Kinship Climbing Collective Empowers Young Women and Gender Expansive Youth Through Rock Climbing

Kinship Climbing Collective (Kinship) is a rock climbing and leadership development program serving young women and gender expansive youth from NYC public high schools. Our mission is to build joy, resilience, and strength through climbing & community. Our completely free, volunteer-run program provides our students with unparalleled opportunities to grow not just as climbers, but as a community of outdoor leaders.

Kinship is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We serve students from public high schools across New York City and have built a supportive, intergenerational community that provides a safe space for dialogue around issues related to gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and other dimensions of identity.

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What We Do

Kinship offers free climbing instruction and mentorship to our mentees over a 9-month program during the school year through a partnership with Movement LIC, an indoor climbing gym in Long Island City, NY. Beginner climbers focus on safety, communication, and basic technique, while returning climbers explore new challenges based on their personal goals, from bouldering to lead climbing.

Our programming also includes exciting outdoor climbing trips and other outdoor experiences throughout the year, all led by women and gender expansive certified guides. Through our outdoor experiences, we highlight Leave No Trace education, local ecology, land stewardship, and more.

Who We Are

The program was founded in 2017 by Alexis Krauss, Eva Kalea, and Emily Varisco as Young Women Who Crush. In 2022, we changed our name to Kinship Climbing Collective to reflect our strongest values of community and inclusivity.

Kinship is now led by a dedicated team of volunteer mentors. Through our mentor community, our mentees can learn from climbers across a broad range of backgrounds, interests, strengths, and teaching styles.

Kinship is supported by CatRock Ventures, Movement LIC, Rise Outside, The Mohonk Preserve, Evolv, Dank Banana Bread, Clif Bar, Outdoor Research, and your generous donations. As a completely volunteer-run program, donations go directly to power our robust programming, centered around climbing skills, community-building, and outdoor experiences.