Blair Adams, from Explore Austin, spoke to us about their program. They want to empower youth to reach potential through mentoring, leadership, and outdoor adventures. Blair told how outdoor activities can be expensive for kids from lower income families and open spaces in Austin are not easily accessible to such students as they are located in the west part of Austin and the students are usually living in the east part of Austin. Explore Austin was formed in 2006 to help alleviate this issue. First, they had a program only for boys, but started the girls’ program in 2011. There are 15 students in each group along with 5 mentors. It is a 6-year program starting after 6th grade during which the students learn about camping, navigating outdoors, canoeing, mountain biking, and rock climbing. They meet for one Saturday each month and then have a one-week trip in the Summer to implement what they learned that year. Right now, they have 266 explorers and 97 mentors in the program. The students are 94% Hispanic, Latino, and African American and 87% low income. 60% of them finish the 6-year program. Explore Austin has 12 full-time staff running the program, with their main fundraiser being a gala called Quest for the Summit – no black time for them – dress code is outdoor chic. Blair showed us a video with interviews from some of the explorers and mentors talking about what the program has meant to them. For more information go to exploreaustin.org.