Ronald Griswell
HBCUs Outside
Elizabeth City, NC USA
"Service to others is the main tenet to being a changemaker."
Career Roadmap
Ronald's work combines: Environment & Nature, Entrepreneurship, and Working with Others
See more careers and stories that connect to your interests.
Take Roadmap Quiz
Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
In high school, others would say I wasn't Black enough because I was passionate about the outdoors. At the time, I felt like I had to choose. I thought holding onto my identity as a Black man was more important, so I pushed my passion for the outdoors aside. Looking back now, I could've chosen both.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Business Administration and Management, General
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life has been direct
1.
I was born and raised in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, where I spent a lot of time outdoors.
2.
In high school, others said my identity as a Black man clashed with being an outdoorsman—I felt it was more important to hold onto my Black identity and pushed my passion for the outdoors aside.
3.
During my junior year of college, I did a service-learning trip in Belize and was inspired by how connected the community was with nature.
4.
When I got back to my campus, I was shocked to find that the school didn’t offer any outdoor programs—I started spending all of my time researching how I could get outdoors.
5.
I left college and moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to work for Wilderness Inquiry as an outdoor educator.
6.
From there, I continued to travel and help others experience the outdoors.
7.
There weren’t many people like me fostering these experiences for people, which inspired me to move back home, re-enroll in college, and help the university start their first outdoor program.
8.
I scaled my idea of bringing more people like me into the outdoors and created HBCUs Outside, an organization that bridges the gap between historically Black colleges and the outdoor industry.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Peers:
You're not really Black if you like the outdoors.
How I responded:
In high school, others would say I wasn't Black enough because I was passionate about the outdoors. At the time, I felt like I had to choose. I thought holding onto my identity as a Black man was more important, so I pushed my passion for the outdoors aside. Looking back now, I could've chosen both.