webinar

Why Outdoor Programs Help Youth Thrive

PAST EVENT
October 8, 2025

On October 8, GTY hosted a discussion focused on findings and implications from The Nature of the Outdoors: Stronger Youth Development Through Exploration, an Annie E. Casey Foundation-funded study of 10,000+ youth in outdoor programs ranging from wilderness adventures to day camps.

Watch recording

Top Takeaway

Outdoor youth programs foster powerful social-emotional growth and life skills, especially when intentional reflection and youth development practices are combined with physically and emotionally challenging group experiences.

These programs provide not just fun, but lasting benefits in confidence, belonging, agency, and resilience.

Recording

More Takeaways

  1. Young people participating in outdoor programs show marked gains in self-efficacy, skills learned outdoors translate into confidence at school and in daily life, with youth reporting new motivation to “climb the tallest mountain” in whatever challenges arrive.
  2. Access and belonging are intentionally cultivated; providing gear, scholarships, and inclusive environments allows youth from diverse backgrounds, including those underserved or new to outdoor settings, to thrive side by side and build deep connections.
  3. Reflective practices, such as nightly “courage circles” and intentional group discussions, help youth process challenges, learn gratitude, and build perspective, making growth and learning stick.
  4. Programs that center authentic relationships, among peers and with supportive adults, see youth develop a sense of purpose and responsibility, not by being told what to do, but because “it’s natural when given freedom and safety.”
  5. Meaningful youth participation is key: youth are not just program participants but meaning-makers and leaders, shaping both their own growth and the future direction of programs.

Resources

YMCA REPORT

The Nature of the Outdoors: Stronger Youth Development Through Exploration

THE 74 ARTICLE

From Screen Time to ‘Green Time’: Going Outside to Support Student Well-Being

CHILDREN & NATURE NETWORK ARTICLE

Funding from social media lawsuits could promote more green time and less screen time

CHILDREN’S FUNDING PROJECT

Social Media Lawsuits

NATIONAL SUMMER LEARNING ASSOCIATION

Supporting Special Populations Requires Partnership

What Can Philanthropy Do?

Philanthropy has the power to transform who gets access to the most impactful outdoor and positive youth development experiences. Funders can:

  • Support programs that intentionally combine outdoor experiences, positive youth development, and reflection, knowing these approaches measurably build skills for thriving.
  • Invest in reducing barriers, funding scholarships, gear, and supports, to ensure all youth, especially those furthest from opportunity, can participate fully and equitably.
  • Fund tools and research to both measure and communicate impact, and enable youth themselves to interpret and act on findings.
  • Break down funding silos by supporting programs that advance youth development, education, mental health, and community through the unique lens of the outdoors.

These investments ensure that life-changing learning, confidence, and connection can be available to every young person.

Memorable Quotes

Academic self-efficacy is one of the outcomes of participating in a program with strong positive youth development implemented in outdoor settings. That’s an outcome that is relevant to districts and funders. When we share with education-focused grantmakers that this study found participation in outdoor programs improves the academic self-efficacy of young people, they begin to see themselves in this work.

—Cynthia Weaver, The Annie E. Casey Foundation

We found outdoor programs have more opportunities to focus on relationships with caring adults and relationships with peers. We’ve seen that these two experiences are so foundational that you can’t do the rest of the positive youth development practices unless young people trust the adults and trust their peers. In addition, when young people are in outdoor programs that give them opportunities to reflect on their experiences, more young people are develop capacities for thriving.

—Dr. Kim Flores, Hello Insight

Our goal is not to teach young people about the outdoors, but to leverage these places and experiences for stronger youth development. In outdoor programs, youth tap into their own strengths and learn, grow and connect with peers and adults in ways that often don’t happen in other environments.

—Courtney Aber, YMCA of Greater Seattle

What’s really important to me, as a participant then and now an instructor, are those moments of reflection: intentional conversations about what you have just been through, what you are grateful for, what’s something that you can learn from. The practice of reflection is really important and can be done anywhere.

—Lila Brodsky, Geology student at University of Colorado, Boulder

The distraction-free setting of the outdoors gives the space that young people need to build those deeper, more thoughtful connections with others and also with themselves, and this builds timeless skills that help in family, school, work, life, and everywhere.

—Marcin Anforowicz, Computer Engineering student, University of Washington

As technology advances and the world changes, there are fewer opportunities for youth to realize that there’s more beyond the world of their phone, school, stress about their future. These programs are a chance to unplug and experience a whole mind-body reset.

—Illa Ranjan, Conservation and Restoration Ecology student, Utah State University

Contact the Speakers

If you’d like to follow up with any of these speakers, please reach out to GTY.

Speakers

Kim Flores, PhD

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Hello Insight

Dr. Flores has spent the last three decades developing innovative strategies to make evaluation both useful and accessible for all. Drawing upon her training in developmental and environmental psychology, she has introduced hundreds of adults and young people, their programs, and communities to the empowering impact of sustained participation, reflection, and evaluation. Her unique approach highlights the developmental nature of evaluation for young people, staff, organizations, donors, foundations, and communities.

As the co-founder and CEO of Hello Insight, Dr. Flores has been able to realize her life-long dream of building a sustained learning community that fosters the development of young people, staff, programs, organizations, and entire fields of practice. Hello Insight was born out of her passion for supporting youth-serving organizations of all types, sizes, and missions to move the needle on the outcomes that matter most for young people.

Dr. Flores has conducted international research and evaluation projects that have focused on youth development, civic engagement, youth media, the arts, children’s rights, post conflict, protection, international development, and a variety of social issues. She has worked with numerous government, U.N. agencies, and non-governmental agencies to examine implementation strategies and impacts of local, national, and international youth initiatives. Dr. Flores has authored several books and publications on youth-led evaluation and organizational learning. She is the founder of the American Evaluation Association’s topical interest group on youth-focused evaluation.

Cynthia Weaver

Senior Associate, Evidence-Based Practice Group, The Annie E. Casey Foundation

Cynthia Weaver is a Senior Associate with the Evidence-Based Practice Group (EBPG) at The Annie E. Casey Foundation. The EBPG team is part of the larger Research Evaluation Evidence and Data unit at Casey. The EBPG team prioritizes building evidence for programs and practices and scaling what works. Throughout her investments, Weaver prioritizes rethinking: who gets to say what evidence is; who gets to make meaning of the data, and; who gets to turn that data into action. As a result, support for participatory action research (YPAR) to design, implement and scale practices and programs aligned with the lived experiences of those most impacted is a major focus of her portfolio. She also invests in expanding equitable access to emerging implementation innovations to scale what works.

Prior to her 12 years with Casey, Weaver was an assistant professor of Social Work at the University of Southern Mississippi. She was a social worker along the Gulf Coast for many years prior to her academic work.

Courtney Aber

YMCA of Greater Seattle; National BOLD & GOLD Director

Courtney Aber is the National Director of Outdoor Initiatives at the YMCA of Greater Seattle. She works to connect communities through innovative program models that leverage the power of the outdoors in positive youth development. Previously, she led the YMCA’s Bold & Gold program for 14 years, bringing youth from different racial and economic backgrounds together to build self-confidence, community awareness, and a sense of wonder through immersive experiences in the natural world. Under her leadership, Bold & Gold scaled throughout the US and has begun expanding internationally.

Courtney is recognized as a thought leader in harnessing outdoor experiences as catalysts for positive youth development. She co-authored a report looking at 10,000 youth and the impact of nature engagement on their skills for thriving and collaborates regularly with other non-profits to revolutionize how we can better serve youth through unusual partnerships. Having run outdoor programs in various capacities since 1992, she continues to be amazed at the power of the outdoors to change lives and bring out the best in people. She has a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and lives in the Methow Valley in Washington State.

Marcin Anforowicz

Computer Engineering student, University of Washington

Marcin Anforowicz is a computer engineering student at the University of Washington. He enjoys building remote controlled airplanes, reading science fiction, and orienteering. He believes the distraction-free setting of the outdoors gives space for building deeper, more thoughtful connections with yourself and others.

Illa Ranjan

Conservation and Restoration Ecology student, Utah State University

Illa Ranjan is a conservation and restoration ecology major at Utah State University. She is also a trip leader for her school’s Outdoor Programs- you can find her leading (almost) every outdoor rec activity you can think of; from rock climbing to backcountry skiing. Taking people out to our wild spaces and introducing them to the world of outdoor recreation is one of her biggest passions, and she believes it has something to offer to everyone; no matter their background or ability.

Lila Brodsky

Geology student at University of Colorado, Boulder

Lila is a student at the University of Colorado, Boulder, studying Geology with a minor in music. She was a Leader in Training for BOLD and GOLD in 2023, and continue to work in outdoor education as a Trip Leader and Trips Student Coordinator at CU’s Outdoor Pursuits program. On top of that, she also works as a graphic designer for the University’s Program Council and as a Junior Data Manager for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She believes everyone deserves a chance to experience the Outdoors, especially youth, as it provides immense perspective on the space we all take up in this world.

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