Movement Education Outdoors, founded in 2018, is a fiscally sponsored not-for-profit organization operating on Narragansett, Pokanoket, Nipmuc, and Wampanoag land. We work with youth and community organizations from Providence, Woonsocket, Central Falls, and Pawtucket to offer transformative outdoor experiences that center BIPOC joy, community, and knowledge. With a focus on eliminating barriers to access, MEO provides multiple access points for youth of color and of limited economic resources to experience wellness in an outdoor environment.
Movement Education Outdoors empowers Black, brown, and low-income youth in Rhode Island to connect to the land they live on and the communities they live in. Through land and water based learning experiences that center the knowledge, joy, and liberation of people of color, we guide young people in developing the tools they need to become leaders in their communities for transformative change towards environmental and racial justice.
Mission
MEO’s vision is that Black and Indigenous history, environmental justice, and mindfulness practices become common sense in all areas of education and that the outdoors can be a space where young people of color feel seen, valued, full of joy, and prepared with the skills they need to be leaders in their communities.
Vision
Youth participating in outdoor experiences with MEO will:
Feel belonging in outdoor spaces.
Practice self-care and healing through movement and mindfulness.
Learn about the Native nations and tribes whose land we move on.
Find joy in the natural world & its living beings.
Connect the histories of Black & Indigenous ancestors on this land to contemporary environmental injustices.
Become stewards of the land.
Build relationships, confidence, and community.
Be empowered as agents of positive environmental and social change in their communities.