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Outward Bound’s educational mission is to help change lives through challenge and discovery. When people go Outward Bound, they discover belonging, find strength and deepen their sense of purpose. We pair challenge and adventure with social-emotional skills practice and development. But we don’t go it alone in life, or in Outward Bound.
We invite both individuals and partner organizations to go Outward Bound. Whether it’s a day program, or a multi-day expedition, in the city or in the wilderness, it’s all Outward Bound, and it’s all about learning from one another and pursuing goals
together for more compassionate leadership. Diversity in experience, skill and perspective are fundamental to the Outward Bound group learning model. Outward Bound centers the student, their experience and their strengths in what we believe is a more equitable approach to learning and leadership.
It takes a community of dedicated and passionate individuals to make the work of Outward Bound happen. But today, we’re focusing on one individual in particular, Poppy Potter, who is at the start of a new adventure. For more than 16 years, Poppy has brought her dedication and love for the mission of Outward Bound to our students and staff.
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While VOBS has a long history, dating back to our first expedition in 1964, Poppy returned to VOBS (she previously instructed and course directed at Homeplace) in 2010, when she arrived to reignite VOBS’ presence in the Twin Cities by creating the Twin Cities Center (TCC). The TCC was founded with partnership as a principle. Poppy and the Board leaned into the belief that we are better together. They knew we could improve our local community by serving a more diverse population of local students, so Poppy established partnerships with Twin Cities area schools and youth-serving nonprofits, with the aim of increasing access for young people to go Outward Bound.
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Poppy was there when our first crew of students from Dunwoody College and Rivers Edge Academy set off on the
first expeditions on the St. Croix River and the Superior Hiking Trail. Since then, VOBS has served more than 11,000 Twin Cities youth from over 50 partner organizations. These alumni are now students in higher education, nurses, teachers, musicians, carpenters, volunteers, National Guard members, fire fighters, parents, Outward Bound instructors and more. They are leaders in the Twin Cities and other communities – changing the world through resilient and compassionate leadership.
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Pictured (left to right): Poppy Potter, Tyler Fish, James Hancock, Suellen Sack & Calvin Croll - First Program Head meeting, 2013
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Since launching the Twin Cities center, Poppy has held many other roles in the organization, always supporting the mission, students and staff. Whether establishing more partnerships, contributing to deepening our best practices, or supporting our donor and foundation community’s investment in our mission, we thank Poppy for her dedicated service to this work. As some of you may know, Poppy recently announced her plans to move her skills and passion elsewhere and open the door to the next generation of leaders for VOBS.
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We wouldn’t be where we are today without Poppy’s dedication to our students and staff. Beyond her leadership in the creation and growth of the Twin Cities Center, she contributed to the national network’s efforts in codifying OB’s best practices and staff development, and led our fundraising for the past few years, helping to raise more than $7 million to make VOBS’ programs more accessible, significantly growing the VOBS endowment, and has playing a critical leadership role guiding our efforts to improve our practices in equity, inclusion and diversity.
Our staff also recognize her
contributions to their experience at Outward Bound, whether through mentoring younger staff or supporting innovation in staff training. Because of this, Poppy has been the recipient of two National Outward Bound awards, the Josh Minor award, given to those who contribute to advancing the quality of Outward Bound’s educational effectiveness, and the John McGrory Safety award, given to those in the organization who’ve made contributions that improve the safety of our students and staff across the OB Network.
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When asked to describe Poppy, one colleague noted, “When you get to know Poppy, to understand her depth, commitment, work ethic and leadership, it’s like finding that
really special teacher at school. By the end of the semester, you’re hooked and you can’t imagine having learned more in a class or having a better teacher.” We are grateful for the significant impact Poppy has had in so many parts of Outward Bound and VOBS. She is a passionate educator whose presence in the organization will be truly missed and who leaves a lasting legacy with our staff and students.
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As VOBS moves into the next decade, we invite you to join us on the journey to provide an equitable approach to problem-solving through interdependent leadership education. The way forward is clearly collective. Present challenges require us to work together to leverage a diversity of strengths and skills for the success and health of our communities. Outward Bound’s “crew, not passengers” model for learning with and through the group can be a powerful tool for strengths-based problem-solving, student
resilience and effective leadership. We can seek belonging, strength and purpose together. We can go Outward Bound and teach each other the way forward.
We thank Poppy for her dedicated leadership and service and thank you for being part of the VOBS community!
Please donate today to help a young person, who may not otherwise get to experience Outward Bound, change their lives through challenge and discovery.
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Jack Lee
Executive Director
Voyageur Outward Bound School
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