So many children and teens never have the chance to venture out of their urban environments. We fund scholarships to programs that awaken kids' enthusiasm and curiosity about the natural world and run our own programs each season. To learn more about our work or find out how to sign up your child, go to the "Our Work" section listed above.

Check us out on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MatthewPotelFoundation/  

The Matthew Potel Foundation

stands with Black Lives Matter against injustice

The outdoors should be space for all to breathe, run, reflect, birdwatch, and explore safely. Yet racial inequality affects all aspects of our lives- including the outdoors. There is a pervasive idea that the outdoors doesn’t discriminate, that the barriers of other spaces don’t exist in our public lands, yet, in fact, there are countless instances of people of color feeling unsafe, unwanted, and uncomfortable in outdoor spaces. People like Christian Cooper, an African American man who was birdwatching and harassed in Central Park, Ahmaud Arbery, who was shot down while jogging, and the many other folx who share their experiences in this article encountered barriers to enjoying the outdoors because of their race.

The Matthew Potel Foundation stands in firm solidarity against racism and injustice. We also recognize that while the children we serve truly represent the diversity of New York City, the leaders and many of the supporters of our work are white and there is underrepresentation in leadership by people of color.

We are working to change that. Collaborating with foundations like The Fresh Air Fund allows us to help ensure that black, indigenous, and people of color are in the leadership positions they should be in, mentoring youth from their own communities that share pieces of their identities. However, we want to do more than solely partner with organizations that reflect our values. We want to cultivate a diverse group of leaders for our organization. We are working on writing our first 3- year- strategic plan, detailing how we plan to expand programming in the next couple of years,and integrate diversity initiatives to ensure the future generations we serve are represented and feel seen and heard by our leadership. This strategic plan will be publicly available, and we appreciate the involvement and suggestions of our constituents in forming it. 

Your thoughts are always welcome. In the meantime, our volunteer executive board is working to educate themselves on injustice, particularly in recreation, and come up with a tool box to better serve the communities we work with. We also want to elevate other organizations doing important work in the outdoors- organizations pioneered by and for people of color, organizations like Outdoor Afro, Diversify Outdoors, and the Blackpackers. 

The Matthew Potel Foundation is a small, volunteer- run organization, but we want to do our part in ensuring racial equality. During these unprecendented times, every little act can make a big difference. We are dedicated to standing with BLM and backing our words with actions. Let’s make the outdoors for all. 

Matthew Potel Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Donations are tax-deductable in the United States. Our Tax ID number is 46-1145993.