp turned to early internet resources and groups, but she never felt she could find the right match for the community, hospitality, and diverse experiences that rooted her as a child. She decided to create a blog and website in 2009 called Outdoor Afro, which evolved into a social enterprise to tell a new narrative of what she knew Black people were capable of in the outdoors. Mapp eventually created networks and trained volunteer leaders who could meaningfully and safely engage the community in their versions of nature. In 2015, she incorporated Outdoor Afro as a 501(c)(3) to scale the capacity work and its reach. Today, Outdoor Afro continues to live out its nature and community mission.

What sets Outdoor Afro apart?

Outdoor Afro provides “family reunion” experiences in nature that connect or reconnect Black communities to outdoor recreation, conservation, and education. Across our local networks located in up to 70 cities and 37 states (including Washington, D.C.), more than 200,000 community participants are able to connect and build community around our innovative network activities within their U.S. neighborhoods annually. These activities range from foraging, fly fishing, and cycling to u-picking, snowshoeing, and swimming. Our organization also approaches our community and nature work from an asset-framing lens. Our authentic versions of nature are original and uplift past and present pathfinders who have contributed to and positively impact our outdoor lifestyles and Outdoor Afro’s life-saving initiatives.

What are some upcoming initiatives Outdoor Afro is working on?

Our flagship initiative since our founding, Volunteer Leadership Program (VLP), prepares Outdoor Afro volunteer leaders to help connect and reconnect Black communities to nature. Through planned and guided year-round adventures across the United States, VLP’s selected and trained volunteer leaders are able to share their outdoor expertise; knowledge of civics and history; and love of nature in their hometowns. The program’s most-anticipated experience is its signature training and information-sharing event: Outdoor Afro Leadership Training (OALT). Once a year during April, OALT equips volunteer leaders with risk management and leadership skills so they’re able to host up to 12 creative outings a year safely and sustainably. This knowledge-exchange training brings together over 100 volunteer leaders, Outdoor Afro staff, board members, guest speakers, and select outdoor partners to prepare volunteer leaders to host customized network activities. After OALT concludes its packed weekend of hands-on outdoor workshops, volunteer leaders guide their Outdoor Afro networks in monthly local activities like kayaking, rock climbing, surfing, and more.

Outdoor Afro created our Making Waves swim program in 2019 to ensure every child and caregiver within our sphere of influence learns basic swim techniques. In 2024, we partnered with new Black-owned providers to fund 1,200 kids and caregivers. In 2025, our work led to 3,250 new swimmers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black youth between the ages of 10 and 14 drown in swimming pools at a rate almost 8 times that of white peers. A public health disparity from decades of segregation and exclusion from public pools and beaches. To strengthen water relationships, Outdoor Afro partners with U.S. swim providers to fund kids and caregivers. In 2026 our goal is to unlock the joy and love of water for 5,000  more children and caregivers.

How can the people of the outdoor industry support the work Outdoor Afro is doing?

Our collaborations with outdoor brands, government organizations, and community-based partners have enabled us to reach more people and to unlock greater access to outdoor activities. To create more opportunities for our community and for our partners to connect with and support the community, we’ve launched the Outdoor Afro App. We’re excited to see people rapidly adopting our app as a sort of utility for finding local trips, outdoor activities, favorite nature spots, and communities with shared interests. Partners can now advertise their products/services and brands in front of app users who have demonstrated deep interest in specific outdoor activities or nature topics within specific locations–including those who have registered for a trip or a series of trips where those products/services might be used. We are also happy to collaborate as marketing affiliates with brands who want to offer their merchandise for sale or book experiences through our App. We’ve also recently launched a Brand Ambassador program to create another new opportunity for brands to collaborate with Outdoor Afro and vetted influencers to engage our 200K+ social media followers. Apply to advertise or collaborate with Outdoor Afro by selecting “Advertise with Us” from the App menu.

If Outdoor Afro was an ice cream flavor, which flavor would it be?

Yummy Harlequin ice cream to mirror the variety of ages and nature backgrounds that join Outdoor Afro each year. We are definitely multigenerational fun in the outdoors.

Photo Credit: Photos courtesy of Outdoor Afro