Rue, founder of Outdoor Afro, participated in both President Obama’s conference on America’s Great Outdoors and the First Lady’s “Let’s Move” campaign. She serves on the Board of Advisors for the Children and Nature Network and is a fellow with the Center for Whole Communities. She was also distinguished as one of the Wilderness Society’s five“Faces of Conservation” and was recently named the National Wildlife Foundation’s “Wildlife Champion of the Month.” Her blog, Outdoor Afro, won a 2011 Black Weblog Award for Best Green/Nature Blog and is now an official partner of the American Camp Association. Rue is a graduate of UC Berkeley and proud mother of three children.

The last time Rue climbed a mountain was nearly 20 years ago in California’s Sierra Nevadas on a mountaineering course in which she pushed herself beyond what she thought was physically possible. On that trip, she learned to “trust her feet.” This is a metaphor she uses to this day to advance in life and inspire her work.