What began in 2015 as an Idea

OUR ORIGIN: CALIFORNIA WATERSPORT COLLECTIVE

In April 2015, an initiative was formed in Northern California to encourage more female participation in whitewater kayaking — California Women’s Watersport Collective. We began by offering kayaking classes and trips for women to help create community, as well as building confidence both on and off the water through developing their skills in the challenging sport of whitewater kayaking.

Over the next few years, Cali Collective evolved into a successful woman owned and operated, mission-driven paddlesports school. In 2019, we became California Watersport Collective to make it known that all people were welcome in our community. We utilize paddlesports instruction as the medium for developing interpersonal connection, environmental advocacy and personal growth.

CWC Mission:

California Watersport Collective empowers all people to be confident both on and off the water. Through paddlesports instruction, we build community by developing both athletic and leadership skills, cultivating interpersonal connections and encouraging environmental stewardship.

With diversity and inclusion as its cornerstone of Cali Collective, we formed the Outreach Project as a pathway to further expand on this objective. Throughout the past decade, we have provided opportunities to the less represented demographics of people in paddlesports — womxn, black, indigenous and persons of color, youth facing adversity, LGBTQ+ and economically disadvantaged persons to learn, connect and recreate on our waterways.

We made big strides with the Outreach Project over the years. While continuing to offer scholarships for our trips and clinics, we brought our program on the road to communities where access and other financial limitations are barriers to enjoying the outdoors. We collaborated with American Whitewater, Diversify Whitewater, Ríos to Rivers, Alianza de Ríos Amazónicos, Fresno Building Healthy Communities, Fundacion del Mujeres de Río and other organizations to develop programs teaching environmental awareness and advocacy, as well as communication, leadership, water safety and paddling skills — all while finding joy in spending time in the outdoors and on the water.

Here’s a few highlights of our many programs:

Riverbound Executive Director and Founder of California Watersport Collective, Melissa DeMarie, was a keynote speaker at the Primero Encuentro Internacional Mujeres del Río in Pucon, Chile in October 2024. With 20 years experience working in the whitewater industry and as the founder of both a paddlesports school and nonprofit organization, Ms. DeMarie presented on the topic of how to have a strong mentality as a women working in the whitewater profession. She spoke to an audience of women from Mexico, Central and South America during the Pan American Rafting Championships. This event was presented by the Fundacíon de Mujeres del Río, where Melissa continues to provide support for this newly formed women’s organization in Chile.

In the summer of 2023, we worked with the indigenous youth from Northern California and Oregon with the Paddle Tribal Waters program. Our instructor team worked to help prepare the youth for their kayak descent of the Klamath River with the Copco dams removed and Klamath has once again becomes a free-flowing river. We are currently working to expand programs like these to more First Nation communities throughout California and the Western United States.

In October 2022, Ms. DeMarie travelled to the Upper Amazon Basin in Bolivia to work with indigenous youth on a stewardship and advocacy curriculum, as well as explore the Beni River basin to visit indigenous communities threatened by the Chepete-Bala mega hydroelectric project and legal/illegal gold mining operations. We are currently working on a documentary film about this expedition and a multi-year pitch to continue this important project.

THE EVOLUTION: RIVERBOUND

Through creating a safe space for people from all demographics and backgrounds to learn, recreate and feel welcome in the outdoors and on the water, we have in turn, encouraged the next line of environmental stewards. Through private donations from our students, as well as a portion of the proceeds from Cali Collective’s trips and clinics, we have been making these programs and scholarships happen through the years on a very limited budget. The next logical course of action was to transform the Outreach Project into the nonprofit organization Riverbound to help see this project to its fullest potential. By creating the 501c3 entity we are now able to apply for more grants and funding to continue advancing our mission of total inclusion.

We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the manufacturers who have supported our mission from it’s inception and continue to provide equipment, cash donations and other support to keep our programs going — Kokatat, Pyranha Kayaks, Immersion Research, Werner Paddles and YETI.

Our Mission:

Riverbound is dedicated to fostering a diverse community through paddlesports. We believe that by empowering individuals from all backgrounds, we can inspire a sense of responsibility toward our natural resources.

YOU CAN BECOME A PART OF THE EVOLUTION

For more information on becoming a sponsor, supporter or volunteer for Riverbound contact us at info@riverboundoutreach.org for more details.

“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” Helen Keller