REI Foundation has signed on as a 2012 Presenting Partner for Outdoor Nation for the second year in a row. A portion of the foundation’s undisclosed gift will be used to stage 10 summits this summer and fall in U.S. cities. Each two-day Summit will bring together 16- to 28-year olds, who will be charged with identifying pressing outdoor issues, developing strategies to address them and committing to taking action.
REI Foundation funding will also help underwrite activation grants that are awarded to young leaders for on-the-ground projects as well as support the expansion of the Campus Club Project, which connects college outdoor programs with youth in local communities. The 2012 Outdoor Nation Summits will be held in Boston, New York, Washington DC, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Austin, Denver, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Passionate young outdoor advocates interested in attending one of the free Summits can register at OutdoorNation.org.
“We’ve been impressed with the quality of ideas that have come from Outdoor Nation and the opportunity to bring more people into this important movement,” said Mike Collins, REI Foundation president.
Outdoor Nation 2012 is presented by the REI Foundation, The North Face and The Conservation Fund, and supported by the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation, America’s State Parks, U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Creative Artists Agency, National Park Service, Merrell, CamelBak, Johnson and Johnson, CIGNA, S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, Circadence, Sierra Club, Natural Leaders Network, National Wildlife Federation, YMCA and more than 100 invested organizations from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.
