People of Color Outdoors

Mission

People of Color Outdoor’s (POCO) mission is to help BIPOC and White parents of BIPOC children reconnect with the outdoors and build a safe, inclusive community that fosters powerful environmental leaders and loving caretakers.

We believe that everyone deserves to feel safe when visiting natural spaces regardless of the color of themselves or their children. We help members build a strong sense of belonging, confidence, and connection to nature through outdoor recreation, environmental education, and leadership development. By offering guided hikes, paddling trips, birding excursions, skill-building workshops, and youth programs, we work to ensure that communities with histories of being excluded have what they need to reconnect with natural spaces, strengthen intergenerational connections, and take on leadership roles beyond POCO with confidence. 

Our programs, including the POCO Guardians, provide members with a supportive environment to learn, grow, and develop leadership skills while exploring the outdoors. As we continue to expand, our vision includes the creation of the Global Village and Retreat Center—an amazing center built on our own land to provide culturally relevant outdoor experiences, leadership development, retreats, activities and vacations year round. This future space will be a hub for intergenerational learning, environmental stewardship, and community healing; it will also provide funds to make POCO’s work sustainable on a long-term basis. 

Services Offered

Outdoor Outings and Education
POCO offers over 60 outings per year, providing opportunities for hiking, walking, camping, paddling, birding, educational excursions, day camps, art outings, skill-building workshops, and more. Whether exploring nature, developing outdoor skills, or engaging in creative and cultural activities, our outings are designed to be inclusive, enriching, and fun for all ages. 

POCO Guardians
POCO Guardians is an environmental education program that runs during school breaks, designed to teach environmental awareness while creating a strong sense of community. Many of our students face challenges such as bullying or feeling overlooked in school, so the Guardians program creates a safe, welcoming space where they can connect, learn, and grow. 

Through hiking, paddling, leadership development, and culturally familiar meals cooked on site, children are supported with building confidence, developing friendships, and exploring future career opportunities through daily guest speakers. Students are also challenged to become lifelong learners and are invited to return as student teachers to mentor the next session of Guardians.

Specialized Training
POCO also collaborates with community partners and grant funders to provide specialized training opportunities for members who develop a passion for a particular activity and aspire to become leaders in that field. By working with experts, POCO has successfully developed leadership programs in several areas, including:

• Mindfulness Walk Leaders – Two cohorts trained by Dr. Tia Ho
• Fishing Leaders – In partnership with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the nonprofit, Hooked on Fishing
• Kayak Leaders – Developed with the Oregon Boating Foundation
• Birding Leaders – Currently in progress with Bird Alliance of Oregon, the Federal Wildlife Service, and birding consultant Samantha DeJarnett
• Hiking Leaders – Training session TBA in 2025 

Each trainee leads at least three outings, which strengthens their own skills and creates more opportunities for others to explore and connect with nature. With every new leader who steps up, POCO’s impact grows.

Contact Pamela Slaughter pamelas@pdxpocoutdoors.com (503) 349-1061 People of Color Outdoors

Populations Served
POCO serves Black, Indigenous, and all People of Color (BIPOC), in addition to White parents of BIPOC children.

Staff Composition
The founder and Executive Director, Pamela Slaughter, works part-time when funding is available and volunteers when operational funding is not secured. 

Pamela’s daughter, Ashley, has been a dedicated long-time volunteer and also serves as a private contractor for 10 hours per week. She manages POCO’s social media, serves as Program Manager, and takes on extensive volunteer responsibilities until funds to hire permanent staff are raised.

Cost to Participate
Our outings are free of charge. We offer skills trainings that are free as well, but we ask the volunteers that receive free training and relevant gear to repay POCO by hosting outings once they are trained.

KGW News
Watch: Portland woman founds nonprofit to support BIPOC nature-lovers
Watch: An outdoor community for people of color

Metro News
Read: Reclaiming nature for people of color

State Forests Trust of Oregon
Read: Meet Pamela Slaughter

Beaver State Podcast
Listen: People of Color Outdoors with Pamela Slaughter

Terradrift
Read: Sustainability Spotlight: Pamela Slaughter of PDX People of Color Outdoors

POCO’s founder, Pamela Slaughter, was honored to take part in the following due to her unwavering dedication:

• Receive the Joey Pope Award in May 2022
• Feature in Conversations with Birders, a film for Oregon Historical Society’s 2023 exhibition, “Birds of the Pacific Coast: The Illustrations of R. Bruce Horsfall”
• Participate in the Adidas Community Lab, a 9-month mentoring program that ended in May 2024
• Feature in Roots: We Been There film and exhibit at the Tillamook Forest Center in October 2024
• Feature in a segment of Oregon Public Broadcasting’s “Oregon Field Guide” in March 2025
• Lead a TEDx Talk about children as environmental leaders in April 2025