Graphic highlighting a year of courage, connection and collective winsAs we close out 2025, we’re taking a moment to breathe, look back, and celebrate what we built together this year.

From expanding youth safety and well-being to repairing the harm our organization has caused by cultural appropriation, to forging new partnerships, 2025 was a year where the Camp Fire community truly showed what it looks like to lead with values.

Across 22 states and 851 sites, our network showed up with courage and creativity to serve more than 102,000 youth and their families.

Here’s a look at what we accomplished together, organized around five core areas that shaped our year.

Safety and Well-Being: Helping Young People “Simply Be”

Young people can only thrive when they feel safe, affirmed, and supported. This year, we doubled down on creating environments where every young person can show up fully as themselves. This includes a focus on the well-being of not only our campers and the youth served by our many programs, but also the young adults who are employed within our organization

In 2025, we:

  • Expanded our child safety and youth protection standards to include stronger support for mental health crises and bullying prevention, including the creation of a new national role dedicated to this work: our VP of Youth Safety & Well-Being, Nikki Roe Cropp.
  • Expanded our strategic partnership with Alliance for Camp Health to improve youth health and well-being through evidence-based programming in summer camps and out-of-school time (OST) environments.
  • Published a new report to help other organizations design more inclusive programs: Accessibility in Action.
  • Released case studies demonstrating the impact of indirect camp staff on youth belonging and well-being.
  • Reaffirmed our commitment to the well-being and success of young staff (ages 18+) through our partnership with Hello Insight. We conducted a study across 11 affiliates to determine how well our work environment helps young employees develop skills to thrive in the workforce, and are proud to report above-benchmark results across all areas.

Centering safety and well-being isn’t a single initiative for Camp Fire. It is a foundational value, and this year, that commitment was stronger, more inclusive and more visible than ever.

Repairing Harm and Partnering with Native Organizations and Tribes

This year marked some of our most meaningful steps forward in repairing past harms and rebuilding trust through genuine, reciprocal partnerships with Native organizations and tribes.

Highlights include:

Genuine repair takes time, humility, and accountability. In 2025, Camp Fire is proud to have continued the long-term work of repairing past harm and building relationships rooted in respect and reciprocity.

Expanding Outdoor Access: The Outdoors as a Frontline Solution

Connection to the outdoors has always been one of Camp Fire’s core values throughout our 115-year history. This year, we continued to prove just how powerful (and necessary!) outdoor spaces are for youth mental health, belonging, and resilience.

Key moments from 2025:

  • Renewed the CAMPER initiative for the third time, marking a continued expansion of the project, which focuses on accessibility for youth who are 2SLGBTQ+, youth with disabilities, and youth from low-income backgrounds. Over the next three years, we will scale accessibility, inclusion, and innovation across 14 affiliates.
  • Expanded access to Camp Fire’s camp and outdoor programs through our National Friendship Fund. This financial assistance program fills in funding gaps throughout the national Camp Fire network. Funds support expenses including camperships and access to programs for historically excluded groups including BIPOC youth, refugee and asylee youth, and youth with physical disabilities.
  • Continued to shape the conversation on 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion by sharing our internal reporting and experience in creating gender-affirming spaces at camp.
  • Our panel on the outdoors as a frontline solution for youth mental health was featured at SXSW EDU 2025, which is a huge testament to the urgency and relevance of this work. We also had two more panels that were selected for SXSW EDU 2026! Stay tuned.

Outdoor connection isn’t just a luxury, it’s a lifeline. And in 2025, Camp Fire helped even more young people access its healing and transformative power.

Expanding Out-of-School Time Programs: Serving More Youth, More Fully

This year, Camp Fire affiliates across the country continued to grow afterschool programs that center belonging, curiosity, and whole-person development.

Highlights include:

  • Grew high-quality, youth-centered programs across 851 sites in 22 states.
  • Expanded our Teens in Action program to eight states, focusing on youth leadership, workforce development, and community service.
  • Promoted our STEM-based afterschool offerings.
  • Increased visibility and importance of afterschool programming for the well-being of both youth and their caregivers.
  • Celebrated afterschool professionals.

With strengthened infrastructure, clearer priorities, and growing visibility, affiliates are poised to continue expanding the impact their programming has on young people.

And with our soon-to-be-launched new strategic plan, titled FLOURISH, we will be able to move forward with a collective roadmap that reflects input from across our network.

Forming an Ecosystem of Authentic Partnerships

Partnership is part of Camp Fire’s DNA, and in 2025, our network strengthened collaborations that fueled innovation, visibility, and collective impact.

This year, we:

  • Welcomed our new CEO, Shawna Rosenzweig, a longtime leader in the organization and a respected voice in the youth development field.
  • Continued working with our partners at AT&T to narrow the digital divide, particularly in underserved communities, by providing access to high-quality digital learning resources and STEM-focused programming.
  • Deepened our partnerships with the Alliance for Camp Health, Alliance for a Healthier Generation, and Playworks to develop even more robust programming and reach more young people.
  • Grew our visibility as more organizations, funders, and partners paid attention to Camp Fire’s work in this political, social, and economic moment. We are honored to have the financial support of both Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies and The Annie E. Casey Foundation who are committed to raising the standard of care for physical, mental, emotional and social health services for youth and staff.
  • Reached a major milestone with a historic five-year, $10 million restricted grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. This investment will allow us to strengthen affiliates, serve more youth, and accelerate strategic initiatives across the network.

We’ve built this visibility slowly, intentionally, and authentically, and 2025 showed that people are noticing our efforts.

Looking Ahead: Six Goals for 2026

If 2025 was a year of laying the groundwork, 2026 is the year to build on it. Here’s what we’re carrying with us into the year ahead:

  1. Put our new strategic plan into action. After a year of listening, aligning, and co-creating, it’s time to move from information gathering to implementation.
  2. Strengthen affiliates so we can serve even more youth. Our goal is simple and ambitious: increase the number of young people we reach every year.
  3. Increase visibility and share our strengths widely. PR momentum, our Stanford Social Innovation Review piece, SXSW EDU participation, and new partnerships have shown that people are paying attention. 2026 is the year for us to step further out as a leading voice in the field.
  4. Build a sustainable future through new investments and partnership with Lilly Endowment Inc. We will use this historic grant to expand capacity, support innovation, and strengthen long-term organizational health.
  5. Deepen connection across the entire Camp Fire ecosystem. From youth to staff to partners and to the outdoors itself, connection is our compass. Next year, we’ll continue weaving those connections together so everyone can flourish.
  6. Move forward with authenticity and collective action. This isn’t about one big, flashy moment. It’s a steady, collectively-led rise. We’ve done the slow work of listening, reflecting, and co-creating. Now, 2026 is about moving forward together with clarity and confidence.

Onward Together

The past 115 years have shaped Camp Fire into a trusted, resilient, community-driven organization that is deeply rooted in our values. Everything we have accomplished in 2025, each training, partnership, and program delivered with care, has prepared us for what comes next.

Thank you to every staff member, volunteer, board member, donor, youth, caregiver, and community partner who made this year possible. We’re honored to do this work alongside you.

Here’s to more connection, more courage, and more young people thriving in 2026!