Outdoor Afro’s communications director wins first-place awards at Outdoor Writers Association of America
Candace Dantes, Outdoor Afro’s first in-house communications director, won in two writing award categories during Outdoor Writers Association of America’s (OWAA) annual conference. The wins took place in Gulf Shores, Alabama, Sept. 9, through Sept. 11, 2023. The veteran award-winning journalist and marketer garnered first-place outdoor industry awards in the “Blog, Gear/Technical Contest” for her original digital feature “Made Together: Outdoor Afro + REI Co-op” and “Open Contest” for Outdoor Afro’s 2022 annual report titled “Year of Operations.” “What a homecoming experience these awards are for me,” said Dantes, 39, originally from Milledgeville, Georgia. “I’m deep-rooted in the Georgia Black Belt Region. Where good-old front porch storytelling and community fellowshipping are just a natural part of Southern culture.”
Dantes made history for the national not-for-profit organization – earning the brand’s first communications awards as a OWAA member. She joined OWAA during June 2022. Outdoor Afro at the end of 2021 to elevate its strategic communications direction. As its only full-time newsroom staff, Dantes leads the organization’s Marketing & Communications Department. Within a year, she rebranded Outdoor Afro’s site and social presence. Continues to re-educate digital audiences and the general public about the brand’s nature and community work. Her department contributes to organizational programming by using 21st-century traditional and new media approaches. Increasing brand awareness and online engagement.
Dantes also travels across the United States to capture Outdoor Afro stories, shifting the visual representation of what Black joy looks like in the outdoors. Year-round Dantes launches national Outdoor Afro marketing campaigns like its Black History Month series, Juneteenth commemoration, Making Waves swim program, and Glamp Out fundraiser. In between this year’s social activations and storytelling projects, Dantes served as a first-time judge of trade show Outdoor Retailer’s 13th annual Inspiration Awards in Salt Lake City, Utah. Right before that, Dantes became a 2023 “Black Women in Food” honoree. Cuisine and beverage agency Dine Diaspora recognized 31 innovative women throughout the African Diaspora. Dantes in the “Amplifiers Category” for her contributions to Georgia Black Belt farming narratives of U.S. Department of Agriculture grant project Black Farmers’ Network.
A year prior, nonprofit Women of the West named Dantes 2022 “Journalist of the Year” at the National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas. That same year, Dantes and her brother, certified arborist Edward Morrow, were both featured farmers in Ebony Magazine for its “Queen Sugar” finale coverage. A product of centennial farmland in Baldwin County, Georgia, the fourth-generation farmer and cowgirl has spent childhood to adulthood horseback riding, rodeoing, and gardening. Dantes’ editorial portfolio aligns with her lifestyle, primarily devoted to Southern-based, rural farming communities.
By way of Outdoor Afro, she has been able to leverage her agricultural upcoming and multigenerational experiences to develop interdisciplinary content that links outdoor, travel, and tourism industries. Researching, testing, and writing about modern agribusiness and agritourism possibilities for producers in a now digital economy. Prior to Outdoor Afro, Dantes worked in both higher education and local newspapers. She held posts as editor and publications specialist at both Columbus State University and Georgia College & State University. Digital contributor of Georgia’s legal organ, Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In both industries, the Georgia State University print journalism grad won first-place awards with Georgia Press Association in hard news and feature writing. Subsequent awards with the Council for Advancement and Support of Education in “Best Articles of the Year,” “Publication Writing,” “Video Script Writing,” and “Publication Rendering for Mobile Technology.”
Overseas, she joined London’s Black Beauty & Hair Magazine as a beauty writer and style consultant on a Black cowhand campaign for advertising agency M&C Saatchi. She’s collaborated with brands Justin Boots, Wrangler, and Durango Boots. Most recently, worked as content creator for REI Co-op and Cotopaxi. Publications Cowboys & Indians, Cowgirl Magazine, Outdoor Retailer’s The Daily, and Travel Weekly have featured Dantes. She’s helped rural Georgia farmers garner earned media with major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Nation, Thrillist, and CNN.
With OWAA, she’s a member of travel outfits Wanderful and Future of Black Tourism. Serves as a communications adviser for America the Beautiful for All Coalition and is a committee member of Blue Sky Funders Forum. For nearly 100 years, OWAA has helped educate, inspire, and share best practices to outdoor creatives. Dantes now helps magnify its mission. “It’s been one heck of a rodeo ride with Outdoor Afro successes,” said Dantes. “As long as I’m able to document our relationships to land, water, and wildlife for newer generations to find inspiration, I’ll continue to put my best boot forward.”
ABOUT OUTDOOR AFRO: Outdoor Afro is a national not-for-profit organization that celebrates and inspires Black connections and leadership in nature. What started as a kitchen table blog by Founder and CEO Rue Mapp in 2009 has since grown into a cutting-edge nationwide network with 100-plus volunteer leaders in 60 cities, with network participation reaching 60,000 people. Outdoor Afro reconnects Black people with the outdoors through outdoor education, recreation, and conservation. Follow Outdoor Afro @outdoorafro and outdoorafro.org.
Outdoor Afro commemorates Juneteenth through 2023 'Freedom to Access Water' theme
Black community connections to local waterways aren’t always the easiest conversations or experiences to navigate across nationwide neighborhoods. “When we look specifically at access to public swimming pools, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention research persistently shows that the drowning rate of Black children is more than 7.6 times that of white children,” said Rue Mapp, Founder and CEO of national not-for-profit organization Outdoor Afro. The statistic ties to the historic prohibition of Black entry onto beaches and into public pools.
To change the course of this particular water woe, Outdoor Afro centers its third annual Juneteenth (June 19) theme on “Freedom to Access Water” – coupling the federal holiday with the organization’s fifth annual Making Waves program. Launching right after Juneteenth, Making Waves’ goal is to teach up to 1,000 Black children and their caregivers how to swim within Outdoor Afro’s sphere of influence. On June 19, Outdoor Afro will extend its nature invitation to U.S. communities, which is simply to join the organization outside to commemorate Juneteenth. Preferably near water sources people enjoy visiting individually or with family and friends. To rest. Reflect. Heal in the outdoors for 2.5 hours.
“We want to stay fixed on the true essence of Juneteenth at Outdoor Afro,” said Mapp. “The false narrative is that this holiday symbolizes a celebration to ending slavery; however, this label just isn’t accurate.” Instead, June 19, 1865, documents the date 250,000 enslaved Black Americans in Galveston, Texas, were told they were free. Good news, indeed. The only problem: Enslaved people received the announcement 2.5 years after the Emancipation Proclamation (signed Jan. 1, 1863) went into effect.
Outdoor Afro uses its community and nature work to educate the general public about the correct meaning behind Juneteenth and how significant freedom and time – in its many interpretations – is to everyone. Outdoor Afro’s National Program Director Chaya Harris leads the organization’s Making Waves program. She matches families and individuals with select sites that offer swim lessons through the program. “We’re asking the public, supporters, partners, and our local networks to spend just 2.5 hours in nature on Juneteenth,” said Harris. “It’s a great way to focus on Making Waves and reach our 1,000 Swimmership goal with a new generation of confident swimmers and swim instructors.”
ABOUT OUTDOOR AFRO: Outdoor Afro is a national not-for-profit organization that celebrates and inspires Black connections and leadership in nature. What started as a kitchen table blog by Founder and CEO Rue Mapp in 2009 has since grown into a cutting-edge nationwide movement with 100-plus volunteer leaders in 60 cities with network participation reaching more than 60,000 people. Outdoor Afro reconnects Black people with the outdoors through outdoor education, recreation, and conservation. Follow Outdoor Afro at outdoorafro.org and @outdoorafro today. Illustrations by Dajah Callen.