YES Nature to Neighborhoods is a dynamic leadership development organization that nurtures leaders of all ages through nature-centered learning. Over the past 27 years, more than 13,000 Richmond community members have engaged with YES’s leadership pathways. As a result, they have reclaimed their connection to the earth; deepened their sense of confidence and belonging; and built both personal well-being and community power.
YES has thoughtfully grown the scope and scale of our programs to meet community needs while operating from a rented facility across the street from Richmond’s largest city park. In 2021, when the option to buy this facility arose, our answer was a resounding “yes.” This purchase has secured a permanent place for YES in Richmond in a time when many nonprofits have been priced out.
Now our need and opportunity is to make this place a home: a base camp where leaders of all ages can gather, learn, and grow. Our goal by 2027 is to transform our cramped, aging facility into a spacious, nature-inspired hub for our growing community. We have raised $6.1 million to date, over 76% of our $8M campaign goal. Below is a video of our vision and preliminary renderings of our new building.
Hannah Shulman, nature + nurture (N2) Program Director at The 11th Hour Project / Schmidt Family Foundation
“YES is situated and invested in the Richmond community and attends to entire families. Few organizations develop a sense of place and community pride to move the needle on long term societal issues like YES does.”
Eric Aaholm, YES Executive Director, and Blanca Hernández, YES Director of Programs and Partnerships
“Everyone deserves the chance to thrive from the health benefits that nature provides. Everyone also deserves to have people around them who support their positive development. That’s what this campaign is all about – making sure that Richmond youth and families have a Base Camp – a gathering place from which they can access the outdoors and harness their strengths.”
The Building
Campaign Updates
Sign up for the Base Camp newsletter here.
The City of Richmond has approved our Building Permit! Our team has also completed plans for Base Camp’s lighting, security, and solar and have made initial decisions on interior design including flooring, cabinet finishes, and furniture layouts and will move into landscape design next. To ensure financial barriers don’t stand in the way of completing construction once it has begun, we will be securing bank financing as a contingency.
Spring has started off incredibly strong in regard to fundraising, pushing us past the $6M mark! We’re planning a couple of tours of the future Base Camp site between now and our groundbreaking later this spring. Led by members and alumni from YES’s Youth Leadership Pathway, these gatherings offer supporters a chance to walk the space, hear directly from YES participants, and explore ways to get involved and bring the campaign across the finish line—if you’re interested in joining, please reach out to Devika Saxena.
Updated 4/6/26
Other ways to support:
Make a pledge
Make a gift from your donor advised fund
For questions or more information about supporting the Base Camp Capital Campaign, contact Devika Saxena or Eric Aaholm.
Campaign Donors
Thank you to our generous donors for making YES’s Base Camp possible. To meet a few of our supporters and hear what inspires them to give, click here.
Leadership Gifts $500,000+
Anonymous
Hellman Foundation
Yield Giving
Leadership Gifts $250,000 - $499,000
Anonymous
Joseph and Vera Long Foundation
Schmidt Family Foundation
Susan and Steve Chamberlin
Wheeler Trust of the Marin Community Foundation
Leadership Gifts $100,000 - 249,999
Campbell Foundation
Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation
Environmental Stewardship Fund (ESF) of the Susan Byrd Fund at Tides Foundation
Jon Eager & Karen Heller
Livable Communities Trust
William G. Irwin Charity Foundation
Leadership Gifts $50,000 - $99,999
Anonymous
Contra Costa County
Jabeen Yusef and David Messina
James and Shari Ough
Kivel-Goldstein Family Fund
Mark Knoerr
Outpour Charitable Advisors
Tom Panas
Major Gifts $25,000 - $49,999
Anonymous
Kate Campbell and Brian King
Susan Wittenberg
Susan Swift
Pam Zelnik and Mark Stuhr
Susan Springborg & Greg Martin
June & Julian Foss Foundation
Brickyard Family Fund
Carrie Avery and Jon Tigar
Diane Poslosky
Tom Stahl and Julie Kim
Community Gifts Up to $999
Anonymous
Bill Bankhead
Bill Lindsay
Caroline Johnson
Constance Lively
Juanita Towns
Judith Ratliff
Kate Webster
Magic Cabinet
Realty Advocates
Shelley Facente
SutroLi
Tim Huffner and Karen Wittenberg
Tony Acosta
Allison Muth
Irma Herrera and Mark Levine
John Burkhart
Molly Fraker
Don Lau
Katie Sugarman
Marjorie Shultz
Nancy Mueller
Natalia Tocino
David Enelow
Major Gifts $10,000 - $24,999
Marion Henon and Todd Hodson
Red Oak Opportunity Foundation
Cindy Maxim and Jean Hyams
David Lingren
Beany Wezelman
Cynthia Sharpe and Bob Van Scoy
Leigh Marz and Michael Ziegler
Malcolm & Ann Plant
Mike and Laura McLively
Bernard E. & Alba Witkin Charitable Foundation
Lisa and Paul Hammon
Commercial Bank of California
John Weiss
Owen and Ellengale Oakley
Tara Brown
Teresa Munoz
Traub-Epstein Charitable Gift Fund
Special Gifts $5,000 - $9,999
Peter Roopnarine and Carol Tang
Blue Monday Productions
Graham Chisholm and Tania Balazs
John and Monique Ziesenhenne
Levitch Architects + Builders
North Berkeley Wealth Management
Special Gifts $2,500 - $4,999
Annie Higgins and Ricky Freed
Terry Pedersen
Francis Tompkins
Stacey Merryman
Hidden Leaf
Jose Fernandez
Kaiser Permanente
MCE (Marin Clean Energy)
Mechanics Bank
Stephen and Ami Orr
Vinick Hyams Trial Partners
Antonio Valadez / Coast Architecture and Design
Caitlin Trahan
Claire Rettig-Zucchi
Julie Leftwich
Mark Khmelnitskiy
Scott Wolland
Alexa Kearns
Deirdre Nemmers
Grace Kearns
Joseph Butler
Micki Luckey
Soheila Bana
AnnaLise Hoopes
Carmen Ye
Carolyn Young
Dennis Paoletti
Devon Carman
Jacqueline Soohoo
Jamey Austin
Raul de Leon
Rhiannon Casey
Terence Mascarenhas
William Spurgeon
Ean Avila
Special Gifts $1,000 - $2,499
Anonymous
Janice Prudhomme and Gerry Bourne
Michael F. Sabarese Fund
Todd Hodson
Vanessa Bergmark
Justin Rodriguez
Shep and Melissa Harris
Vanessa Baker Rodriguez
Colin Coffey
David Loeb
East Bay Community Foundation
Eduardo Martinez
Elizabeth Brown
Linda Safarik-Tong and Roger Tong
Louise Snitz
Moran Engineering
Rebecca Cannon
Sandy Weil
Tammy Pilisuk
Community Gifts Up to $999
Bill Bankhead
Bill Lindsay
Caroline Johnson
Constance Lively
Juanita Towns
Judith Ratliff
Kate Webster
Magic Cabinet
Realty Advocates
Shelley Facente
SutroLi
Tim Huffner and Karen Wittenberg
Tony Acosta
Traci Eckels
Allison Muth
Irma Herrera and Mark Levine
John Burkhart
Marisol Cruz & Alexa Kerns
Stef Moriarty
Angela Torres
Carolyn Gassen
Denise Abersold
Emily Anderson
Ericka Baires
Erin Smith
Jacquie Murray
John Wind
Juana A Martinez
Karina Rodas
Kelly Woodard
Melanie Dias
Nancy Mojica
Nora Markey
Pamela Fox
Paulette Sharp
Sadiqeh Agah
Sara Freimuth
Shunuan Yang
Thamma Douangnaly
Zach Landres-Schnur
Tana Monteiro
Leticia Chavez
We’d like to extend a sincere and special thanks to our Campaign Leadership Committee who helped see the Base Camp campaign through its start and first $5M raised:
Mike McLively (Chair)
Sonya Watson-Bailey
James Ough
Cynthia Sharpe
Vanessa Baker-Rodriguez
Todd Hodson
Diane Poslosky