Sydney Mathis’s lifelong love of the outdoors began along Sacramento’s creeks and blackberry bushes.
As a girl, Mathis followed her grandmother into nature, catching tadpoles in creeks and roaming through open fields before the land was developed.
“I was always the flower child,” Mathis says. “Chasing butterflies, playing outside. I’ve always been drawn to nature.”
Those early moments exploring the natural world would eventually shape her career and inspire the creation of the Eternal Generations Emerging (EGE) Foundation, a nonprofit that introduces Black and brown youth to environmental education and career pathways.
“I love what I do,” she says. “I care deeply about these kids and about giving them experiences that can shape their future.”
Mathis was raised in Sacramento with deep family roots in the South. She described her upbringing as a blend of urban life and a strong connection to the outdoors passed down from her grandparents.
“We spent a lot of time with them,” she says. “Even though we lived in the city, our upbringing didn’t feel like the typical urban experience. We were outside all the time.”
After graduating from high school, Mathis moved to Oregon and enrolled at Oregon State University. She at first pursued business before discovering a forestry program that sparked her interest.
She later transferred to Humboldt State University, now Cal Poly Humboldt, where she completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in natural resource management.
During her studies, she interned with the National Park Service in Pennsylvania, receiving hands-on conservation experience that also revealed a gap.
“Most of the time navigating my career, I didn’t see anybody else who looked like me,” she says. “Not another woman, not another person of color. It made me feel like I was carrying a torch.”
That realization, paired with a moment of clarity on a college field trip in 2015, sparked the idea for what would become the EGE Foundation.
“I thought, ‘I want people from back home to have these experiences,’” Mathis says. “Even if it’s just teaching them how to enjoy the outdoors and how to protect it.”
Mathis launched Eternal Generations Emerging as a business in 2021, providing administrative and planning support to community organizations. Her focus soon shifted toward youth and environmental education, what she calls her “heart space.”
By 2023, she formally began building the nonprofit arm, creating the EGE Foundation.
Around the same time, Mathis uncovered a family legacy in the timber industry that deepened her sense of purpose.
“I didn’t know any of that growing up,” she says. “When I found out, it felt like confirmation that I was walking the path I was meant to walk.”
Youth Connect With Nature
Today, the EGE Foundation engages Sacramento youth through programs such as EGE Out!, Junior EGE Pioneers, and Little EGE Dreamers, offering a mix of environmental education, leadership development, and hands-on experiences.
Students participate in youth leadership internships, community cleanups, gardening, food harvesting, fishing, and organizing events such as SacTown Youth Nights. Many are introduced to the program through partnerships with community-based organizations, including the Roberts Family Development Center and Mutual Housing California.
Currently, the EGE Out! curriculum is offered as a fee-for-service through these partnerships, often as part of after-school programming.
“Public funding has not been consistent enough for our programs to run continuously without these types of partnerships,” Mathis says. “However, I am working diligently to change that by strengthening our partnerships and collaboration on funding opportunities.”
Mathis, an experienced grant writer, says the funding landscape has become increasingly competitive.
“I have secured large grants for our organization and others,” she says. “But in the last year or so, it has just gotten much more competitive. We still have pending funding sources that we anticipate receiving later this year.”
In the meantime, many programs rely on partnerships and community fundraising, including participation in the Big Day of Giving, which the organization is joining for the second year.
When funding is secured, Mathis says, programs are offered free of charge or at very low cost to families. Such offerings often include family and community camping trips, field trips, local engagement events, and internship and fellowship opportunities.
For students such as 15-year-old Miliano Hyde, the impact is clear.
“The EGE Foundation helped me learn more about taking care of the environment by letting us be part of community projects,” he says. “It showed me that even small things can help, and that young people can make a difference.”
His mother, Bianca Hyde, says the program builds more than environmental awareness.
“It creates opportunities for youth to develop leadership skills, confidence, and a sense of responsibility to their community,” she says.
And for Kelly Sonnier, she says Mathis’s growth is visible.
“I saw her leadership skills come up,” she says. “It was amazing to watch her maturity grow. And being out in nature, that’s something our kids don’t always get.”
Addressing Equity And Environmental Justice
Experts say programs such as EGE are critical to addressing long-standing disparities.
“Historically, Black and brown communities have been left out of environmental and climate-related careers,” says Max Vargas, president and CEO of the Greenlining Institute. “At the same time, these communities are often on the frontlines of climate change and environmental harm, from poor air quality to lack of green space.”
Vargas says the gap is not accidental, but rather the result of systemic barriers that limit access to education, professional networks, and career pipelines in the environmental sector.
“There’s been a disconnect between who is most impacted by environmental issues and who is shaping the solutions,” he says. “That’s why programs like this are so important; they start building that bridge early.”
He emphasizes that early introduction is vital to long-term change.
“When young people are introduced to these fields early, they begin to see themselves in roles they may have never considered, whether that’s environmental science, policy, urban planning, or sustainability,” Vargas says. “It’s not just about awareness. It’s about creating a pathway.”
Vargas added that investing in youth programs such as the EGE Foundation also is essential for building an increasingly inclusive climate workforce.
“If we’re serious about addressing climate change, we need a workforce that reflects the communities most impacted,” he says. “That means creating opportunities, removing barriers, and making sure young people of color are not just participants in the conversation, but leaders driving it.”
Families interested in enrolling their children can sign up through the foundation’s website, while others join through partner organizations. Mathis also encourages families to follow the organization on social media and join its mailing list for updates on upcoming programs, events, and opportunities.
Despite funding challenges, the organization continues to grow and recently earned a Gold Seal of Transparency from Candid, a recognition that portrays its commitment to accountability and impact.
Mathis aspires eventually to build learning hubs in California, Texas, and Uganda that would connect youth through environmental and cultural exchange.
“At the end of the day, we just want people to care about the environment and take care of it,” she says. “And if some of them go into those careers, then we’ve done our job.