Our Impact
Every June, we engage the outdoors community in a hiking fundraiser that directly aids communities of color in combating oppression, meeting basic financial needs, and reducing barriers to outdoor access.
We do this by providing unrestricted grants to up to three Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC)-led racial justice organizations per year, especially (but not exclusively) New England-based organizations. The organizations we fund go through an application process and are carefully selected by our Board of Directors.
The Summits in Solidarity annual fundraiser runs from June 1st to July 15th, with an official Hike Day on the last Saturday in June. The proceeds will help fund up to $40,000 in grants to our community partners as well as support our other Summits in Solidarity program and administrative costs. We are a volunteer-led organization and work to keep costs as low as possible so that we can put more money back into the community.
This campaign is a unique way for those who hold white and other forms of privilege—privileges that allow us to hike and recreate outdoors—to use that privilege to reduce others’ barriers to the outdoors, so we can all experience joy and healing in Nature.
This year, we are raising funds for…
Maine Association for New Americans
#WEOUTSIDE 2023 participants
Maine Association for New Americans (MANA) is an immigrant-led organization dedicated to promoting social empowerment, reducing mental health stigma, and addressing racial equity and health disparities among immigrant communities in Maine. MANA will use Summits in Solidarity’s grant to support their outdoor youth-based program, which de-stigmatizes the presence of communities of color in Maine and promotes the outdoors as a common space for new Mainers. They will also use our grant to provide outdoor gear to their community, partner with BIPOC guides to lead hikes, visit sites affected by global warming, and participate in nature walks, hikes, and clean up efforts with the Maine Appalachian Trails Land Trust.
Latino Outdoors Boston
Latino Outdoors Boston members on a ski tour funded by SiS
Latino Outdoors Boston (LO Boston) is a local chapter of the national organization Latino Outdoors. LO Boston connects Latinx community members of the Greater Boston area with outdoor spaces. They address barriers to outdoor access by offering free, language-based, family-friendly outings, such as kayaking, climbing meetups, hiking, camping, and more—-all run by Latinx volunteer leaders.
We previously funded LO Boston with a $20,000 grant in Summer 2023, which the organization immediately put to use. They ran winter activities with Willard Mountain Guides, More Women+Surf, and Inclusive Ski Touring, purchased hiking poles and microspikes for member use, and even ran two surfing events—the first LO chapter in the nation to do so! We had such a positive experience partnering with this group that our board unanimously voted to support them again this year.
With the funds raised in 2024, LO Boston will add backpacking trips, leader skills trainings, educational events, and more. They will also expand access to transportation and gear for underserved communities.
In June 2023, we raised $40K for…
Black Lives Matter Seacoast
Black Lives Matter Seacoast is a NH organization which aims to dismantle anti-Blackness, fight against racial injustices, and end police brutality. The money we raise during our June hiking campaign will be used to provide critical financial aid to Black residents of NH. BLM Seacoast supports the Black community through mutual aid projects, including rent and utility relief, food drives and scholarships. Our campaign will also support this organization’s work to nurture the Black community. For example, their Open Mic Nights provide a safe space for BIPOC youth and adults to share their stories, writings, and songs; their Youth Division provides young BIPOC with opportunities to socialize, network, and receive professional development. Our campaign will remove financial barriers for BIPOC teens to participate in the Youth Division’s hikes, beach trips, community service, and other activities.
Latino Outdoors Boston
Latino Outdoors Boston is a chapter of a national organization which aims to connect Latinx community members of the greater Boston Area with regional outdoor spaces. They seek to address barriers to access the outdoors for Latinx communities by offering free, language-based, family -friendly outings, such as kayaking, climbing meetups, hiking, camping, and more, all run by Latinx volunteer leaders. Our campaign will fund an overnight camping event in the New England region for members of Latino Outdoors. Any additional funds raised will help LO Boston further their mission to foster a collective outdoor movement and build community based on culture, identity, and love for the outdoors.
In 2022, we raised $35,342 with these donors for…
Restoration of Indigenous Place Names in NH’s White Mountains
A project to develop, create and install permanent signage at New Hampshire trailheads and mountain locations that reclaims and uplifts original Indigenous place names and associated history. This project will be carried out by Paul and Denise Pouliot in collaboration with IndigenousNH.
Mutual Aid to Relieve Financial Burdens for Black People in Need
Three programs focused on achieving equity for Black people in New Hampshire, carried out by Black Lives Matter Manchester NH. First, a Mutual Aid Relief Fund that helps to offset some of the pandemic’s financial burdens by covering utility and rent bills for Black residents in need. Second, the Black Students Matter Scholarship program, which gives out $1500 scholarships to Black students who are making a difference. Third, the Textbook Assistance Program. These three programs gave out over $20,000 in aid in 2021, but have stalled out after the donation frenzy surrounding the George Floyd and Breonna Taylor murders subsided. Please help us to resurrect these programs now, BEFORE another innocent Black person is killed on national news.
Image: Ronelle Tshiela (right), director of BLM Manchester, and Jordan Thompson (left), director of BLM Nashua, marching in protest of innocent Black lives lost to state-sanctioned violence.
*Summits in Solidarity also fundraised for Unfilter the Outdoors, but this group sadly closed its doors in 2022 due to lack of volunteer support. We split the money we raised for them between the two other recipient organizations.