People of Color Outdoors
$18,480  Coast Range   Willamette Valley 

The mission of People of Color Outdoors (POCO) is to use outdoor recreation and environmental education to provide Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) with a welcoming outdoors community that will help members create deep bonds with nature and ultimately find a way to contribute to the protection, restoration or caretaking of our beautiful natural spaces. We host 65-70 experiences per year in natural spaces, and we also host the POCO Guardians educational program for families with K-5th graders during winter, spring and summer breaks.

POCO offers a "bite" of different activities. POCO is made up of over 5,000 diverse BIPOC members, Their interests are diverse. Some have discovered a love of kayaking but are not interested in hiking, for instance. POCO partnered with the Oregon Boating Foundation to create a cohort of kayak leaders. POCO members spent a week in Newport, OR and received 40 hours of education, training and practicing in kayaks, first in a lake, and ultimately in the Yaquina Bay. POCO now has a team of volunteers that can safely lead our members during paddle events. With the help of the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW), POCO has gained a cohort of fishing leaders. Dr. Tia Ho, owner of Mindfulness Now, trained two different cohorts of mindfulness walk leaders. POCO is now proposing that we work with partners ODFW, Bird Alliance Oregon (fka the Audubon Society of Portland), and the National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) to train a cohort of BIPOC bird watching leaders.