EBCF is committed to creating a healthy and thriving East Bay. On issues ranging from education to racial equity and the environment, we collaborate with donors, peer foundations, and local leaders to seek innovative solutions to the complex challenges facing our communities. Our work includes longstanding partnerships that strengthen equity, opportunity, and student success across Oakland.
This story highlights one such partnership: how an EBCF donor is helping connect students to nature through Oakland Goes Outdoors (OGO), a community-powered model embedded within Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). Through the Kathryn and Robert Riddell Fund, along with several other donor-advised funds and event sponsorships, EBCF supports OGO’s mission and is happy to feature them in this local spotlight.
It’s a weekday morning in Oakland’s Dimond Park, and the hum of traffic fades as ninth graders from Life Academy gather along Sausal Creek. Wonder replaces noise; rest replaces hurry; deep breaths of fresh air replace the fluorescent drone of an indoor classroom.
Tranquil moments like these capture the essence of Oakland Goes Outdoors (OGO), a program transforming how Oakland youth learn and connect with the world around them. OGO’s mission is simple and bold: create more accessible and equitable opportunities for Oakland youth to spend quality time in nature during and beyond the school day.
A Community-Powered Model
In 2024 and 2025, OGO facilitated 268 nature-infused outings across 23 OUSD schools, reaching more than 6,200 students from kindergarten through 12th grade, and focusing especially on middle school students at a critical stage in their development.
OGO stands out as one of the few initiatives fully embedded within a public school district, uniquely able to connect schools, park agencies, outdoor providers, and local nonprofits in order to dramatically expand outdoor access to more students. It is community-powered by design: OUSD educators organize and lead the trips, and families, partners, and donors unite to make outdoor learning an essential part of public education for all students.
By removing persistent barriers like cost, transportation, gear, training, and coordination, OGO makes it possible for students, especially those historically underrepresented or excluded from outdoor spaces, to hike among redwoods, wade into the ocean, camp under the stars, and connect classroom learning to the living world – experiences that span dozens of breath-taking destinations across the Bay Area and leave a lasting impact.
“After our literacy program, this is the most important program our school has,” one middle school principal said.
OGO is now working to secure the long-term funding needed to make these experiences, and their far-reaching benefits, a permanent reality for Oakland’s public schools.
A Donor’s Vision, A Lasting Legacy
For DAF advisor and former East Bay resident Jim Riddell, this concept resonated deeply. Growing up in Berkeley, Jim spent countless hours exploring local parks and believed that every child deserved that same opportunity. When he and his sister, Cindy Dunham, assumed stewardship of their parents’ donor-advised fund, the Kathryn and Robert Riddell Fund, they sought a way to connect their family’s legacy of education and environmental giving with local impact.
“Our mother’s early focus was on preserving natural places,” Jim said, “but she came to see that lasting success depends on whether the next generation feels connected to these places. Cindy and I have always been deeply committed to sharing the enormous benefits of nature exposure, and we recognize that access is not equitably available.”
“OGO is an obvious win-win,” he added. “Students perform better, feel healthier, and build stronger relationships. They’re developing hands-on environmental literacy, learning to manage stress, and bringing those lessons home. The effects ripple out across entire communities, making outdoor learning one of the most effective and equitable investments we can make.”
Through their DAF, now housed at the East Bay Community Foundation, the Riddell family provided the startup support to launch OGO in 2018 and bring on foundational staff, including former OUSD teacher Jessica Oya, to help build the program. In 2024, their fund supported the hiring of Kaitlin Levenstrong, formerly a senior philanthropic advisor at EBCF, as OGO’s first Executive Director to help scale the model and secure more sustainable funding.
Why Investment Matters Now
The impact of OGO’s work is best heard in students’ own words. As one student put it simply, “When I go outdoors I feel good and calm, and I feel free.”
Yet access to these kinds of experiences is far from universal. Oakland students are growing up amid a youth mental health crisis, social and political upheaval, climate anxiety, and unequal access to parks and safe green spaces. Many of the schools OGO serves are in East and West Oakland neighborhoods where families face economic barriers and limited nearby nature, underscoring why OGO’s mission is so essential.
“When I go outdoors I feel good and calm, and I feel free.”
OUSD Student
Meanwhile, public funding for education and outdoor access is in sharp decline, making donors and philanthropic support critical to sustaining and expanding this work. The Riddell Fund’s leadership demonstrates how a donor-advised fund can drive local, systemic impact that reaches thousands of students each year.
If you’re enthusiastic about helping close the persistent opportunity gap limiting outdoor access in the East Bay, contact your Philanthropic Advisor to learn more about OGO and their fundraising opportunities, including their goal to raise $100,000 by the end of the year.
