About Geography of Hope

Our Mission

Geography of Hope is a non-profit organization that seeks to connect young people with the wilderness, a setting that has always embodied hope, challenge and growth for Americans. We believe that providing opportunities for talented young people from our cities to explore and meet the challenges of the wilderness will help them grow as individuals and as leaders. In addition, these young will be able to broaden their horizons, raise their goals to new heights, and build the skills and confidence to improve their lives and communities.

Geography of Hope's History

Geography of Hope stemmed from a conversation in the summer of 1996 between Christopher Mann and Tom Michael regarding how they could pass on to young people the rewarding wilderness experiences that they had had as teenagers.

Over the next year, ideas were transformed into reality with the support of several friends. Geography of Hope was incorporated as a California non-profit in December 1997, and the organization received a generous initial grant to get the program rolling in late 1997.

The year1998 was spent on administrative items, such as the paperwork and legal details for filing for 501(c)3 public charity status with the IRS, arranging proper insurance, and developing program procedures. This work was far from the wilderness that they loved, but it was an important part of their journey in creating an organization that would really work and make a difference.

In the summer of 1999, GOH gave grants to two outstanding young people and arranged for them to go on great wilderness education programs with The Road Less Traveled in Colorado and Wyoming. These two brave pioneers - Kenanna Hawkins and Jorah Ivy - reminded us why we went through all the paperwork in 1998. They came back bursting with stories about good times and great adventures. Each story was accompanied by stacks of pictures of beautiful places. More importantly, Jorah and Kenanna came back from their programs with new skills, broader perspectives and deeper understandings of their world. We saw this in a simple conversation with them, and teachers and other adults saw it in the way they acted and changed their communities.

In the summer of 2000, we expanded to giving grants to five new participants: Evita Castro, Luis Zepeda, Lorena Nelson, Doris Garcia and Yasmin Navarro. The Summer 2000 participants went hiking, climbing, rafting and canoeing in some of the most beautiful wilderness areas in the country. They went on wilderness programs with The Road Less Traveled in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming, Pacific Crest Outward Bound in the Sierra Mountains of California, and Voyager Outward Bound in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota.

In the coming years, we look forward to meeting outstanding young people with an interest in the wilderness.

Who is Geography of Hope?

Geography of Hope is a California non-profit corporation and a public charity under the Federal Internal Revenue Code.

Geography of Hope was founded in 1997 by a group of friends. Each of us grew up taking trips to the wilderness with our family, friends and through wilderness education programs. We look back on these experiences as some of our best memories and most valuable learning experiences. We believe that experiences in the wilderness are extremely valuable for young people, and Geography of Hope is our commitment to making these experiences available to all young people.

Christopher Mann is a founder and the President of Geography of Hope. He attended Outward Bound as a teenager and after college, before becoming an outdoor education instructor and ski guide. He is also a Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician and a high school swim coach. Chris is always sneaking out of the office to go hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, skiing or some other outdoor activity. His next major outdoor project is to complete hiking the 2600-mile Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada (he has already hiked more than 800 miles of it).

Brian Forster is a founder and the Vice-President of Geography of Hope. He grew up hiking, fishing and hunting in the Pacific Northwest. He joins his father and brother for trips to some of the prettiest wild streams, rivers and lakes on Earth, in a never-ending competition to catch a bigger fish. Normally a very practical businessman, watch Brian carefully around any cliffs above lakes and rivers where this former college diver is likely to put on a show.

Skye McQueen is a founder and the Secretary of Geography of Hope. Skye believes strongly in connecting with the outdoors, and has hiked through many parts of Northern and Southern California, as well as through much of Oregon. Skye also enjoys, and currently spends her summers, biking in northern New York and swimming in the Atlantic Ocean.

Brett Johnson is a founder and the Treasurer of Geography of Hope. Some of his fondest childhood memories are those of escaping from the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles to the mountains of the west. Much of his youth was spent hiking, backpacking, camping and skiing. While currently tied to his desk in the corporate world, he enjoys escaping to the numerous national forests and parks in the Pacific Northwest on summer weekends, as well as getting in as many skiing days as possible during the winter.

Anne Lester is a founder and Director of Geography of Hope. Anne has lived in the city all her life, but relishes escaping to the calm of the outdoors, whether in the mountains of Colorado or the beaches of the Great Lakes, Cape Cod or California. Currently, her passion is for long distance running, something that allows her to get outdoors on a daily basis. She completed the Chicago marathon in 1999, and plans to run another in 2001. Anne firmly believes that integrating an experience of the wilderness into one's life helps to foster a sense of self-understanding, as well as a personal connection to something larger than ourselves.

Eric Bergerson is a founder and Director of Geography of Hope. Eric spent all of his better childhood and teenage years up in the lake country pine forests of Northern Minnesota, where he learned firsthand the magic and beauty of the wilderness. Today, he lives in San Francisco and gets out to the Sierra Nevada Mountains as often as he can.

Tom Michael is a founder and Director of Geography of Hope. An alumnus of both Outward Bound and the National Outdoor Leadership School, Tom spends as much time as possible in the mountains, in the desert, or on the water. He says one of the better months of his life was spent in a sea-kayak, chasing dolphins in Baja California.