The North Face Partnership Gives Youth, Veterans Opportunities to Work on Public Lands

By U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell

Today, The North Face announced a $100,000 donation on behalf of conservation corps heroes as part of the company’s continued commitment to care for public lands and recognize inspiring people through the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps (21CSC). Recipients who embody the spirit of The North Face brand’s first-ever global campaign “Never Stop” were chosen to encourage people to explore what’s possible at the outer edges of their physical and intellectual possibilities and raise awareness of the need to participate in the stewardship of our public lands.

This builds on last year’s support of the 21CSC by The North Face, where they donated $250,000 to support jobs for young adults and returning veterans working on projects from Golden Gate National Recreation Area in California to Everglades National Park in Florida.

Through the “Never Stop” campaign, four conservation corps organizations will each receive $25,000: Student Conservation Association, American YouthWorks, Conservation Legacy, and Team Rubicon. These organizations were selected based on nominations submitted of inspiring corps members caring for public lands in communities across the country and inviting others to participate in active outdoor stewardship.  

Innovative partnerships and companies like The North Face are joining a national movement to invest in and help prepare the next generation of conservation stewards and leaders by providing meaningful and lasting opportunities to play, learn, serve and work in the great outdoors.

I’m very proud of the work today’s grant recipients are doing and appreciative of the ongoing support and partnership of The North Face. Bios of the conservation corps members are below. Meet some of my heroes and join us in getting active, outdoors and caring for our public lands!

Anthony Ciocco, Conservation Legacy (Navajo Nation) 

Anthony “Chako” Ciocco is a member of the Muskogee Nation and the program coordinator for the Ancestral Lands program on the Navajo Nation. Chako leads ecological restoration crews and inspires innovative tribal employment and outdoors programming across the country.

Jeremy Taitano, Student Conservation Association (Washington, DC) 

For more than five years, serving as a conservationist has allowed Jeremy to fulfill a passion of helping all people realize that they have a place in our public lands. In his role as a National Park Service Academy mentor and crew leader, he has led more than 30 high school and college students and hundreds of local community members in hands-on conservation projects to teach respect for nature and the importance of service to our communities.

LaJuan Tucker, American YouthWorks (Austin, Texas) 

LaJuan Tucker is a 29 year-old African-American woman who grew up inner city West Philadelphia, Pa., a place riddled with addiction and violence. LaJuan explored and found solace in the outdoors, ultimately committing her career to conservation. Today, she inspires young people of color to discover the healing power of the outdoors and promote positive changes in their communities.

Team Rubicon (National)

Team Rubicon is a nonprofit, disaster response organization that unites the skills and experiences of military veterans with first responders to rapidly deploy emergency response teams. The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management recently formed a partnership with Team Rubicon to provide Wildland Firefighter Type II training and certification for veterans, allowing them to assist in federal wildland firefighting efforts. As of summer 2015, nearly 200 Team Rubicon veterans have received the training and 126 have already mobilized on eight wildland firefighter crews and other support personnel to assist with fire suppression efforts throughout the United States.