Outdoor Afro celebrates our “Year of Innovation” during 2024. Reimagining the possibilities in year-round programming and campaigns to continue to reconnect more Black people and Black communities to land, water, and wildlife. Tying into this year’s theme, we’re uplifting one of the original conservation champions who invented systems and services that still benefit our collective nature needs today. This year we uplift George Washington Carver. The originator of regenerative agriculture. Outdoor Afro volunteer leaders are able to guide more than 60,000 community participants annually in nature activities nationwide because of pioneers like Carver. He thought big to reinvent outdoor spaces – distinctly in farming culture. Scroll to learn how he became the architect of hundreds of products, and how you can tap into his genius ideas and inventions throughout this year.

Mirroring Carver’s gift to innovate in nature, Outdoor Afro’s nearly 100 selected and trained volunteer leaders curate and guide avant-garde adventures through our Volunteer Leader Program. This program includes networks that span 60 cities and 32 states, including Washington, D.C. Through our volunteer leaders’ monthly network activities (ex: foraging, biking, gardening, bird watching, fly fishing, and horseback riding), U.S. communities are able to strengthen relationships to their environments. Volunteers also share local Black history and uncover the contributions of our culture’s unsung pathfinders. Each volunteer provides thousands of nature lovers and new neighborhood explorers with modern wilderness, recreation, and life-saving skills; safe, appropriate gear and equipment; free or discounted access to private outdoor spaces; and access to civics information to help take care of the public and everyday spaces we love.