Destinee Stewart meets with Belonging in Nature team

The first interview we conducted for the Social Innovation Program was with Destinee Stewart, a filmmaker, hiker, and organizer. Destinee, who began to spend more time outdoors around the beginning of the pandemic, told us how hiking had transformed her life - as well as the fact that she saw nearly no BIPOC people on the trails she was hiking. Destinee joined Black Girls Trekkin', an organization that helps Black women find a place on the trails in the largely white-dominated hiking culture. She also works for Outward Bound Adventures, a nonprofit organization that aims to get kids from low-income BIPOC communities out in nature through various outdoor programs. Destinee discussed the challenges of entering the largely white camping and hiking community and shared with us multiple examples of racism, both subtle and blatant, that she and others had encountered outdoors. She also discussed how, due to the right camping equipment generally costing an exorbitant amount of money, camping is generally less of an option for low-income families, and told us “nature shouldn’t have a price tag.” We are hugely grateful to Destinee for taking time out of her day to talk with us and we’re excited to continue exploring the topics she introduced to us.

Written by Lucy ‘26