2021 Explore Fund Council
Creatives. Scholars.
Outdoor leaders. Athletes.
The explore Fund Council brings together experts from all walks of life to find
creative solutions to celebrate all the ways we as humans explore.
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Over the course of the summer, the Explore Fund Council will focus on developing
ideas, plans and recommendations to help expand what exploration looks like—
embracing the unique expressions and ways everyone explores the outdoors.
The work from this 10-member council, and many others, will help guide the
selection of The North Face Explore Fund Grantees with
a focus on partnering with organizations led by or serving Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities.
When sessions conclude, we will implement new programs and partnerships, and
share learnings from the council’s work.
Molly
Thompson-Smith
Lead Climber.
Five-time National Champion.
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Molly
Thompson-Smith
Molly Thompson-Smith is the UK’s shining light in Lead Climbing, demonstrating immense physical and mental strength as she pits herself against challenging cliff faces and competition walls around the world. A five-time National Champion at only 23 years old, she is currently ranked 12th in the World. Coming from a mixed-race family, Molly started climbing at her local sports centre, in the diverse community of Ladbroke Grove, London, at the age of eight. By 16 years old she was ranked number one in the World and had won the European Youth Cup. Now, a fully-fledged Senior competitor, she has her sights set on a spot in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. A maths enthusiast, she is always using her head to decipher angles, routes and objectives as she climbs. Molly is at the top of her game in a sport of immense courage combined with cool headed calculation. She perfectly embodies ambition, agility and grace, as well as diversity in the world of outdoor sports. Molly is not only a leading figure in her sport, she is also an urban native who has discovered a love of nature and exploration which she wants to pass on. With 90% of the UK’s black population never having tried mountaineering or climbing, Molly is determined to break the traditional climbing mould and inspiring others to follow her lead on the international stage.
Mya-Rose
Craig
Writer. Speaker.
Broadcaster.
Activist.
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Mya-Rose
Craig
Dr Mya-Rose Craig is a prominent 19-year-old British Bangladeshi as well as a writer, speaker and broadcaster. Passionate about birds since childhood, Mya-Rose started the popular blog ‘Birdgirl’ at age 11 and by age 17, became the youngest person to see half the birds in the world. But Mya-Rose is not just a birdwatcher. She’s also an environmentalist and diversity activist, running nature camps for teenagers through her not-for-profit Black2Nature. The camps encourage community cohesion and introduce young people to the wonders of the natural world. In 2015, at just 13 years old, Mya-Rose organised the first camp following her conference addressing how more Visible Minority Ethnic (VME) people can engage with nature. Since then, Black2Nature has run fifteen camps for eight to 11 and 12 to 19-year-olds. In September 2020, Mya-Rose joined The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) committee as its youngest member. With RSPB sites beginning to reopen coming out of the pandemic, she is passionate that wildlife and nature should play a vital role in supporting the nation’s mental health. Mya Rose received a Bristol University honorary doctorate for her campaigning for equality in the environmental movement. She is thought to be the youngest British recipient of the award at age 17. In 2021, she released her book, ‘We have a dream: Meet 30 young indigenous and people of colour protecting the planet’. This is the first book for Mya-Rose, who shared a stage with Greta Thunberg during the 2020 climate strikes. In 2022 she will be releasing her memoirs 'Birdgirl'.
David Djite
Snowboarder.
Diversity and inclusivity advocate.
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David Djite
David Djite is a Swiss snowboarder of rare style. His free, floaty and at times effortless looking approach to riding has become his signature. He joined The North Face family in 2020 and is determined to use his experiences, passion and platform to create real change, increasing the diversity of the sport he loves through clear action. David leverages every opportunity to speak out on issues that are important to him as ending discrimination in all its forms, sits at the heart of his activism. As a person of colour that snowboards, he wants to ensure that his sport is part of the solution, and so he has been actively using his platform to champion diversity and inclusivity in his sport and in society David is openly calling on the industry to move away from closed-minded thinking and ensure a welcoming snowboarding community. He was recently quoted as saying: “So, is it too much to ask to fight your unconscious discrimination and actually deal with racism and all its forms? I don’t think so. Let’s stop being ignorant and give back to those we take so much from. It doesn’t matter if you are a weekend warrior, a brand representative, brand owner or a professional, let’s make sure everyone feels and is welcome, so everyone gets to experience the beautiful feeling you get on a perfect pow day.”
Stephanie Case
Lawyer.
Women’s rights advocate. Ultrarunner.
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Stephanie Case
"The outdoors are not owned by anyone, and yet they remain inaccessible to so many, including women, people from visible minority backgrounds and others. We are overdue for change - it is time for action. Through the Explore Fund Council, we can ask the tough questions and look for creative solutions."
Stephanie Case, from Canada, is a leading human rights lawyer and women’s rights advocate with 15 years of international experience in conflict settings and humanitarian emergencies. An avid ultrarunner for 13 years, she has won and placed in a number of international competitions including 100- and 200-mile plus non-stop races and 250 km self-supported multi-day footraces. In 2014, Stephanie founded the not-for-profit Free to Run whose mission is to enable women and girls to safely and boldly engage in outdoor activity in conflict-affected regions, such as Afghanistan and Iraq. Free to Run works to increase the visibility of women and girls in the outdoors, using running and outdoor adventure to drive social change in the places where it is needed most. The organization provides its participants with the tools they need to become leaders in their own communities, challenge negative norms and boldly reclaim public spaces. The not-for-profit's members are community leaders, advocates and role models who bring people together across cultural, ethnic and religious lines. They change views about the roles that women can, and should, play in society. In 2020, Stephanie was awarded a Governor General of Canada's Meritorious Service Medal for founding Free to Run. More recently, Stephanie placed first female and third overall in TOR 450, one of the world’s most challenging ultramarathons in honour of the women and girls of Afghanistan.
Phil Young
Broadcaster. Snowboarder.
Outdoor specialist.
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Phil Young
Phil Young is a familiar name in the outdoor world having spent several years as a TV broadcaster presenting seminal snowboard and skateboard shows for the BBC, Channel 4, Euro Sport and ITV. He has used his experience in the industry as a rider and storyteller to carve out a behind the scenes career, working with brands to help shape the way outdoor culture is seen in the mainstream media, doing it with great subtlety and sympathy. Through his platforms across the media and online, Phil is dedicated to bringing his considerable insight and experience to one of the outdoors greatest social issues: the continued lack of diversity at all levels of the industry. As well as being a spokesperson on diversity and equality, Phil is also the director of The Mighty Mighty, a film and event production agency focused on outdoor and lifestyle. Phil believes that in a world of increasing social complexities, the natural environment offers an escape route to many from the pressures that modern living brings. Phil says that there’s a bigger world out there and it’s important that our youth, especially those raised in urban landscapes, have the opportunity to expand their world view through the lens of the outdoors.
Emilia Zensile Roig
Political scientist.
Author. Decolonial explorer.
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Emilia Zensile Roig
Emilia Roig is the author of the bestselling book 'Why We Matter. The End of Oppression' and the Founder of Berlin’s Center for Intersectional Justice (CIJ), which brings a paradigmatic shift to anti-discrimination discourses and efforts and promotes equality and justice in Europe. Emilia holds a PhD in Political Science from the Humboldt University of Berlin and Sciences Po Lyon. She obtained her Master of Public Policy from the Hertie School of Governance and her Master of Business Administration from Jean Moulin University in Lyon. Emilia has taught extensively on Intersectionality Theory, Postcolonial Studies and Critical Race Theory at the Humboldt University and the Free University of Berlin, as well as International and European Law at Jean Moulin University in Lyon. She has also been faculty member in the Social Justice Study Abroad Program of DePaul University of Chicago since 2015 and is teaching at the Hertie School in Berlin. From 2007 to 2011, she worked in the international development field at the International Labour Organisation in Tanzania and Uganda, at the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) in Cambodia and at Amnesty International in Germany. Emilia is an avid decolonial explorer, loves hiking in all types of landscapes and latitudes and is a passionate horseback trekker.
Laurianne Melierre
Journalist. Editor.
Outdoor enthusiast.
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Laurianne Melierre
Laurianne Melierre grew up in France as the daughter of two immigrants, her mother from Cameroon and her father French-Moroccan. She is a journalist and the founder of the editorial strategy writing and consulting agency, PLUME, which is the first design-writing and editorial consulting agency to call only journalists, writers and poets to collaborate with brands, groups and institutions. Writing across both the worlds of fashion and social issues, Laurianne deciphers contemporary phenomena to understand what they can tell us about ourselves. Her work fills the columns of Liberation, Grazia, L'Obs, Les Inrockuptibles and The Good Life. Laurianne hosted the musical web-radio Rinse France for two years and wrote a column for Radio Nova. In 2017 she featured on Canal + on the program “L'Info du Vrai” alongside Isabelle Moreau. With Louie Media, she co-writes and hosts the “EAT” podcast and deciphers our eating habits every two weeks, across food and sociology. Laurianne dreams of a more empathetic, less individualistic world. Believing that you never know what others are going through, she says that her job is to get in touch with people, to make them smile, think and maybe even teach them something. She works in an environment [media] where many people who are seen as influential fear speaking out in case they lose some of their audience, so she really likes people who stand up for what they believe in. Activists like Assa Traoré and Rokhaya Diallo, politicians like Christiane Taubira and celebrated figures like Michelle Obama, Rihanna and Serena Williams inspire her greatly. They all fight for what they feel is right for their chosen causes, be it feminism, anti-racism, same-sex marriage or stopping police brutality. Laurianne is inspired by what she calls “free” women. They don’t judge anyone, instead they elevate people. To her, that's a real role model. Away from her work, Laurianne says that sport has really changed her perception of her body, saying that she feels like she owns her body now and that’s a great feeling.
WILD IN THE CITY | UK
WILD IN THE CITY
UK
Supporting and enhancing the wellbeing of urban-dwelling people of colour through developing relationships with nature.
“Being part of a community of people of colour, who gather in nature to learn, explore and have fun, helps people to feel a sense of belonging, that they’re not out of place.”
Beth Collier
Charity Co-Director
URBAN UPRISING | UNITED KINGDOM
URBAN UPRISING
UNITED KINGDOM
Enabling disadvantaged young people to achieve their goals and improve their wellbeing through climbing
“We use rock climbing as a tool to develop life skills – things like building confidence, building resilience and, more obviously, physical health which is tied to mental health. One of the most debilitating things in life is this fear of failure; it’s a barrier to so many things. Climbing is all about failure. Here you’re failing more than you’re succeeding so it teaches you how to deal with that failure, which is an important part of long-term resilience.”
Ben Campbell
Programme Manager at Urban Uprising
SUNDERLAND WALL | UNITED KINGDOM
SUNDERLAND WALL
UNITED KINGDOM
Supporting healthy, active lifestyles through a range of climbing styles and educational programmes to people of all abilities and backgrounds.
“We believe exercise, active and healthy lifestyles are massively important, improving quality of life and mental wellbeing. With climbing specifically, you learn new things about yourself and improve in ways you didn’t realise you could, all while socialising, meeting new people and sharing new experiences. We’ve created new friendship groups, helped people overcome their biggest fears and we’ve brought people through the dark times in their life, too.”
Ashleigh Loughlin
Senior instructor at Sunderland Wall
THE OUTWARD BOUND TRUST | GERMANY
THE OUTWARD BOUND TRUST
GERMANY
Running experiential outdoor education programmes on personal development and team building with teenagers and young adults.
“Outward Bound changes lives. It pushes you to the limits and after you've done an Outward Bound course then you know what you're capable of. You become aware of the power within you and where your limits lie. And that's why life after Outward Bound is never the same as it was before Outward Bound.”
Tine Edlhuber
Head of Customer Relationship Management
ICH WILL DA RAUF | GERMANY
ICH WILL DA RAUF
GERMANY
Creating inclusive environments for people with and without disabilities where everyone can enjoy climbing, together.
“Inclusion and equal participation in society is a human right. Yet separation is still an everyday experience for many people with disabilities. We want to change that. We realise that creating safe spaces to spend time together and get to know each other is key.”
Lena Frank
, project manager at Ich Will Da Rauf
RIFUGI DI LOMBARDIA | ITALY
RIFUGI DI LOMBARDIA
ITALY
Sharing information, supporting and promoting mountain huts and activities in Italy’s Lombardy region
“Lombardy was one of the hardest hit regions in Italy and there is no doubt the situation with Covid-19 will have lasting impacts on tourism. We want to continue supporting the 140 mountain huts in Lombardy that enable mountain exploration, because we want people to experience that authentic mix of fun, adventure and culture that enables them to fully immerse themselves in the natural surroundings. Mountain huts are vital for protecting the local area and providing support for hikers and climbers and they’re an integral part of mountain life and history in the Alps.”
Elena Marinoni
, volunteer Communication Manager for Rifugi di Lombardia
PROTECT OUR WINTERS | FRANCE
PROTECT OUR WINTERS
FRANCE
A community of athletes, scientists and business leaders raising awareness about climate change and protecting the great outdoors for future generations of mountain-sports lovers.
‘We encourage everyone to travel by foot, bike, skis – all tools that allow you to move with strength and explore nature and look at what’s there, right in front of you.’
Antoine Pin
Director of Protect Our Winters France
WOMEN'S MOUNTAIN CLUB | FRANCE
WOMEN'S MOUNTAIN CLUB
FRANCE
Supporting and enabling women to spend more time in the outdoors by developing a community of skiers, hikers and climbers.
‘We're really passionate about what we've created for our female community. We're trying to push women in the mountains and develop and grow them as a person, so they feel they're making achievements, big or small.’
Rachel Kerr
Co-Founder of Women’s Mountain Club
ENABLING EXPLORATION
Exploration is within everyone, but some face more barriers than others. By removing obstacles and empowering people, we change the way we think about the outdoors, ourselves and our place on the planet. We open ourselves to the wide range of cultures and experiences that connect us.
LOVING WILD PLACES
For over 50 years, we’ve worked to protect wild places and create connections to outdoor playgrounds, both on mountaintops and in city parks. There is incredible value in the physical and mental benefits of exploring the outdoors, and we want that opportunity to be available for everyone, now and into the future.