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2023 Thrive Outside Days

Thanks to Thrive Outside community leaders, partners, and participants, our 2023 Thrive Outside Day events were an overwhelming success! Read and see below how a few of the 13 Thrive Outside Communities across the country created an array of new opportunities for children, youth, and their families to enjoy the outdoors – helping to build new connections and encourage year-round outdoor experiences.

Oklahoma City

At the Oklahoma City Thrive Outside Day, youth kayakers representing the Boys and Girls Club of Oklahoma County and the Oklahoma City Indian Clinic demonstrated their kayaking skills in front of 3,800 attendees cheering from the banks of the Oklahoma River. The weekend of fun included A Most Beautiful Thing Inclusion Fund (AMBTIF) award ceremony, with AMBTIF founder Arshay Cooper and Olympians welcoming and inspiring 55 youth to embrace the healing power of watersports. Youth rowers representing six middle schools then rowed in their first race with over 4,000 spectators in attendance.

St. Louis

“This is what community looks like” – Thrive Outside Day Participant

In St. Louis, River City Outdoors, O’Fallon Park YMCA, The Boys and Girls Club of Greater St. Louis, and Cherokee Recreation Center all partnered to offer activities for Thrive Outside Day. Over 150 participants were able to enjoy a mobile climbing wall, a community BBQ, and a giveaway of River City Outdoor swag.

Detroit

With support from Wilderness Inquiry, over 300 Detroit students and community members had the opportunity to paddle in canoes on the inland lakes of Belle Isle Park and engage in land-based environmental education activities with other partner organizations and agencies. The Canoemobile

visit marked the beginning of Detroit’s Thrive Outside Days, a month-long embrace of making time to go outside and connect with nature and one another.

The team also curated and promoted a weekly list of ways to get outside and thrive all through October with other members of the local network. Detroit’s Thrive Outside Days culminated with a Mountain Bike Ramble event at Rouge Park in Detroit, where the students of the Hamtramck High Schools Outdoor Adventure Club spent the day riding the trails.

Grand Rapids

“Thrive Outside Day in Grand Rapids was a chance to celebrate our community, give away some free gear and swag, and invite folks to come and get familiar with our Gear Library.” – Sam Truby, Gear Library Supervisor

The Grand Rapids team observed that while lending equipment and clothing on a temporary basis is a great way to make outdoor activities possible for children, youth, and families who need it, “giving someone gear to keep creates a sense of excitement that a temporary item does not. This event showed that gear giveaways could be a potential ongoing activity at the gear library, as it gives winners a sense of ownership of the activities they do outside.”

New Analysis Reveals Strength of the Outdoor Economy

Today, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released new data showcasing the tremendous impact of outdoor recreation on America’s economy. In 2022, the BEA found that outdoor recreation accounted for $1.1 trillion in gross economic output, 2.2% of gross domestic product (GDP), and supported 5 million jobs across the United States.

“It comes as no surprise that outdoor recreation and the outdoor economy continue to demonstrate outstanding growth, which also supports the historic trends in outdoor participation we have seen in recent years,” said OIA President Kent Ebersole. “The outdoor recreation participant base grew for the eighth consecutive year to a record 168.1 million participants, and new participants are increasingly diverse and looking to businesses to lead on sustainability, equity, and conservation. This new data demonstrates the strength of the outdoor recreation industry and our collective power to drive sustainable economic growth while protecting – and growing access to – the benefits of the outdoors for everyone.” 

BEA launched its outdoor recreation economy project in 2017 to “deepen the public’s understanding of the economic impact of outdoor recreation, inform decision making, and improve governance and long-term management of public lands and waters.”

Explore the power of the outdoor recreation economy through our interactive map, which now lists state-level participation data alongside jobs, wages, and total economic value.

Meet the New and Returning OIA Board Members

As the outdoor industry’s member-led collective, OIA catalyzes meaningful change in every element of the industry. To set our businesses and industry up for future success, we rely on a clear strategy and value-based collaboration. Our board of directors helps shape OIA’s strategic plan. The individuals on the board, through their seats at the governance table, support the success of every member company across four critically aligned areas of market research, sustainability, government affairs, and inclusive participation.

This summer, four new and three incumbent members were elected to the OIA Board of Directors by the OIA membership. We are proud to present the new directors and reacquaint you with the returning directors, who comprise a diverse group of leaders that represent the broad interests of OIA’s member companies and who have a depth of industry knowledge, as well as fresh, progressive ideas.

To our former and current board leaders, OIA members, and fellow outdoor enthusiasts, thank you for your participation in this year’s election and for treading the path with us!

New Board Members

“I am honored to be entrusted with a seat on the board of OIA. I’m looking forward to collaborating with fellow board members and the organization at large and contributing my experience, passion and dedication to the cause. Through our shared mission of promoting sustainable economic growth and climate positivity, we can create meaningful change in the outdoor industry.”

– Keith Carrato, Gerber Gear Vice President/General Manager

“I never fit in the box that the outdoor industry was confined to. Now I’m brought on to help redefine what the outdoors is, and who it belongs to, and why.

I’ve never fit in the “box”; because the box was never intended to fit people like me. I’m in this industry, with my family. We are building a staircase to include and elevate; collectively, considerately, and communally.”

– Jahmicah Dawes, Slim Pickins Outfitters Owner and Founder

“I am honored to join the OIA Board of Directors and work alongside an esteemed group of industry leaders. Together, we have the opportunity to shape the future of outdoor inclusion, conservation, and innovation to better serve the industry. I cannot wait to contribute my passion and expertise to this incredible community.”

– Diana Seung, tentree  President

“After twenty years in the outdoor industry, I am deeply honored to join the board of directors for Outdoor Industry Association. I look forward to putting in work on many subjects, but my passion lies in DEI and specialty retail. Diversity isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a vital driver of innovation and progress. It must be a priority for our industry to remain relevant. 

Additionally, I firmly believe that the backbone of our industry is the outdoor specialty retailer, and as an association we should be a robust resource for them.  

Together, we can work to ensure that the industry is known and accessible to all, fostering a stronger, more inclusive community that benefits our businesses and the diverse array of consumers who cherish experiences outside.”

– Troy Sicotte, Mountain Hardwear  President and Global General Manager

Returning Board Members

Alison Hill is the CEO of LifeStraw, a global company providing safe water through technological innovation and product design. For the last 14 years, Alison has built the LifeStraw brand through retail, humanitarian water programs, and emergency preparedness and response.   

“I look forward to continued leadership on the OIA Board and working alongside new and remaining board members to ensure our industry thrives in the ever-changing consumer and market landscape.”

– Jennifer McLaren, Altra Brand President & GM of VF NORA Key Accounts

“It’s an honor to continue serving as a leader on the OIA Board of Directors. I look forward to continuing to support OIA in its efforts to build an ecosystem of thriving businesses, people, and planet while increasing the value we deliver to our emerging businesses and other nonprofits.”

– Kevin Winkel, Wayward Founder

Catalyzing Communities to Get More Youth Outside

Q&A with Cha Cha Sawyer, Coalition Coordinator for King County Play Equity Coalition

The Outdoor Foundation’s Thrive Outside Initiative is a national network of partners working to create a more inclusive and accessible outdoor experience for all. In this Impact Stories series, we talk to local Thrive Outside leaders to learn more about their community and their vision for the future.

Seattle may be within striking distance of some of the nation’s most prized backcountry playgrounds, and yet access to those areas is still a major challenge for many families in the area. The King County Play Equity Coalition is made up of over 100 organizations that are working to address those barriers. With the support of the Thrive Outside Initiative, they’re currently building an Outdoor Recreation Action Team to support their members in collaborating to achieve shared goals.

We asked Cha Cha Sawyer, the organization’s coalition coordinator, what challenges Seattle faces in making the outdoors more equitable, and how separate organizations from seemingly disparate fields can work together to solve larger societal issues.

What are the barriers to outdoor access in Seattle that you’re working to address?

The lack of access to transportation is a really big barrier for a lot of our communities to get access to the greater outdoors. It’s not only access to Pacific Northwest mountains, trails, camping, and hiking. The issues are even locally-based, in urban settings, as well.

Most people who live in Seattle are considered to be within walking distance from their local park, but most people aren’t going to their local parks these days. There’s a sense that those places aren’t safe, especially for youth. Parents don’t want their children going there, even with an adult present, and it can be challenging to find transportation to places where they do feel safe. Homelessness has increased since COVID and urban parks tend to be where unhoused people may feel safer to stay. So, a lot of families in those neighborhoods don’t feel safe going to those parks.

The lack of transportation networks, and access to the networks that do exist, is also a problem, particularly in the southern region of Seattle. And finally, play fields, facilities, and parks where kids can recreate and play are often underfunded, so they’re not physically safe to play on.

Transportation is also a problem for everyone, even those who do have cars—some trailheads just get so overwhelmed that you might not be able to hike when you get there because there’s no space for your car.

What’s happening in Seattle to address those transportation issues?

We’re working to facilitate or provide transportation where possible, while also working on increasing access to public transit. Some individual organizations have been able to raise funding to buy their own vans, like Outdoors for All, which provides adaptive programming for youth with disabilities. The City of Seattle Department of Transportation is also working on a new transit plan. They’re gathering information from community members to see how they can be more accommodating for access to the outdoors and for kids to access sports and programming in the Puget Sound area. Part of our outdoor recreation action team is to get some of these parks departments together to see how we can better serve those organizations.

What outcomes are you striving for during the Thrive Outside campaign?

First, we’re convening an outdoor recreation action team that will meet regularly and be representative of the youth population we intend to focus on and serve. A lot of our action team is really about shared learning. They’ll build a peer-to-peer learning community that will foster connection and collaboration between community members. We’re also identifying collective actions so the team can increase outdoor participation of historically underserved youth, and sustain and enhance that work for the future.

How do you define the “outdoors?”

When I think about the outdoors, I think about the indigenous perspective of what land means and what taking care of the land means. Being outdoors isn’t just doing something active for yourself, but it also can mean how you’re caring for the land that you’re on, and how you learn about the land. How do you have a relationship with the land? I think a great way to be outdoors is through community gardens and food cultivation, and learning how the land gives to you and how you can give it back to the land. I think “outdoors” just means being outside.

How are you working with existing organizations?

Part of our value in being community-centered is not recreating the wheel. We know there are a lot of people on the ground, grassroots and community-based organizations who are doing a lot of really great work in the outdoor space. And they’ve been doing it, it’s not new. For us to be able to convene these members in an action team, it isn’t for the purpose of identifying a new solution, or creating a new action item for all these organizations. It’s to enhance their work.

We are serving a base of about 115 organizational members, so we’re always asking how we can enhance their partnerships and collaboration. From 2020 to 2021, we reserved some of our funding to create a mini collaboration program in which members could find another organization they wanted to work with, and apply together for up to $10,000 to support a two-year timeline of planning and implementation. One result was a collaboration between Evergreen Mountain Biking Alliance, YETI (Youth Experiential Training Institute), and the King County Department of Public Defense. They came together to serve a community that they might not have historically served before. Together, they increased access to bikes, biking instruction, and access to outdoor trails for youth in the foster care system.

What are you most excited about right now?

Honestly, it’s the launch of this action team. I run another action team, the Youth Action Team, and that’s how we involve youth in the shared work that we do. It’s been great to see how we can empower youth as leaders in this work that mostly adults run and control. I’m really excited for the Outdoor Recreation Action Team because I think there’s such a conundrum on what “outdoors” means, and what the definition is. I love those kinds of tough—but very progressive—conversations.

I’m excited to see how people will come in this room and talk about “outdoors” and “outside,” and to see who’s attending and get a cross-sector network together. Yes, we have all these parks departments, outdoor recreation, and national education-based programs coming in. It’s a very big necessity that we involve organizations that don’t do that work, but that serve youth in other ways. If we really are trying to increase access for youth to the outdoors, it’s not just about youth already in these programs. It’s also about how we can get youth in social services-based programs to also be connected so they can start getting exposure and experience, and maintain long-term access to parks, forests, and trails.

PFAS Phase-Out: 5 Key Steps for Your Outdoor Brand

By James Pollack, OIA Clean Chemistry and Materials Coalition Legislative Advisor, Attorney at Marten Law

Start your brand’s journey to eliminating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as Forever Chemicals.

You have probably started hearing a lot about PFAS, a large, complex group of synthetic chemicals found in various everyday consumer products like water-resistant clothing and cookware. A combination of regulatory requirements and consumer demand has created growing pressure on sectors worldwide to achieve PFAS elimination. States have proposed hundreds of potential laws and regulations targeting PFAS in a variety of consumer products. Many of these laws will impact outdoor brands that have used PFAS for durability as well as water and stain resistance. Intimidated? Don’t be. Together, we can replace existing products with more sustainable alternatives to provide customers with products that are just as reliable and durable.

1). Assemble your PFAS team

First and foremost, you have to build a dedicated team to effectively tackle PFAS phase-out. For the most comprehensive and holistic approach, I recommend bringing together a diverse group with a multiplicity of perspectives and expertise. While a chemicals expert may understand what needs to change about your product’s material composition, a designer will have insight into how materials fit into the product, marketing will help articulate why and how your outdoor brand is evolving its product, and sales will have to communicate the transition to buyers and consumers alike. Once you have a team assembled, appoint a champion who will take ownership of the initiative and lead it to fruition.

2). Understand the timeline for PFAS legislation

As PFAS chemicals are generally a state legislative issue for the time being, your brand will have to navigate different states with different deadlines for phase-out and elimination. For example, California’s ban on PFAS in textile articles goes into effect January 1, 2025, Vermont’s ban on all PFAS in food packaging, ski wax, and after-market fabric treatments goes into effect on July 1, 2024, and Minnesota’s ban on the sale of cookware, fabric treatments, juvenile products, ski wax, and food packaging with intentionally added PFAS goes into effect on January 25, 2025.

Once you have a grasp on the state regulations that apply to your product categories, it is important to align your product development cycle with upcoming regulatory deadlines.

Pro Tip: CCMC members have access to a constantly updated Regulatory Tracker to ensure members are aware of new and evolving deadlines around PFAS and other harmful chemicals.

3). Work with your suppliers on a PFAS phase-out plan

After aligning your product development cycle with your state’s regulatory timeline, you should work to communicate key deadlines with your suppliers. There’s a good chance that your suppliers are addressing similar requests from other brands and distributors, so leverage their expertise. Ask them about the alternatives to PFAS they’ve been using and the options that exist for sustainable material evolution.

4). Draw on expertise within the outdoor industry

The outdoor industry has a long history of working together to catalyze broader change and drive innovation. As catalysts, we know that we go farther, and faster, when we work together. In addition to your suppliers, you can leverage the expertise of lawyers, labs, consultants, and other outdoor brands to crystalize your PFAS phase-out strategy.

OIA’s Clean Chemistry and Materials Coalition is designed to support retailers, brands, manufacturers, and distributors in a way that is unique to their PFAS phase-out stage. We provide our members with scalable action plans for eliminating and replacing harmful chemicals and materials, delivering supply chain transparency, addressing recycling and emissions disclosures, and more. CCMC members also gain access to a community network of other brands working on the same challenges, and technical and legislative advisors (like myself) who are here to offer support. For more insight into how CCMC can support your brand, watch our introductory webinar.

5). Design and implement your ongoing PFAS and chemical compliance efforts

The last step, of course, is execution. Now that you have a team, a timeline, and a supportive community of peers and experts, it is time to begin the process of altering your products and supply chain to ensure they are compliant with a variety of state sustainability regulations. This may include steps like testing your product’s material composition, obtaining appropriate certifications, and implementing a restricted substance list. It is important to ensure that all your outdoor brand’s products meet regulatory requirements, so I recommend establishing inventory management practices to track different products’ PFAS phase-out life stages.

The path towards PFAS elimination is not linear–nor easy–but if we take one step at a time and work together, we can be catalysts for sustainable growth. If you’re looking for more robust support and a community to lean on, join me and the Clean Chemistry and Materials Coalition.

About James Pollack

James Pollack is an attorney at Marten Law based in Seattle, WA, whose practice focuses on consumer product regulatory compliance, emerging contaminants, and environmental review. James leads the firm’s consumer products regulatory practice and helps consumer product manufacturers in a wide array of industries that are working to understand the complicated and shifting regulatory and litigation environments surrounding emerging contaminants. He has extensive knowledge on PFAS regulatory compliance at the federal and state level. James’s clients include textile and apparel manufacturers, outdoor recreational product manufacturers, food product manufacturers, and retailers. He also works with industry associations to update membership on regulatory developments.