Trail Blazer Camps
Building Values for Life
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
We create nature-based opportunities for youth to learn, grow, and prepare to thrive that are accessible to all, regardless of family income.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Summer Outdoor Camp Adventures
Our summer camp adventures emphasize spending time outdoors, developing environmental education and fostering stewardship, unplugging from technology, and social-emotional development as we connect to ourselves and our communities.
• At our 1000-acre property in Sussex County, NJ, Overnight Campers live in canvas shelters, build outdoor skills, increase environmental stewardship knowledge, and focus on leadership and personal growth. The highlight of the summer experience is Vagabond, an overnight backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail or Delaware River.
• At our Day Camps, young people connect to and learn about nature throughout NYC, including our parks, waterways. Small groups, international staff, natural exploration, and hands-on immersive learning distinguishes Trail Blazers from other programs.
After School
Trail Blazers After School utilizes environmental science and urban stewardship as the context through which elementary and middle-school students connect to our communities and develop critical skills that contribute to long-term success such as academic self-efficacy, collaboration, character, persistence and resilience, responsibility for ourselves and our community, and leadership. Through hands-on workshops, students explore topics including Community Environmental Mapping, Energy Use, Reduce/Reuse/Recycle, Animal Habitats, Animal Adaptations, Decomposition, Plant Life, Urban Gardening, Natural Resources, and Sustainability as it pertains to the local environments in which students live – reinforcing the concept that the "environment” is not just a distant forest but also right here in our parks, on our sidewalks, and in our homes and schools. With this understanding, students are motivated to steward our urban communities and empowered with the skills and knowledge to do so.
The Academy
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AGES 16-21, ROOTED IN EARN-TO-LEARN MODELS AND COHORT-BASED SUPPORT
Trail Blazers Academy offers young people comprehensive work-readiness experiences, including: training sessions, workshops, coaching, and real-world experience working at our day camp/after school. The early-career professionals who participate in this program develop transferable skills, knowledge, and network needed to succeed in the workplace.
Where we work
Awards
Excellence in Summer Learning Award 2006
National Summer Learning Association
American Camp Association of New York New Jersey Harold Breene Youth Education Award 2012
American Camp Association
External reviews
Photos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of children served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Children
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The pandemic required some programs to be paused, contributing to a slight decline in participation numbers after 2019
Number of youth who demonstrate that they have developed positive values
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Children
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
This number is a percentage. Due to COVID we did not track in 2020. We also saw a dip in 2021 as young people worked to manage to thrive in the midst of a pandemic world.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Trail Blazers' goal is to facilitate our participants' development along the following dimensions of growth:\r\n\r\n• Learning to Learn: academics, research, presentation, curiosity, and passion for learning\r\n\r\n• Being a Steward: environmental science literacy and stewardship values \r\n\r\n• Personal Growth/21st Century Skills: community, leadership, and responsibility, resilience, creativity, independence, initiative, empathy, and healthy risk (stepping out of comfort zones)\r\n\r\n• Being a Friend: social skills and values including compassion and empathy, citizenship, community, teamwork/collaboration\r\n\r\n• Being Healthy: health literacy, food choices, and active lifestyles\r\n\r\n• Learning to Survive: outdoor skills, knowledge, and values\r\n\r\nThese specific dimensions have been chosen for their demonstrated contribution to immediate personal growth and long-term adult success.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Trail Blazers utilizes several strategies proven to effectively facilitate youth development in both the short and long-term terms:\n\nOUTDOOR SETTINGS\nWe believe that going outside is the best way for youth to grow within. “Play in nature, particularly during the critical period of middle childhood, is an essential opportunity to develop the capacities for creativity, problem solving, and emotional and intellectual development," (Kellert, 2005). Furthermore, programs that use the environment as the integrating context tend to produce higher academic outcomes for participating students (Lieberman & Hoody, 1998). It is for this reason we often refer to our camp sites as our “outdoor classroom" and spend as much time possible outdoors in our after-school programs, enabling us to engage each child holistically: academically, physically, mentally, and socially.\n\nSMALL GROUPS\nEach of Trail Blazers' programs operates in small groups, producing a high staff-to-child ratio (approximately 1:4, depending on the program) that supports responsive programming, positive social-emotional development, peer learning, and positive relationships with invested adults.\n\nEXPERIENTIAL (HANDS-ON) LEARNING\nStaff are trained to seamlessly integrate hands-on learning opportunities throughout, encouraging curiosity and provoking critical thinking. Nature hikes are multi-part experiences where observations are researched in our libraries then presented to other campers. Experiments calculating water usage during long showers are math and problem-solving exercises.\n\nYOUTH VOICE and DECENTRALIZED DESIGN\nDeveloped by educator and Trail Blazers Executive Director Dr. L.B. Sharp, and used since 1929, our decentralized program model establishes a participatory environment where children actively develop their own program. Children are encouraged to explore their own interests and staff adapt programming in response. Deeply engaged and excited to learn, the curiosity and learning skills developed contribute to the development of academic self-efficacy.\n\nCHALLENGE and GOAL-SETTING\nWhether it is through a final community project or our multi-day backpacking Vagabond trip, both completed as a group, the lasting sense of accomplishment and the development of resilience contribute to a positive sense of self and sense of community.\n \nVALUE CATCHER©\nWe believe it is significant that youth themselves see the impact of their program and the progress they have achieved – helping them gain confidence in their own ability to grow, to learn, to achieve, and to be successful. Our Value Catcher© is a tangible representation of their growth and progress. Each camper chooses the value they will work on – their own “Value in Progress." Each Value has specific actions that demonstrate growth, the achievement of which earns a bead for their Value Catcher©. We can see in the pride with which they carry and display their Value Catchers© that our campers have gained confidence in their own abilities.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
HISTORY and LEADERSHIP\nTrail Blazers' 130-year legacy and thousands of children served stand as a time-tested testament to the efficacy of our programs. Ensuring that we continue effectively fulling our mission is team of Senior Staff who bring expertise, passion, and dedication: \n\n- Executive Director, Riel Peerbooms: \nPrior to his appointment at Trail Blazers, Riel worked as the Camp and Associate Director at Trade Winds Lake Camp, and worked for over 10 years in New York City high schools, teaching science and counseling students as a social work and a guidance counselor. Riel holds a BA in Biology Secondary Education from The Teacher's College of Utrecht, the Netherlands, as well as a MSW from Fordham University, specializing in Children and Families.\n\nOverseeing Trail Blazers' Executive Director and Senior Staff is Trail Blazers' Board of Trustees. The Board, some of of whom are alumni, is composed of professionals from a range of industries and have made a commitment to ensuring that Trail Blazers continues to fulfill its mission for generations to come.\n\nORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE\nLong-term fiscal stability remains a priority for the Board, Executive Director, and Development Director and we continually develop opportunities to diversify and increase organizational income. Furthermore, after five years of a shared-resources collaboration through which we combined back-end administrative work such as payroll and bookkeeping, we have embarked on an opportunity to expand this venture to other organizations and further optimize efficiencies, enabling us to dedicate more financial resources directly to programming.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Trail Blazers has shown remarkable stability and consistency over 130 years of programming. Its flagship summer program has withstood the test of time and its principles have now been applied to our portfolio of programs built around the central belief that going outside is the best way to grow within. Trail Blazers has positioned itself to expand, through programs that are proven to work and that have been finetuned for scale and replicability. Our goal for the next 5 years is stability through deliberate and carefully expansion within our current structure.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Trail Blazer Camps
Board of directorsas of 01/22/2024
Ms. Janell Wise
Mr Frank Nolan IV
Louis Milea
Erez Levin
Colleen Sebra
Alia Abbas
Priya Bajaj
Shay Bergman
Lyndon Braganza
Brandon Cooperman
Lucia Dempsey
Aoife Duna
Eamonn Johnston
Jacob Klein
Robert Schweitzer
Eric Smith
Jesse Kean
Madison Skinner
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/23/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.