Self-confidence is a right for all teenage girls. That’s the belief of Monique Dubé and her volunteer colleagues at Girl in the Wild, a non-profit organization that hosts free mountain adventure camps for teenage girls.

“I have witnessed the negative effects of racism, bullying, intimidation and exclusion on young women,” Dubé says. “This is an opportunity for us to show up for teenage girls and use the beauty and wonder of wild spaces to make positive connections."

The week-long camps in the Kootenay Mountains include adventure-based learning as well as supportive, honest conversations. “We call it life-changing, because it is,” Dubé explains. “The goal is to help the girls discover who they really are, and to celebrate it." —Kristi York