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Rue Mapp
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley
OccupationCEO
OrganisationOutdoor Afro
Known forHiking
AwardsHeinz Award
Websiteruemapp.com

Rue Mapp is an American outdoor enthusiast and environmentalist who works to reconnect Black communities with nature. She is the founder and CEO of Outdoor Afro, a nonprofit organization.

Early life and education

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Mapp grew up in Oakland, California.[1] Her parents originally moved to Oakland to escape the Jim Crow south.[2] As a child, she spent time outdoors at her parent's cabin in Lake County, California hiking and swimming, to which she attributes her love of nature.[1]

She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts in art history.[3]

Career

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Mapp worked for the Golden Gate Audubon Society and as an analyst for Morgan Stanley.[4] She originally considered enrolling in business school, but decided instead to pursue a venture combining both community and her love of the outdoors.[5] In 2009, she created Outdoor Afro as a blog to help "reconnect Black people to the outdoors",[6] before it grew into a nonprofit organization with over 60,000 participants.[7] While making some of her initial posts, she notes that she didn't encounter many other Black people while camping, and found herself thinking about the caution needed when encountering other campers.[3] As of 2019, Outdoor Afro has over 60,000 active members and works with volunteers across 30 different states.[8]

In 2010, Mapp was invited to the White House as part of the Obama administration's America's Great Outdoors Initiative.[9] In 2015, she was appointed as a voting commissioner of California State Parks.[10] In 2021, she started the Black Heritage Hunt, a duck hunting event in Sacramento, California, to encourage Black hunters.[2]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mapp wrote Nature Swagger: Stories and Visions of Black Joy in the Outdoors, a book based on her outdoor experiences intend to represent Black people as "strong, beautiful, and free". Nature Swagger was published in November 2022.[8]

Awards and honors

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  • In 2012, Map was named as one of the most influential African Americans in the country by The Root[9]
  • In 2019, Mapp received the Heinz Award in honor of her stewardship of natural resources[11]
  • In 2019, Mapp was named a National Geographic fellow[12]
  • In 2021, AFAR Travel Vanguard award[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b Smith-Janssen, Karen L. (March 21, 2019). "Rue Mapp Wants Outdoor Enthusiasts to Look More Like the Rest of America". Natural Resources Defense Council. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  2. ^ a b Peterson, Christine (March 6, 2024). "Rue Mapp Is Learning to Hunt, But She's Got a Bigger Mission". Outdoor Life. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  3. ^ a b Wright, Kassidy. "Rue Mapp, Founder Of Outdoor Afro". TheMomentum.com. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  4. ^ Wachter, Paul (September 2, 2020). "Outdoor Afro founder Rue Mapp: 'The trees don't know that you're Black'". Andscape. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  5. ^ Meraji, Shereen Marisol (February 5, 2019). "Outdoor Afro: Busting Stereotypes That Black People Don't Hike Or Camp". NPR. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  6. ^ "Six Black Conservationists and Environmental Activists to Celebrate". The Nature Conservancy. July 12, 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  7. ^ Stanger, Shelby (June 6, 2023). Will to Wild: Adventures Great and Small to Change Your Life. Simon Element. p. 87. ISBN 9781982194321. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  8. ^ a b c Ray, Carolyn (November 2, 2023). "With "Nature Swagger", Rue Mapp Writes a Love Letter to the Outdoors — And Invites Us to Find Joy in Nature". JourneyWoman.com. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  9. ^ a b Rochfort, Heather Balogh (June 2019). Women Who Hike: Walking with America's Most Inspiring Adventurers. Globe Pequot. p. 100. ISBN 9781493037148. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  10. ^ "Rue Mapp on Finding—and Following—Your Truth". Girl Scouts of the USA. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  11. ^ "Rue Mapp". Heinz Awards. 2019. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  12. ^ Potter, Everett (October 16, 2020). "Outdoor Afro: Where Black People & Nature Meet". Forbes. Retrieved December 11, 2025.