I’ll Go If You Go Save the Redwoods League

In episode 5, host Emily Harwitz chats with Michelle Warren, the Vice President and Co-founder of Black Girls Trekkin Inc. (BGT). BGT is a Los Angeles based 501c3 nonprofit for Black women who choose to opt outside. BGT seeks to inspire and empower Black women to spend time outdoors, appreciate nature, and protect it. BGT is building a community that will show the world that Black women are a strong and present force in the outdoors. Emily and Michelle talk about BGT’s origin story, how to build and nurture community, and the importance of affinity spaces in the outdoors.

Michelle has a bachelor’s in marine biology and a master’s in biology with an emphasis on community-based conservation. She also has professional experience creating and facilitating nature-based programs for kids and adults.

Tiffany Tharpe, CEO and Co-Founder of BGT, was unable to make it for this podcast conversation, but we felt her presence nonetheless. Tiffany holds a BA in English and works as a Veterinary Assistant. She is passionate about this planet and the animals and plants that call it home, as well as building community and inspiring others to care for the planet. Her favorite outdoor activity is challenging herself to face her fears in the outdoors and trying anything at least once.

Visit Black Girls Trekkin’ website

Follow Black Girls Trekkin on Instagram

Follow I'll Go If You Go Podcast on Instagram


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Episode 4’s guest is Max Sovine (they/them). Max works at Queer LifeSpace, a San Francisco-based non-profit providing mental health services for the queer community, where they just launched the new project Outlandish! which will bring queer youth out into awesome parks and recreational areas in the Bay Area. Max has a master’s degree in Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). Drawing from their experiences as an outdoor educator, death doula, hospice volunteer, firefighter, and EMT, they focused on ways to confront and change the Western capitalist aversion to nature and death. Max also coordinates retreats at the Buddhist Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Host Emily Harwitz chats with Max about coming into oneself outdoors, what it means to be liminal, what the new Outlandish! program is doing, and more.


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Episode 3’s guest is Kathryn Luna who builds community and partnerships at the outdoors retailer Mountain Hardwear. She’s also on the Board of Directors at GirlVentures, a non-profit that inspires girls to lead through outdoor adventure, inner discovery, and collective action. Host Emily Harwitz talks to Kathryn about her relationship to the outdoors, including: starting young, the safety of exploring in community, and passing that on to others through the work she’s doing now. They also chat about coming from mixed cultural backgrounds and what we can learn from nature’s ecotones—where two ecosystems meet to mix and blend.

Links:

GirlVentures: https://www.girlventures.org/ 

Kathryn Luna’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kllunaa

Kathryn Luna’s website: https://www.kathrynluna.com/

IGIYG’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/illgoifyougopod/





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In episode 2, Host Emily Harwitz chats with Monica Binetti and Erin Closmore about how they started the hiking community Bay Area Galventures, beginning with Monica overcoming her fear of the outdoors and her dear friend Erin moving back to the Bay Area. Amongst the redwood trees, Monica has discovered that she is more than her corporate job, 2 kids, and busy city life—she is connected to herself and Mother Nature, and believes that everyone deserves to find their own personal connection with the outdoors just like she did. Erin is a nature enthusiast who adores dogs and is always looking to try the next best vegetarian food spot. Together, Monica & Erin are the co-creators of @bayarea.galventures, an Instagram page dedicated to inspiring others to explore the natural beauty of California and beyond.


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In the season 3 premiere, host Emily Harwitz (she/her) chats with Alanna Smith (she/her) about Alanna’s evolution as a conservationist and finding her niche within the conservation movement. Alanna is the Parks Program Associate at Save the Redwoods League, where she focuses on facilitating equitable public access to redwood parks. Passionate about building community in the outdoors, she co-leads the newly formed Northern California chapter of Conservationists of Color. Find Alanna on Instagram at @lannafsmith.


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We’ve explored many ways to play in the redwoods this season. What resonates most, beyond any single activity, is the relationships formed and fortified—with one another, with the outdoors, and with one another in the outdoors. In this season’s finale, beneath the redwoods in Oakland, Grace Anderson (she/her) and Mo Asebiomo (they/she) embody Black joy (spontaneous laughter alert!), the expansive meaning of playing outside (cloud watching or an adrenaline-pumping bike ride, choose your own adventure), and the powerful affirmation that comes from affinity and resilient friendships. Let’s play!


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