About
Natural Leaders offers nature-based programs that include survival skills, games, stories, water play, foraging for wild foods, building shelters, bow drill fires, sit spots, tracking, debris shelters, and one match fires. Programs use the natural world as the classroom and teacher, with activities that include week-long adventures with survival skills, games, stories, water play, and more through the Ultimate Explorers Program. The Summer Leadership Program includes outdoor leadership adventures similar to the signature Homeschool Program, which runs once or twice a week in summer.
• Ages: 5–17 years old
• Schedule: The 2025-2026 Homeschool Program starts September 3rd. Summer programs will start mid-June 2026.
Natural Leaders states its mission as: “To encourage leaders through adventure, mentoring and education.” The program uses adventure-based mentoring and has rolling admissions for the 2025–2026 academic year. Enrollment is managed through Enrollsy, and the program notes a preference for secure communications using ProtonMail and Signal.
The leadership team includes Nick Grenier (Director, Founder, and Lead Guide), May Joy Serafica-Grenier (Assistant Facilitator and Administrator), Trevor Cox (Director of Operations and Lead Guide), and Debra Nixon (Field Manager and Lead Guide). Trevor is a certified Wilderness First Responder through WMI. Nick received a BS in Biology from Georgetown University in 2007 and an MS in Environmental Science from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2008. May Joy served in the U.S. Air Force for 5 years.
In fall of 2016, Nick started the Natural Leaders program, which transitioned to a student-run format in fall 2017. From 2012 to 2016, Nick led nature-based youth programs at Ancestral Knowledge. Trevor has worked with Natural Leaders since fall 2017 and piloted the first Wilderness Survival Immersion in 2019. With his move to Denver, Colorado in summer 2021, Trevor aims to pioneer the Natural Leaders Mountain branch. © COPYRIGHT 2015.
Parent feedback shared by the program includes comments that a child “has learned so much from Nick. And not just about primitive skills, but about self control, leadership and facing challenges with a clear head,” and that a son “loves every bit of it, foraging for wild foods, building shelters, bow drill fires, sit spots, tracking.” Another parent described the opportunity as “phenomenal” and wished it had lasted longer. One parent thanked the “survival camp,” noting that their child described “how you make debris shelters, the best kindling for one match fires, and so on and on,” and called it “a fabulous experience for her.”
Last updated January 9, 2026.
• Ages: 5–17 years old
• Schedule: The 2025-2026 Homeschool Program starts September 3rd. Summer programs will start mid-June 2026.
Natural Leaders states its mission as: “To encourage leaders through adventure, mentoring and education.” The program uses adventure-based mentoring and has rolling admissions for the 2025–2026 academic year. Enrollment is managed through Enrollsy, and the program notes a preference for secure communications using ProtonMail and Signal.
The leadership team includes Nick Grenier (Director, Founder, and Lead Guide), May Joy Serafica-Grenier (Assistant Facilitator and Administrator), Trevor Cox (Director of Operations and Lead Guide), and Debra Nixon (Field Manager and Lead Guide). Trevor is a certified Wilderness First Responder through WMI. Nick received a BS in Biology from Georgetown University in 2007 and an MS in Environmental Science from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2008. May Joy served in the U.S. Air Force for 5 years.
In fall of 2016, Nick started the Natural Leaders program, which transitioned to a student-run format in fall 2017. From 2012 to 2016, Nick led nature-based youth programs at Ancestral Knowledge. Trevor has worked with Natural Leaders since fall 2017 and piloted the first Wilderness Survival Immersion in 2019. With his move to Denver, Colorado in summer 2021, Trevor aims to pioneer the Natural Leaders Mountain branch. © COPYRIGHT 2015.
Parent feedback shared by the program includes comments that a child “has learned so much from Nick. And not just about primitive skills, but about self control, leadership and facing challenges with a clear head,” and that a son “loves every bit of it, foraging for wild foods, building shelters, bow drill fires, sit spots, tracking.” Another parent described the opportunity as “phenomenal” and wished it had lasted longer. One parent thanked the “survival camp,” noting that their child described “how you make debris shelters, the best kindling for one match fires, and so on and on,” and called it “a fabulous experience for her.”
Last updated January 9, 2026.
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