As a daughter of the South—born in Mississippi and living in Louisiana and Kentucky for parts of my adolescence—I’ve always had a connection to the outdoors. Whether it was spending time running around and playing with cousins on my paternal grandparents’ 95-acre farm in the Mississippi Delta, picking plums outside of my maternal Grandmother’s home in small town Central Mississippi, or even walking on the trail through the woods behind my Grandmother’s house to visit her sister nearby, my relationship with the outdoors has always seemed like a natural one. After those early experiences with family, I later joined Girl Scouts and most enjoyed going to Camp Judy Layne in Eastern Kentucky during summer breaks for tent camping and days filled with sunshine, the beauty of the natural landscape, and freedom in the outdoors. In contrast, I later witnessed Louisiana’s natural paradise being dotted with petrochemical plants and pollution that harmed the environment and human health. As an adult living on the Westside of Atlanta, Georgia amidst both beautiful urban forest spaces and near environmental hazards and stressors, all of my previous experiences have brought me into the outdoors, and my leadership is fueled by a passion to preserve, protect, and restore our natural resources for the well-being of my community and future generations.    

Collective impact involves partners and stakeholders’ collaborating. What’s your role in Thrive and let me know about your organization?

The West Atlanta Watershed Alliance (WAWA) is the backbone organization of Thrive Outside Atlanta. WAWA has been a member of the Thrive Outside Atlanta Network since its formation in 2019, however we started out as one of the environmental education service providers—one of only two Black-led organizations in the group. As the COVID-19 Pandemic began to subside, WAWA took over the leadership reigns of the network from the Trust for Public Land and has been managing, cultivating, and deepening partnerships with youth environmental education and outdoor recreation providers as well as youth-serving organizations to engage youth from economically disadvantaged communities in nature and the outdoors through exploring both the Chattahoochee River and close-to-home Atlanta parks, trails, and greenspaces. For more than two decades, WAWA has pioneered efforts to advance environmental education, community engagement in watershed and greenspace protection, environmental stewardship, and environmental justice in Northwest and Southwest Atlanta neighborhoods. In part through this work, WAWA has been a leader in ensuring that access to nature and meaningful engagement in environmental education, environmental stewardship, and outdoor recreation are not factors of race, income, or geography, and our innovative, place-based, culturally relevant programs have introduced thousands to the creeks, streams, waterfalls, and abundant greenspaces in West Atlanta neighborhoods.  

What is your vision of an ideal outdoor? 

My vision of the ideal outdoors is one that is representative of the rich, diverse heritage and cultures of our country. It’s not exclusive to any one group, and it is accessible to all who will journey to know and experience it.  It is one that honors the original inhabitants of the land as well as those who labored on the land by force or by choice to produce prosperity for the masses (that often didn’t include them). The ideal outdoors is one of unlimited connections and opportunities for kinship, stewardship, teaching and learning, exploration, healing, and joy. It’s a place where everyone can see themselves, where everyone can be themselves, where we all feel welcomed, and where we all are at home.