Latino Outdoors (Fiscal Sponsor: Community Initiatives)

Latino Outdoors is a national organization with a strong presence in New Mexico. Since 2018 LO New Mexico has hosted upwards of 1,000 participants of which 44% were youth. Our mission is to inspire, connect, and engage Latino communities in the outdoors and embrace cultura y familia as part of the outdoor narrative, ensuring our history, heritage, and leadership are valued and represented. Latino Outdoors (LO) is part of a growing movement of inclusivity in outdoor recreation conservation and equitable access to nature. We envision a world where all Latino communities enjoy nature as a safe, inclusive, and welcoming place – a world with an active community of Latino outdoor recreators, mentors, and stewards. Our overall purpose is to address the various barriers to access nature for Latinx communities so that we can enjoy public lands and benefit from the various mental and physical health benefits associated with time spent outdoors. Our three flagship programs work to diversify outdoor recreation, outdoor leadership, and outdoor narratives. Vamos Outdoors, (Let’s Go Outdoors) is our outing program. This program is run by our volunteer leaders and is centered on fostering Latinx communities’ outdoor engagement through group outings. Activities are free with a focus on being family-friendly. We find that when families recreate together, parents gain the skills to access nature independently leading to more outdoor exposure for youth. Our outings provide free access to specialized gear such as snowshoes or tents and often provide transportation. Our volunteer leaders are culturally relatable role models for outdoor recreation and experts in building community among the participants. They teach skills, impart outdoor know-how and make sure that participants feel safe bringing their whole identity with them on the trail. Our outings include day hikes, birding, biking, camping, and just about every outdoor activity you can think of. Recent LO New Mexico outings include overnight rafting on the Rio Grande, birding in the Bosque del Apache, and day hikes in the Sandia Foothills. Our program is primarily powered by volunteer outdoor leaders working in conjunction with the national staff and a local LO New Mexico program coordinator. This coordinator position provides our organization additional bandwidth and allows for increased programming and increased number of participants served in the region. We project a local programming coordinator to be onboarded in the New Mexico region in early 2024.