INSIGHT
OUTWARD BOUND REQUESTS YOUR PARTNERSHIP
Funding available first-come, first-served
High quality character development programs
Voyageur Outward Bound is expanding character development efforts in our community and seeks new partners for funded 2026 Insight programs
INSIGHT PROGRAMS
Outward Bound is for everybody, and it can happen anywhere. Our INSIGHT programs bring high quality and accessible character development to your learning community. We meet your participants where they are at with flexible neighborhood and near wilderness day experiences delivered inside the school day or on the weekend.
Thanks to generous funding from visionary donors and foundations, Voyageur Outward Bound–right here in Minnesota– is able to partner with your SCHOOL, COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY or YOUTH-SERVING NONPROFIT, and bring Outward Bound adventure and character development to your students, and your learning community.
What do we do? We help you and your young people build community and character!
Outward Bound is all about building on skills for resilience. Young people are not clay to be molded or buckets to be filled, they are high potential leaders, each with their own unique lived experiences and skills. Outward Bound exists to help people identify their strengths, and grow potential through fun, hands-on, experiences with peers and caring instructors.
INSIGHT OPTIONS
We offer 3 kinds of INSIGHT programming:
Discovery INSIGHT– a shorter single day for a taste of Outward Bound
- Best for getting to know Outward Bound, exploring collaboration, and laying the foundations for team building.
- Ages 12 and up
- Groups of 10 or more
- $25 per student per day
Single INSIGHT—a complete single day of stand alone Outward Bound adventure and discovery
- Best for a larger community tone set, a special bonding opportunity, or team building event
- Ages 12 and up
- Groups of 10 or more
- $50, $75 or $175 per student per day, depending on funding need
INSIGHT Series—a series of sequenced single day adventures to build community over time
- Best for transformative character-building, deeper belonging, and lasting confidence
- Ages 12 and up
- 4-6 Insight days across the school year
- Groups of 10 or more
- $50, $75 or $175 per student per day, depending on need
Every option invites participants to a one-of-a-kind, crew-based adventure. Participants explore strengths and stretch skills together.
INSIGHT ACTIVITIES
INSIGHT activities in the Twin Cities can include:
- Team building
- Wilderness Skills
- Winter Skills & Snowshoeing
- Nordic Skiing
- Rock Climbing
- Canoeing
INSIGHT IMPACT
INSIGHT pairs real adventure with hands-on social-emotional skill-building for character development. When we learn, practice and apply new skills with peers, we get to practice a variety of character-building traits like, teamwork, self-regulation and self-awareness. This leads to resilience, which is the ability to embrace both challenge and opportunity. When we have resilience—also called “character”—we can thrive through thick AND thin. Below you’ll find Outward Bound’s Domains of Thriving—these are the positive character skills that contribute to resilience and character, and help us thrive.
INSIGHT PARTNERSHIP
Ready to help young people thrive? We can work with your school, college or nonprofit to design and deliver an INSIGHT program that’s just right for your participants and your learning community.
Character starts with one simple step:
We’ll take care of the rest! Our team will reach out to schedule an INSIGHT meeting with you.
Got Questions?
Contact Partnership Relationship Manager Megan Sisson
megan.sisson@vobs.org
DON’T JUST TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT
Voyageur surveys all students in our programming, and we are proud to report that outcomes for our Insight programming are some of the highest across the Outward Bound USA network. Our INSIGHT students grow in each Domain of Thriving, with remarkably high outcomes in Teamwork, Self-Awareness and Perseverance in particular.
INSIGHT partners report a high degree of satisfaction with programming, and the majority of our partners have worked with us from 5-30 years.
Upon completion of the 2024-25 INSIGHT series, this percentage of students agreed or strongly agreed with these statements:
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97%: “I am excited to keep learning about myself and others”
-
99%: “I am more aware of how to support those around me”
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97%: “I have gained confidence to try new things”
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95%: “I feel more connected to people in my group”
“Outward Bound helps us prepare students for college. Our students get to practice self-advocacy, communication and problem-solving, for instance, through a real, hands-on experience.”
- Zoila Ganuza Hoaglund, TRIO Upward Bound
“Voyageur supports our goals by helping us build a positive community in our school, and through bolstering an authentic sense of belonging for individual students.”
- Dave Gundale, Open World Learning
“Our students learn to trust themselves and one another– Voyageur instructors really care, and our students build lasting, rewarding, life-changing relationships with these people. It really, really matters when somebody believes in you.”
- Jamie Haag, Gordon Parks High School
“We are heavily invested in student well-being. We partner with Outward Bound to give students a chance to address their emotional strengths and needs, reconnect with their personal values, and connect with other students for discovery and community. Social and emotional skill work and community building is foundational to well-being, and it makes a big difference in student success and the quality of campus life.”
- Melanie Tucker, University of St. Thomas
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