We are pleased to share Rue Mapp as our Conservationist of the Year! This award is one of our highest honors and is shared at our Annual Meeting & Dinner each November.

Rue Mapp is the Founder and CEO of Outdoor Afro, a national not-for-profit that celebrates and inspires Black leadership in nature. What started as a blog became a powerful movement connecting tens of thousands of people annually in over 70 U.S. cities through guided hikes, conservation efforts, and outdoor experiences rooted in joy, culture, and belonging. She also launched Outdoor Afro Inc., a for-profit brand designing culturally relevant outdoor gear in partnership with companies like REI.

Rue was not able to join us in November, but shared the below video. We look forward to celebrating with her at Roots & Resilience on March 5! We hope to see you there.

Thank you Katie, and thank you to The Trustees. I’m honored to accept this recognition. I wish I were there with you tonight, but I look forward to the opportunity to connect with many of you in Boston next spring. When I return from my break, it really means so much to be recognized, especially in your region where Outdoor Afro has had the chance to have a presence and to get so many people reconnected to the outdoors. I’m especially energized by your new strategic plan for everyone forever, and I’m excited to have other organizations joining us in our efforts to connect people with nature. So outdoor Afro is where black people and nature meet, and we celebrate and inspire black connections and leadership in nature. Black people have always had a relationship with nature, and through education, recreation and conservation, our volunteer leaders continue to grow, redefine, and reclaim that rich tradition.

I can’t tell you enough about how important it is right now just to have nature as the ultimate open source platform to connect people in nature now more than ever. Across our difference and the power of being in nature with not only your community, but to also to connect with others. And so today, you can find our local networks in 32 states now, including Massachusetts, and the trustees is committed to protecting the places where both nature and people thrive. And outdoor. Afro is committed to filling those natural spaces with black joy. So many trustee properties have also been the backdrop for our local events. So thank you. I mean, from celebrating Juneteenth with a hiking trip at Bartholomew Cobble to experiencing winter lights at the Bradley Estate to leadership events at Rocky Woods. Together in those places and more, we are changing the visual representation of who gets outside and connecting black people with joy of nature everywhere. So thank you so much for everything you do. I am very, very grateful for this honor.