Every kid deserves a childhood outside.
The Willowmoor Foundation funds the programs, places, and research that connect young people with the natural world — starting in the Pacific Northwest.
How We Work Get in TouchChildhood is moving indoors.
As cities grow, the wild edges of childhood shrink. Three forces are pulling kids away from the natural world — and the kids with the least access are losing the most.
Nature is farther away
Urbanization keeps reducing the amount of natural environment within close reach of the places kids actually live, learn, and play.
Access isn't equal
At-risk youth face the steepest barriers to time outdoors — cost, transportation, and proximity all stand between them and the woods.
Screens are winning
Technology competes relentlessly for young attention, and unstructured time outside is what gets traded away.
We invest where childhood meets the outdoors.
Our theory of change is simple: put more meaningful outdoor time within reach of more kids. Every dollar we deploy works toward one of three ends.
Programs
Backing organizations that get kids outside — outdoor preschools, camps, and youth programs that turn time in nature into a formative part of growing up.
Places
Creating more — and better — natural environments in close proximity to urban youth, so the outdoors is a walk away rather than a world away.
Proof
Funding research that strengthens the evidence base for youth-nature connection and sharpens our strategy — and the field's.
How we deploy capital
A flexible toolkit, built for partnership with public, private, and non-profit organizations.
- Grants — direct support for programs and organizations doing proven work connecting youth with nature.
- Direct investments — capital for projects that expand outdoor access, from land to facilities to new ventures.
- Fiscal sponsorships — infrastructure for promising early-stage efforts that aren't yet ready to stand alone.
Good company in the field.
Organizations whose work exemplifies the youth-nature connection we exist to grow.
Interested in partnering? We'd love to hear what you're building.
Let's get more kids outside.
Whether you run a program, steward a place, or study what time in nature does for young people — we want to know you.