WILDERNESS LEADERSHIP & LEARNING INC
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Mission Statement
WILL's mission is to provide diverse growth experiences and challenging learning opportunities to inspire and assist youth to make good decisions, become effective leaders, and achieve their goals.
About This Cause
WILL is a transformative holistic 12-month experiential learning, youth leadership and life skills development program for District of Columbia youth from underserved under-resourced neighborhoods. One of our goals is to launch WILL youth into a future that they could not imagine before they participated in the program, and to compliment traditional classroom education with high-quality, diverse experiential learning opportunities to develop inherent strengths, decision-making and leadership and life skills for students to learn and to be effective and successful as they move forward with their lives. A few recent significant WILL Outcomes and Accomplishments include: • 100% of WILL graduates have graduated from high school or are on track to do so. • 20 years of unleashing the potential of and positively impacting DC area youth from underserved/under-resourced neighborhoods • The retention rate for the 2023-2024 WILL class was 78% (50% is considered excellent for youth development programs). • The third-party analysis of the Pre-and Post-WILL year evaluation surveys completed by 2023-2024 WILL youth showed that they increased knowledge and understanding of WILL pillars and the subject matter of the pillars, including nutrition, cultural awareness, leadership, the ability to set SMART goals, and accountability, and the youth universally increased knowledge of fundamentals taught in WILL. Youth also demonstrated improved perceptions about themselves following completion of the WILL program. • 100% of the youth who graduated in the 2023-2024 WILL Class reported that they benefited from being in WILL/their WILL experience. • WILL has been in the Catalogue for Philanthropy (Spur Local) since 2012, as one of the best community-based nonprofits in the Greater Washington region (WILL is in the 2021-2022 print Catalogue). The words of a few 2023-2024 WILL youth provide the most compelling testament about WILL’s impact and what the WILL experience means to them: “I am grateful that WILL teaches us SMART goals. SMART goals are powerful tools to guide me on what I want to achieve and how to do it. SMART goals help me create goals that are coherent, focused, and attainable.” – Daymon “Thank you so much for the opportunity to be in the WILL Program. It is amazing what WILL did for me and does for all WILL youth. This experience was so beneficial for me. WILL is truly a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget.” – Norah “The word I choose to describe my WILL experience is incredible because of all the programs I have been involved with, none has provided the opportunities and done so many things as WILL does. I am eternally grateful that there is a WILL program and that I am part of it. I will never get to experience all I have done in WILL again. My experiences and memories are all precious to me.” – Daniel It is well documented that quality after-school programs like WILL improve social, developmental, and school outcomes (attendance, behavior, and grades), and contribute to healthy lifestyle options and decisions. WILL’s greatest strength is the four pillars that support and provide structure for the WILL curriculum/experience: • Leadership & Self-Empowerment: WILL encourages and provides the platform for individual leadership, self-esteem, and confidence growth to help WILL youth push beyond perceived limitations to increase their understanding and appreciation that each has the power and the ability to determine his/her life trajectory, to self-advocate, and to make decisions that lead to self-determination and self-sufficiency. • Critical Life Skills Development: WILL develops critical life skills, which are under-emphasized or not taught in school, such as financial literacy, accountability for behavior, communication skills, the importance of saying “please” and “thank you,” and how to make healthy wellness/nutrition decisions, set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) goals, and create action plans to achieve them. • Environmental Awareness & Stewardship: WILL helps teens become aware of the world around them and to be better stewards of the environment. • Cultural Awareness & Appreciation: WILL youth learn to be receptive to, to appreciate, and to respect diversity and differences in others (e.g., race, gender, religion, country of origin, sexual orientation, and beliefs), to be inclusive and to support equity. Intertwined with the pillars is the belief that empathy and compassion - caring about the world in which we live and caring for one’s fellow persons - are essential qualities to be an effective leader. During the WILL year, we provide social and emotional support for WILL youth and engage them in more than 335 hours (this past year it was 344 hours) of quality experiential activities that are designed to develop their inherent strengths and decision-making, and leadership and life skills. Among others, WILL programs include: a ropes course, environmental literacy and learning about biodiversity on the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF), learning about biases, diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice, nutrition and holistic wellness and learning skills to make healthy eating and hydration choices, music/cultural appreciation focused on Ukrainian and Americana cultures and music, a day at Mount Vernon, 3-day trip during spring break to a CBF environmental education facility on the Bay, a college admissions forum, service learning projects giving back to the community, financial literacy, CPR/1st Aid, resume writing and interview skills, a scavenger hunt on the National Mall (over half of the questions are in the National Gallery of Art), canoeing on the Anacostia River, 7-day backpacking, canoeing, caving, rock climbing, and rappelling Expedition in the Appalachian Mountains in southwestern Virginia, and WILL graduation. Integrated with these activities, WILL youth learn to set personal SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) goals and action plans to achieve those goals, monitor progress towards attaining their goals, and participate in small group discussions to provide constructive feedback on each other’s goals and action plans. Service learning is an integral part of the WILL experience, so that WILL youth learn and appreciate the importance of giving back to one’s community. We discuss with WILL youth that leaders give to others and to their communities. Each year, at least two WILL programs are service learning; one of which is focused on environmental awareness and stewardship. June 29, 2024, WILL youth had an inspiring day of service learning with the Anacostia Watershed Society near the Anacostia River at Bladensburg Waterfront Park. During their day of invigorating work, WILL youth cleared invasive growth that was choking 64 native trees recently planted, freeing these trees to be able to provide their numerous benefits for the Anacostia River Watershed. July 27, 2024, WILL Youth had a rewarding day of service at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Clagett Farm. WILL Youth harvested 2,986 pounds of yellow onions and prepared red onions for distribution by the Farm. Approximately 35% of the produce grown at the Farm is provided to the Capital Area Food Bank and other area food distribution centers. We regularly communicate with WILL graduates and typically gather with WILL alumni twice each year at the alumni holiday lunch and summer alumni picnic. A number of WILL alumni volunteer with program activities, attend fundraisers, provide program feedback, and mentor current WILL youth.