CJ Goulding spent his first SCA summer with the National Park Service as an energy intern at Yellowstone National Park in 2011. During the internship, he worked alongside graduate students performing energy audits on the park’s buildings.
While spending several summers mentoring youth with the National Park Service Academy Program, Goulding visited several national parks. One of them was Grand Teton National Park, the very park where the SCA got its start.
“Grand Teton is a special place. That fed my curiosity, sense of wanderlust, and the exploratory part of me. There’s a connection to the land that excited me,” said Goulding, 33, of Teaneck, New Jersey. “I love being outside. It allows us to shift from our daily routines, reconnect with nature, and find the space to find who we really are.”
SCA Alum CJ Goulding. (Photo Credit: Shadia Fayne Wood)
Goulding went on to work for the Children & Nature Network, where he began his journey toward supporting young adult leaders striving to make changes in their communities while creating equitable access to nature.
Last year, he founded Boyz N The Wood, a non-profit dedicated to using the outdoors to help Black men restore and reignite the best versions of themselves.
SCA Alum CJ Goulding rock climbing at Munsee Lenape. (Photo Credit: CJ Goulding)
“I don’t think I would have survived the year without this work. I am our intended audience. Everything that we do helps me and gives me an understanding of how to help others,” he said. “The SCA gave me the opportunity to find my purpose and started me on the path to use the outdoors as a canvas for painting my purpose. The SCA helps young people write a chapter in their story. To give people the tools to blaze their trail is invaluable.”
