About
Groundwork USA Youth Programs are part of a national network in which youth work with national parks to protect, restore, and steward public lands. Groundwork community members transform neglected spaces such as parks, playgrounds, and trails, and Groundwork youth have been working with national parks for 15 years.
Groundwork USA Youth Programs operate within the Groundwork USA network, whose mission is to bring about the sustained regeneration, improvement, and management of the physical environment by developing community-based partnerships that empower people, businesses, and organizations to promote environmental, economic, and social well-being. Groundwork USA facilitates partnerships and programs that create healthier environments, support environmental leaders, and expand economic opportunities. Groundwork affiliates focus on communities that would otherwise be left behind, and the Groundwork Network is described as a vibrant national network with deep local roots that learns from and supports one another.
Within this network, Groundwork Richmond’s Green Team provides youth with hands-on job training skills in landscape architecture, horticulture, and mural and metal arts. Groundwork Richmond works in partnership with the City of Richmond to increase the city’s urban tree canopy and has adopted and transformed sites on the Richmond Greenway into parks, including work on Unity Park, a $5-million, eight-block project along the Richmond Greenway in partnership with 16 other local nonprofits. Groundwork Richmond also organizes environmental education and service-learning projects with the National Park Service’s Rosie the Riveter National Homefront Historical Park for the City of Richmond’s Straight Talk on Prison (S.T.O.P.) after school program.
Leadership and community voices connected to the Groundwork network include Heather McMann (Executive Director, Groundwork Lawrence), Antoine Carter (MUG Program Director, Groundwork Milwaukee), Ashley Perez (Education Programs Associate and Green Team Alum, Groundwork Hudson Valley), Javier Ochoa Reyes (Project Coordinator, Groundwork Richmond, California), Sarah Calderon (Executive Director, Groundwork Richmond), community volunteers Renee Milligan (Groundwork Hudson Valley) and Dave Oletski (Groundwork Denver). Javier Ochoa Reyes received a Local Conservation Hero award from Bay Nature Institute for his youth engagement work, and in 2016 the Super Bowl’s 50 Fund recognized him as a local Playmaker for his impact on Richmond’s youth and community.
Site text and quotes describe Groundwork USA with phrases such as “Changing Places, Changing Lives” and “Changing Places, Changing Lives, Changing Systems,” and state that “Groundwork youth have shown up for our national parks to protect, restore, and steward these public lands.” Additional site text states that “Everyone deserves a green, healthy, and resilient neighborhood environment,” that “Youth in Groundwork communities are emerging environmental leaders,” and that “The people in the neighborhood know what’s missing.” Participants and staff describe experiences such as learning to work with different advocates and people from different cultures, managing large volunteer groups for activities like tree planting, cleanup, mural installation, weeding, and mulching, and building relationships that feel “like a family” where projects are done as a team.
Last updated May 13, 2026.
Groundwork USA Youth Programs operate within the Groundwork USA network, whose mission is to bring about the sustained regeneration, improvement, and management of the physical environment by developing community-based partnerships that empower people, businesses, and organizations to promote environmental, economic, and social well-being. Groundwork USA facilitates partnerships and programs that create healthier environments, support environmental leaders, and expand economic opportunities. Groundwork affiliates focus on communities that would otherwise be left behind, and the Groundwork Network is described as a vibrant national network with deep local roots that learns from and supports one another.
Within this network, Groundwork Richmond’s Green Team provides youth with hands-on job training skills in landscape architecture, horticulture, and mural and metal arts. Groundwork Richmond works in partnership with the City of Richmond to increase the city’s urban tree canopy and has adopted and transformed sites on the Richmond Greenway into parks, including work on Unity Park, a $5-million, eight-block project along the Richmond Greenway in partnership with 16 other local nonprofits. Groundwork Richmond also organizes environmental education and service-learning projects with the National Park Service’s Rosie the Riveter National Homefront Historical Park for the City of Richmond’s Straight Talk on Prison (S.T.O.P.) after school program.
Leadership and community voices connected to the Groundwork network include Heather McMann (Executive Director, Groundwork Lawrence), Antoine Carter (MUG Program Director, Groundwork Milwaukee), Ashley Perez (Education Programs Associate and Green Team Alum, Groundwork Hudson Valley), Javier Ochoa Reyes (Project Coordinator, Groundwork Richmond, California), Sarah Calderon (Executive Director, Groundwork Richmond), community volunteers Renee Milligan (Groundwork Hudson Valley) and Dave Oletski (Groundwork Denver). Javier Ochoa Reyes received a Local Conservation Hero award from Bay Nature Institute for his youth engagement work, and in 2016 the Super Bowl’s 50 Fund recognized him as a local Playmaker for his impact on Richmond’s youth and community.
Site text and quotes describe Groundwork USA with phrases such as “Changing Places, Changing Lives” and “Changing Places, Changing Lives, Changing Systems,” and state that “Groundwork youth have shown up for our national parks to protect, restore, and steward these public lands.” Additional site text states that “Everyone deserves a green, healthy, and resilient neighborhood environment,” that “Youth in Groundwork communities are emerging environmental leaders,” and that “The people in the neighborhood know what’s missing.” Participants and staff describe experiences such as learning to work with different advocates and people from different cultures, managing large volunteer groups for activities like tree planting, cleanup, mural installation, weeding, and mulching, and building relationships that feel “like a family” where projects are done as a team.
Last updated May 13, 2026.
Is this your business? There is no cost, but you will be asked to sign up or log in.