Da’Kaari Nelson

RPTM 101
November 13, 2023
Career Report pt.3
Introduction
On Thursday, October 19, 2023, I interviewed Anya Diamond, of Bay Area Wilderness Training.
Anya is originally from Oakland, California. Anya is the Program director at BAWT, she usually
works from 9-5. The company she works for has a monthly goal, so she usually spends her days
making sure that goal happens. Some days this consists of sending emails to participants to make
sure they are informed about upcoming trips and events. It also consists of paying the companies
bills and going over BAWT’s finances. She started in this by joining an outdoor recreation group
that was available to her while in college. Eventually she started working on a rope course but
also worked other jobs because of the lack of pay. She majored in Urban planning in college,
also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical
and political process that is focused on the development and design of land. She has been
working in this field for a decade!

Mission/Purpose of the Agency/Department

Bay Area Wilderness training or BAWT’s is a non-profit business that supports youth going on
outdoor experiences. The Company doesn’t actually work with the youth, they work more with
the adults that will take the youth on these amazing journeys. BAWT trains adults for back-
packing, hiking, camping and rafting trips. BAWT aims to create easy/ access to the outdoors for
low-income youth and youth of color. They envision a future where social and environmental
leaders reflect the diversity of their community (“Bay Area Wilderness Training’, n.d.).

Clientele Served
Bay Area Wilderness or BAWT does not have any requirements or membership needed to get
the training. Although no membership is required to receive training, BAWT mainly focuses on
training adults that work with youth. We help thousands of Bay Area youth get outdoors on
overnight camping and d ay hiking trips each year. We aim to support them in discovering their
relationship to nature and their wider community.

Services and Programs Provided

They take adults on camping trips and create fake scenarios to constructively criticize their
decisions. They also provide the required equipment needed for the kids and adults during these
trips. They offer sleeping bags, kayaks, tents, and hiking gear for the adults once they’ve been
properly trained. BAWT is known for their “5 Days of Backpacking” event, it is a 5-day long
hiking/backpacking trip where lots of people spend their time in wilderness.

Staffing
They have six full-time staff people which means they work 40+ hours a week. These specific
people are the ones that “crunch the numbers” and work year-round. BAWT also has twenty to
thirty part-time people that actually do the training and go on the trips. These people are the ones
that work seasonally. Having a lot of part time staff is good because it's less expensive to have
part-time staff; full-time employees often require higher salaries and employee benefits

Funding Source
Bay Area Wilderness Training is funded by grants, sponsors, and partnerships. They have
partnerships with businesses such as Bank of the West, HydraPak, Clif Family Foundation,
Patagonia, YOOTS etc. Having a lot of sponsors supports the fact that BAWT envisions a future
where social and environmental leaders reflect the diversity of their community. Corporate
sponsorships can help the partnering companies promote their brand image and reputation. If a
small organization or event works with a large, well-known corporation, it can help add
credibility to its cause, as the larger company might have a larger consumer base or extended
reach in the market (“What Is a Corporate Sponsor? Definition, Benefits and Types”, 2023,
September 24)
. Grants are another way that BAWT gets their funding and resources.

Professional Issues
The main challenge is finding the grants and getting accepted for them. The most difficult part of
applying for a grant is identifying your needs and determining the policy and programming
required to meet those needs (“Considerations When Applying for Grant Funding”, n.d.). To
apply for a grant, you first need to find one. If you don’t meet all the eligibility necessities for the
grant in question, you don’t want to waste your time and energy submitting a grant proposal you
know will be rejected. Once you’ve submitted your grant proposal, it can feel like a bit of a
waiting game. But remember, don’t put all your hope on one grant. Unfortunately, less than 20%
of grant proposals are funded (“Is It Hard To Get a Grant?”, 2023).

Works Cited :

Bay Area Wilderness training. Patagonia Action Works. (2023, September 22).
https://www.patagonia.com/actionworks/organizations/bay-area-wilderness-training/

Considerations when applying for grant funding. Working with BJA NTTAC. (2021, February
18). https://bjatta.bja.ojp.gov/media/blog/consideration-when-applying-grant-funding

Nikita. (2023, June 19). Is it hard to get a grant? we reveal what you need to know!. GrantNews.
https://www.grantwatch.com/grantnews/is-it-hard-to-get-a-grant/?cv=1

What is a corporate sponsor? definition, benefits and types. (2023, September 24).
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/corporate-sponsor