Inspiring Connections Outdoors

ICO: Inspiring Connections Outdoors

Program Goals

  • Actively engage people in the outdoors through outdoor activities, including backpacking, car camping, canoeing, kayaking, hiking, rafting, service projects, skating, skiing, sledding, etc

  • Promote appreciation and protection of the natural environment through outdoor adventures and environmental education;

  • Create opportunities through outdoor experiences for personal growth and life style change, outdoor skills and leadership development; and foster respect of self, others, and the environment.

Our 50 volunteer-run ICO groups nationwide conduct more than 900 outings for approximately 14,000 participants each year. By introducing participants to the transformative power of nature, ICO serves a key function within the Sierra Club and supports John Muir's assertion that people who experience wilderness firsthand are much more likely to preserve it for future generations.

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Testimonials

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"It was a simple decision for me, choosing the Community Team Works activity with a description of white water rafting, conservation education, and quality time with children from schools inside our city. This description appealed to me above all others—not simply because it offered a community service experience that sounded more like a vacation, but because it offered a deep and direct interaction with the subject of our service. This very interaction allowed this trip to surpass my expectations and allowed me to leave a better person than I arrived." -Jillian, Goldman Sachs    Read Jillian's full story here

"[On my trip] we were restoring trails….and it was a huge accomplishment when we were done. I feel that this experience changed my life because now I am more interested in wilderness and want to preserve it. It is going to be up to my generation to preserve it for the future."
Check out his YouTube video about how Chicago ICO and National Outings trip experiences!
—Leopaldo Hernandez, Chicago participant, soon to be leader.

 

"Sharing the beauty of nature with someone for the first time and seeing the smile on their face is the best feeling. It really inspires me when young people from our participant groups become involved with ICO to help share their experiences with others and become amazing trip leaders."
Watch his video.
—Vinny Abeygunawardena, ICO Raft Guide and Leader

From our Blog

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13 hours 35 min ago
At age 80, Vicky Hoover has worn through many pairs of hiking boots since 1967 when she took her first outdoor hiking trip with the Sierra Club. She found out about the Club while car camping in Death Valley with her then husband. She recalls, as an East Coast girl from Washington, D.C., their...
Welcome Mabari Byrd!
18 hours 16 min ago
Welcome Mabari Byrd to the Sierra Club Family! Mabari joins the Sierra Club Outdoors team as the Delaware Watershed Community Coordinator, based in Philadelphia. He'll facilitate activities that connect Philly youth and military / veteran communities to the Delaware River watershed through outdoor...
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1 month 1 week ago
By Lornett Vestal and Matthew NicholsIt’s fitting that America’s most famous wilderness guide, Sacajawea of the Lemhi Shoshone tribe, was a woman of color. But it’s also tragic that throughout American history, ethnic minorities have so often been underrepresented or intentionally excluded from the...
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READ MORE ON OUR BLOG