Team Wilderness

Team Wilderness is thrilled to welcome Cheyne Scott, Esq. to our Board of Trustees! An avid hiker, Cheyne loves exploring trails across New Jersey and New York, embracing nature’s ability to restore balance, resilience, and clarity. As a Board Member, she is committed to expanding outdoor access for urban youth, offering them life-changing experiences that build confidence, leadership, and a deep connection to the natural world. Professionally, Cheyne is a lawyer, wellness advocate, and outdoor enthusiast. She is a Partner at Chasan Lamparello Mallon & Cappuzzo, PC, and serves on the Board of Directors for the New Jersey State Bar Association as well as the Executive Board of the Hudson County Bar Association. In addition, she is a Certified Life Coach dedicated to helping professionals manage demanding careers while maintaining well-being and balance. Welcome, Cheyne!!

The next generation of environmental stewards and local leaders depends on access to life-changing experiences in nature. But with 25% of our budget now uncertain due to federal funding challenges, we need your help to keep these programs running strong and without interruption. Through our Support the Youth, Sustain the Adventure initiative, we’re working to bridge the funding gap and ensure uninterrupted access to outdoor education and leadership programs. Join us in making a difference. Your support today sustains the leaders of tomorrow. ?? https://lnkd.in/gWb9D-cH #SupportTheYouth #SustainTheAdventure #InvestInTheFuture #OutdoorEducation #LeadershipDevelopment #hudsoncounty #jerseycity #hoboken #newjersey

Last weekend, Team Wilderness had our Annual Board Retreat with our amazing Board of Trustees and members of our Senior Staff. During this retreat, we take a review of the the past year and plans as we look ahead for the upcoming year. We're looking forward to another great year ahead provide vital support services to Hudson County youth. Pictured above (LtoR): Joel Torres (Vice President), Helen Corona, Steve Cunningham (Executive Director), Stephanie Yosco-Dwyer, Tom Pietrykoski, Alexandrie Adebayo, Juan Melli (President), Pamela Johnson, Rasheed Chambers, Emily Feldman (Treasurer), Lauren Tortorete, Brenda Kessler (Secretary), Lilia Diaz. Not pictured,? Trustees: Elvi Guzman,? Senior Staff: Steph Silva, Hamis Guirgis www.teamwilderness.org #hudsoncounty #newjersey #newjersey #jerseycity

We’re proud to announce that Jennie Pu has joined our Board of Trustees! Jennie Pu is a librarian, public school parent, and longtime community member. She was the founding President of Cordero PS#37 PTA and received a 2020 Woman of Action award from the City of Jersey City for her advocacy work in support of public school funding and parent education. Jennie currently serves as the Director of Hoboken Public Library and was named the 2024 Librarian of the Year by the New Jersey Library Association. As a librarian, she has dedicated her work to expanding access and opportunities and is excited to continue this work at Team Wilderness. Welcome Jennie!

New Year, New Adventures!? ? As we kick off 2025,??Team Wilderness is thrilled to welcome?Alexandrie A. and?Thomas Pietrykoski?to our Board of Trustees! ? Alexandrie Adebayo?is the founder of?BlackHikersExplore, a community focused on encouraging black and brown people to engage in outdoor activities. Passionate about diversifying the outdoors, she curates and organizes group hiking events for adults as well as nature education programs for families. These programs help build a supportive environment and foster a blend of empowerment, adventure and reclaiming space. Alexandrie is a first generation Haitian immigrant who grew up in New York. She holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from Queens College and has over a decade of experience as an HR-Compensation professional. Alexandrie currently lives in New Jersey with her husband and two children ? Tom Pietrykoski?is a lifelong New Jerseyan and avid hiker, backpacker and outdoor enthusiast who also volunteers with the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference as a co-trail maintainer of the Appalachian Trail. Tom began his career as a community organizer with AmeriCorps working to protect the Passaic River, and started a non-profit working to reconnect local communities to urban waterways in New Jersey. Tom currently serves as the Director of Corporate Communications at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, one of the largest transportation agencies in the nation. Before joining PANYNJ, he worked for U.S. Senator Cory Booker for six years, most recently as Deputy Communications Director. He previously worked for U.S. Congressman Bill Pascrell Jr. as Communications Director and led public affairs for the State of New Jersey’s Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, where he started as a scientist studying the New York-New Jersey Harbor’s water quality.

Another incredible year of outdoor adventures and youth empowerment—thanks to YOU! ???? We’re deeply grateful for your support in helping us provide local youth in Hudson County with access to nature, photography lessons, academic coaching, and mental health counseling. This year has been a true "mountain-high" experience, and it's all because of you! Here’s what we’ve accomplished together: -605 youth served -11,225 hours spent outdoors -A successful second year of our Compass Project (academic coaching), including our first cohort of first-generation college students, and North Star Project (mental health counseling) for local youth. As we reflect on all we’ve achieved, we invite you to consider making an end-of-year donation to help us continue empowering youth in Hudson County. Visit https://lnkd.in/gWb9D-cH to learn more Thank you for being a part of this journey! We hope to see you out on the trail in 2025! ??

Join the global giving movement, Giving Tuesday, tomorrow, Dec. 3rd, and make sure to support Team Wilderness! ?? With your support, we're able to continue and expand on our efforts to provide enriching programs that encompass outdoor adventures, academic coaching, and mental health counseling! https://lnkd.in/gWb9D-cH

We're so grateful to partner with Goldman Sachs for their annual #CommunityTeamWorks project. This year we had 12 of our youth participants and 12 GS employees participate in a team building day. During the trip, each volunteer is paired with a teen. After introductory team building activities, pairs embarked on a 2-3 hour hike that provided challenges, gorgeous vistas, and opportunities for bonding. This shared experience allowed for an awesome day of mentorship between the teen and role model volunteer. #GoldmanSachs #GS #CTW #employeeengagement

THANK YOU! ???? We at Team Wilderness can hardly believe that our Annual Blazing-a-Trail Gala was less than a week ago! ? ? It was incredible celebrating with you all another amazing year at Team Wilderness! It was a wonderful night also celebrating our AMAZING 2024 Honorees: NJ Sen. Angela V. McKnight, Scott Delea, and Rich Dwyer, Jr. It was an honor for us to recognize all of their community service and advocacy work that they’ve done and continue to do. ? ? We want to thank everyone who made the Gala a success: our esteemed guests, supporters, our 2024 honorees, our sponsors, our Development Director, Hamis, and team who all worked tirelessly these past few months to make our Annual Gala a success! ? ? Thank you for investing in the local youth in our community by supporting our mission to provide empowering youth programs in our area.? ? Couldn’t attend and still want to make a gift and contribute to our work? Visit https://lnkd.in/gWb9D-cH to make a gift today. The future of our youth thank you! ? ? We already can’t wait till next year! ? ? #blazingatrail #teamwilderness #hudsoncounty #jerseycity #hoboken

We are ONE WEEK away from Team Wilderness' Annual Blazing-a-Trail Gala on September 26th at The View at Lincoln Park! ? ? With your ticket, enjoy hors'doeuvres + dinner, beer/wine, and a silent auction. ? ? Thank you so much to SILVERMAN for all of their amazing support of all we do! ? Visit our Gala website: https://lnkd.in/dUYP9Qni for all event details. We're looking forward to celebrating and reflecting on another year of empowering youth outdoors! ? ? Can't make the event? Consider a donation in support of our mission to bridge the nature gap! ?