Wild Ideas Worth Living | Interviews On Adventure, Outdoors, Travel, Health, Fitness, Running, Business, Surfing, Exploring

Rue’s Wild Idea: To start a movement that celebrates diversity, and helps gets more people outside and connected in nature. Rue Mapp is a true force of nature. The activist, nature-lover, and mom of three founded Outdoor Afro as a blog in 2009 and has since grown it to become the nation’s leading nonprofit network that encourages African-American leadership in nature. With nearly 80 leaders in 30 states around the country, the organization has connected thousands of people to outdoor experiences, changing the conversation around who plays outside. Diversity in the outdoors is a hot topic these days, especially at the Outdoor Retailer show where we did this interview. Rue’s voice is a valued leader in the conversation. Outdoor Afro started as something small and personal to Rue, but has grown and become incredibly influential in the outdoor arena. Rue herself has been invited to the White House to participate in the America’s Great Outdoors Conference and was part of a think tank for Michelle Obama’s Let’s Mov