Get hooked on nature: Ben Klasky at TEDxRainier

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. See how playing and being outdoors improves kids' attention, energy, and health, is fun and engaging, and what kids have been doing and for generations and deserve to do in ours.


Ben grew up in Minnesota where he spent lots of time outdoors. He serves as President and CEO of IslandWood, a nonprofit organization that helps tens of thousands of kids get out into nature. IslandWood's 255-acre headquarters is based on Bainbridge Island, WA, and features some of the most environmentally sustainable buildings in the world. The organization targets low-income, at-risk youth, and introduces them to roar of tree frogs, soaring bald eagles, and star-filled skies, helping them to discover natural connections with the outdoors.

He is the co-founder of Camp Galileo, which has grown into the largest set of day camps in the Bay Area; and he co-founded Board Fellows while earning his MBA and Masters in Education from Stanford. Board Fellows places business school students on nonprofit boards, and the model has been replicated at over 75 other business schools. Ben teaches a graduate class on Social Entrepreneurship at the University of Washington's Evans School of Public Affairs and a graduate class on Nonprofit Management.

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