The ARC Board of Directors voted this past weekend to create an Outdoor Leadership Fund for ARC alumni and aspiring ARC instructors. The board committed $5,000 to launch this fund with the express goal of promoting equity and inclusion within ARC and the outdoor education field. These funds can be used for Wilderness First Responder (WFR) certifications, personal backpacking gear, outdoor skills and leadership development courses, and more.
The Board has challenged us to match their contribution to the Outdoor Leadership Fund. Our goal is to raise an additional $5,000 for the new fund before the end of this month. This is a communal effort to eliminate barriers for our alumni and other young professionals who are underrepresented in outdoor education and who will then inspire a new generation of youth to get outside! Applicants will describe how a grant from ARC will help them develop professionally as an outdoor leader. We will announce the deserving recipients of grant awards each year.
After the announcement of the Fund this weekend, Melany Ricardo, a 2016 Tahoe course graduate, expressed her desire to apply. Melany is the co-facilitator of ARC’s Rising Community Leadership cohort at Firebaugh High School and is interested in becoming an ARC summer instructor. ARC requires that all summer instructors have a WFR certification, which involves an 80-hour course. For Melany, as a full-time college student, a grant from the fund to pay for her WFR course would be significant. Melany says of ARC, “It has opened doors in my mind. I realized as an ARC student that I wanted to have these sorts of experiences more often.” With the Outdoor Leadership Fund, we will be supporting exactly that – impactful leadership experiences for young professionals like Melany!
ARC is committed to creating opportunities for underrepresented groups to gain greater access to wilderness spaces and outdoor leadership opportunities. Join us in this effort! To contribute, visit www.adventureriskchallenge.org/donate.