Flyin Ryan Hawks Foundation

We want to make the world a better place: one person, one day, one event, one core value, one decision at a time.

Our mission is directed at changing individual lives by stimulating adventurers to engage in a deliberative “bottom-up" process of self-evaluation and stimulating individuals to develop, decide and share their personal core values.

Our three major programs (Decisions, Core Values Challenge, and Adventure Scholarship Awards) have all made a significant contribution to our mission.
“Core Values Matter;" core values that are self-imposed really matter.

Our Decisions Program is a four step process that starts with viewing a 14 minute video that illuminates the life of Ryan Hawks, a gifted freeride skier who lost his life in 2011 in a world tour competitive event. Two years before Ryan died, he composed his own set of core values, which we share with adventurers of all ages. This help viewers connect with the idea that core values are cool, and can serve as a foundation for attitude, which influences an individuals' daily decisions and goal-setting for the future.

Our initial pilot of the Decisions program for schools at South Burlington High School in Vermont has seen over 1200 participate. All students are required to write down their own core values, illustrate what they have written with pictures, and create a presentation which they subsequently give to an audience of peers. This program has repeatedly demonstrated that produces ownership, self-identity, and a sense of self-respect, not only for themselves but for the people around them. Two Vermont middle schools have also used the Decisions program, with more pilots in the works now.

The Core Values Challenge is a brief exercise which can be used by athletes, teams, corporate and other community settings to encourage individuals to compose and create their own personal declarations of their values. Students and adventurers of all ages are encouraged to record their own set of core values on an index card. Then they go to our website to get helpful hints and guidance about applying these principles to their lives. It has been piloted by coaches and teams affiliated with the International Freeride Ski and Snowboard Association, and at a financial services firm in Vermont.

We've also made over 100 Adventure Scholarship Awards, where we seek to encourage and support adventurers who align their lives with something about which they are profoundly passionate. The criteria for award: passion, expression of core values, and financial need. Our website profiles our Adventure Scholars and features hot links to their social media accounts.

We currently have about 25 organizations who have partnered with us, and who support what we do and what we stand for. These have extended our reach to many more communities of interest. They have also sponsored fund-raising events on our behalf, and supported specific programs we manage.

We have accepted numerous speaking engagements at athletic events, at schools, at ski areas, at ski and outdoor movies. We also have developed our outreach capacity via deploying a new website, sending out bimonthly email newsletters to subscribers, and posting content on numerous social media channels, including an active presence on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Our team includes a bookkeeper, IT coordinator, an operations manager and of course our all-volunteer Board of Directors.

* We have awarded over 100 Adventure Scholarships to youth to enable them to pursue their personal adventure.

* We have piloted the Flyin Ryan Decisions curriculum in 1 Vermont high school and 2 middle schools, with more to come.

* We have brought the Core Values Challenge to an international winter sports athletic federation, and piloted its application in a business.

Still ahead of us:

* Developing indicators and benchmarks to more clearly delineate individual and group outcomes of our engagement with students, athletes and adventurers of all ages.

* Developing the Decisions curriculum so it can be more readily adopted by teachers across Vermont and the US.

* Finding other ways to broaden the impact and reach of Core Values.