Embark

Embark Outdoors is a 501c3 non-profit designed to empower refugee young women through outdoor education and sports, such as climbing, hiking, swimming, and camping. In addition to sports, we prioritize and incorporate these elements of success:

Outdoor Sports & Education - Our outdoor education program focuses on independence, and empowering our participants to share the outdoors with their community, therefore exponentially increasing access. While regularly climbing and organizing camping trips, we also incorporate special workshops in Wilderness First Aid, How to safely choose hikes and find trails, and environmental stewardship. To learn more about how our program works, check out our Year in Review

Therapy - Conscious conversations are woven into the fabric of our programming. The narrative of Embark is that we can rise above difficulty (physical, environmental, and cultural), and that we should challenge any situation which threatens to stand in the way of education, achievement, and our human rights as women.

These conversations are often organically born and cultivated with our team, and are continued under the guidance of our staff therapist. All Embark team members also have access to private therapy at no cost to the participant. 

Transportation - Embark’s dedicated staff members and volunteers provide transportation from our participant’s front doors to all Embark activities. 

Beyond that, we recognize that access to a vehicle is an important factor for our participants success as they find jobs and pursue college, yet the majority to not have access to a personal vehicle. In response to this, we have implemented our donate a car program! Through this program, you can make a tax-deductible donation of a vehicle that will be used specifically to help Embark participants access school, work, and important appointments.

Access to Higher Education - Embark is guided by the needs of our participants, and access to higher education is key to their success. We communicate with local colleges and Universities to understand what requirements our girls must meet for admission to these schools, and help them plan out how to get there. We also keep a running list of scholarships available to refugees.

Future Employment - Embark is a 2-year program, and we write letters of recommendation to all alumni who have shown they can tackle challenges, work as a team, and maintain great attendance and communication. We hope to create space for our young women in all industries. If you are a Utah-based hiring manager and wish to open your work environment to Embark alumni, please reach out! Contact us