The SHIFT Awards

The SHIFT Awards help honor organizations, initiatives, and individuals who are helping advance and promote equitable access to nature and the health benefits of time outside in the following areas: Non-Profit Leadership, Business Leadership, Public Agency/Land Management Innovation, Technology, Youth Engagement, Research, Advocacy, and Active Living in Nature.

SHIFT Award Winners

Winners for the 2023 SHIFT Awards:

  • 1st Place: The Phoenix
  • 2nd Place: Alana Foundation
  • 3rd Place: Conexão Natureza
  • Special Award: Robert (Bob) Ratcliffe

1st Place: The Phoenix
Their revolutionary work in addiction recovery emphasizes healing communities and empowering members to lead. We’re proud to support their movement that changes society’s approach to recovery. “Through our emphasis on fostering healing communities and empowering our members to lead the way, The Phoenix is revolutionizing society’s approach to addiction recovery.”  Learn more: www.thephoenix.org


2nd Place: Alana Foundation
Their dedication to reconnecting children with nature is inspiring. Alana believes in the power of children’s connection to nature, fostering a healthy environment for both.  “Combating the climate crisis will only be truly effective if we promote children’s connection and access to nature, because those who love, care,” says Alana. Together, we’re reshaping the future for the planet and its young inhabitants. Learn more: www.alana.org.br

3rd Place: Conexão Natureza
Their work in connecting children with nature has been recognized, and we couldn’t be prouder. “Childhood immersed in nature creates a lifelong love for our planet,” says   Natureza. Let’s celebrate their dedication to nurturing the next generation of nature enthusiasts. Together, we’re sowing seeds of environmental awareness and respect. Explore Conexão Natureza’s initiatives: www.conexaonatureza.com

 
Special Award
Bob Ratcliffe, retired from the National Park Service. He was honored for a lifetime of dedication and service to our natural treasures.

SHIFT Award Nominees

Nominees for the 2023 SHIFT Awards:

  • Alana Institute
  • Marine Microverse Institute
  • Southwest Conservation Corps
  • Conexao Natureza – Brazil
  • NCH2
  • Kids In Parks
  • Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation
  • Children at Play Network
  • OutGrown
  • Municipality of Fortaleza, the Secretariat of Urbanism and Environment (SEUMA), Brazil
  • iRewild Institute
  • Wounded Warriors United Wisconsin
  • Schumacher College – Dartington Estate
  • The Health Foundation – Wilkes County, NC
  • Winter Wildlands Alliance – SnowSchool
  • Scott County, Minnesota
  • #NatureforAll
  • San Luis Valley Great Outdoors
  • The Phoenix
  • East Bay Regional Park District

About SHIFT Awards

You can nominate yourself, someone else, or any initiative or organization that meets the criteria below. Selected 2023 Award Nominee Finalists will be notified at least 60 days prior to the event of their selection and invited to participate in the annual SHIFT Summit. The 2023 Award Nominee Finalists will be honored in person at the SHIFT Summit on September 14th, 2023. During the annual SHIFT Summit, we will announce the top three award winners from our selected SHIFT Award Nominee Finalists.

Criteria for SHIFT Award Nominees are:

  1. Do they have strong, positive impact on individuals nationally and/or the community they serve?
  2. Do they promote access to nature/outdoors as preventive health?
  3. Is the program or initiative innovative?
  4. Is the program or initiative replicable or easily reproduced in other places?
  5. Does the program promote health equity or DEI (diversity, equity, and/or inclusion) of under-resourced or under-represented individuals or populations?

Note, you may nominate as many organizations, initiatives, or individuals as you feel meet the criteria. Only one nominee can be submitted per form. You may fill this form out repeatedly as needed. Prior nominees who were not selected as Award Winners are encouraged to apply again.

2022 SHIFT AWARD WINNERS:

The 2022 SHIFT Awards were presented at the SHIFT Summit in Fort Collins, CO on October 19, 2022. Congratulations to all of the outstanding nominee finalists and the following winners, which were selected by their peers:

INDIVIDUAL CATEGORY

Sara Holger

Sara Holger

Whitewater State Park Naturalist, Minnesota State Parks and Trails and Founder/Board Chair, Project Get Outdoors Minnesota

 

Sara has been an environmental educator since 1994. She graduated from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities campus in 1998 with an undergraduate degree in Natural Resources and Environmental Studies. Over the course of her career, she’s worked for various agencies and organizations including the US Forest Service, the Bell Museum of Natural History, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources – Division of Fisheries, Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center, Olmsted County Parks, and Minnesota State Parks and Trails. Sara is the Lead Interpretive Naturalist at Whitewater State Park. She is also the Founder of a non-profit organization called Project Get Outdoors, working to connect low-income youth and Children of Color to the natural world. Sara farmed for 11 years in the Whitewater River watershed and is grateful to have learned through experience about the farming community and the incredible work our farmers do to feed the world. In her spare time she enjoys fishing, kayaking and exploring public lands in southeast Minnesota with her family.

Project Get Outdoors Minnesota

 

 “Sara is the most inspiring, innovative,
and enterprising person I’ve ever worked with.”

Nominator's comment

ORGANIZATION CATEGORY

Healthy Parks Healthy Person (HPHP)

Healthy Parks Healthy Person (HPHP)

 

Healthy Parks Healthy Person (HPHP) is an incentive and reward program that encourages Tennesseans to get outside and get active for their health. The free Healthy Parks Healthy Person app allows participants use their mobile devices to check in at any Tennessee park and earn points that can be redeemed for rewards, from hammocks to backpacks.

“More than 11,000 Tennesseans use this app to take their health into their own hands and enjoy Tennessee’s beautiful public lands,” said Stacey Levine, Executive Director of Healthy Parks Healthy Person. “The program is providing incentives for people to get outside and improve their health while creating new stewards for our parks.  We appreciate the funding for this program, which comes from the Tennessee Department of Health Project Diabetes grant.”

The program includes a Park Prescription feature for healthcare providers to prescribe outdoor activity as part of a healthcare regimen for patients.  In July 2022, Healthy Parks Healthy Person transitioned from a program of state government to a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Healthy Parks Healthy Person is a legacy program of Tennessee State Parks, which partnered with the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) to develop the app in 2017.

Healthy Parks Healthy Person

 

“I am so proud Healthy Parks Health Person keeps making a significant impact on the health and well-being of Tennesseans. Going on five years strong, the program is paying dividends in healthier lifestyle options for Tennesseans and also in encouraging an appreciation of the beauty in our communities and state.”

TDH Commissioner Dr. Morgan McDonald, MD, FACP, FAAP

2022 SHIFT AWARD NOMINEES:

  • Awakening With Equines
  • Groundswell Community Project
  • Healthy Parks Healthy Person TN
  • Metroparks Toledo
  • National Park Service: River, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program – Health Team
  • Outride
  • Ross Mittelman – Trails Coordinator for Mesa County Public Health Department, Mesa County Colorado
  • Sara Holger – Whitewater State Park Naturalist for Minnesota State Parks and Trails and Founder and Board Chair of Project Get Outdoors Minnesota

 

What the selected 2022 SHIFT Summit Award Nominees Finalists receive?

Selected Award Nominee Finalists received two discounted registrations to the SHIFT Summit. In addition to being honored in person at the SHIFT Summit, the selected 2022 Award Nominees Finalists were recognized through national press and email releases to over 18,000 allied professionals and organizations. 

2021 SHIFT Award Winners

The 2021 SHIFT Awards were presented at the SHIFT SUMMIT in Grand Junction, CO on October 20, 2021. Congratulations to these outstanding winners:

First Place:  The Outsideologist Project

Claritin® is on a mission to get kids outside… Spending time outside is essential to children’s physical and mental well-being. However, kids today think the outside is boring. They spend less than 8 minutes playing outside each day yet spend 7.5 hours on average a day inside. The makers of Claritin® are committed to helping get kids outside one more hour a week. With the launch of The Outsideologist Project, Claritin® is providing parents and kids with fun and exciting adventures to help make the outside the “unboring-est place to be”. 

The Outsideologist Project

Second Place:  Brushwood Center

Brushwood Center partners with more than 50 community organizations and 250 artists annually to offer programs focused on physical and emotional health, artistic and musical creativity, and community and personal wellbeing in Northeastern Illinois. Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, Brushwood Center provided vital programs for Military Veterans, seniors, families, and youth from low-income communities, harnessing the healing power of nature and the arts.

Brushwood Center

Third Place:  True North Treks

Their mission is to empower young adults and caregivers affected by cancer to “find direction through connection.” One of the primary ways they do this is by taking groups on free backpacking and canoeing treks in beautiful and remote wilderness destinations where they can engage in three crucial connections that are missing from conventional cancer care: 1) connection with nature (after going through something as unnatural as cancer treatment), 2) connection with peers who have walked a similar path, and 3) connection with oneself through mindful awareness practices, such as meditation and yoga. Beyond our treks, we offer free online mindfulness meditation classes twice a month, we organize race teams at different Spartan events across the country to promote mind-body health and fellowship, we raise awareness for the plight, fight, and might of young adults and caregivers affected by cancer through screening our documentary short film, and we provide free health promotion coaching and support to all their alumni.

 True North Treks

2021 SHIFT Awards Nominees

The Awards Committee is please to announce the 2021 Nominees for the coveted SHIFT Awards. This year’s award nominees were evaluated it using three criteria: Impact, Innovation and Replicability. A description of this criteria may be found below.

The following nominees were determined to be most impactful, innovative and replicable for one of seven categories. Congratulations to these nominees:

  • Big City Mountaineers
  • Black Folks Camp Too
  • Claritin Outsideologist Project/Bayer Consumer Health
  • Colorado Youth Outdoors
  • Disabled Hikers
  • East Bay Regional Park District 
  • EcoFlight
  • Faith in Place
  • Friends of Youth and Nature
  • Groundswell Community Project
  • NatureQuant
  • Oforiwaa Pee Agyei-Boakye
  • The Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods
  • The Conservation Foundation
  • The Trust for Public Land’s ParkScore Index
  • True North Treks
  • Warrior Expeditions

SHIFT Award
Nominees

Support the Summit

Participating as a SHIFT Sponsor or Exhibitor will enable you and your business or organization to showcase your brand and interact with attendees, both in person and virtually.  Click Here to download the 2023 Sponsor Information Flyer.

Thank You To Our 2023 Sponsors

Thank you to our local hosts, Bend Park & Recreation District and Central Oregon Community College,
our GP RED Organizational Sponsor, BerryDunn, and all other Sponsors and Exhibitors!

GOLD LEVEL SPONSORS

ADVOCATE SPONSORS

EXHIBITOR SPONSORS