Global Rites of Passage is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization.

Our mission is:

• to provide education and information to the public about the use of nature-based Rites of Passage in different countries
• to serve as an educational site regarding environmental sensitivity (leave no trace ethics, low impact camping, permitting, etc.) that nature-based Rites of Passage guides can use to pass on to their participants, and the public
• to serve as a web-based hub for organizations from around the globe using nature-based Rites of Passage models
• to plan and produce meetings of interest to nature-based Rites of Passage guides from around the globe
• to provide scholarships to enable people in need to attend meetings of nature-based Rites of Passage guides from around the globe
• to raise and disburse funds as needed to achieve these purposes

Our first task was to produce the 4th International Wilderness Guides Gathering April 14 - 20, 2009.  This event was co-sponsored by the Bureau of Land Management, the US Forest Service, and the Wilderness Guides Council. It was a successful event with about 120 people from 4 continents, 9 countries in attendance. It was decided that the next gathering would be held in September 2012 in the Ukraine.

One intent of this site is to provide information about Rites of Passage and the purposes they can serve. Work is beginning to design those pages. We will be showcasing and providing links to organizations and individuals who work with the concepts of Rites of Passage from different continents.

Currently we are also supporting the creation of the documentary "Children of Gravity" that explores the dynamic of community identity and contemporary wilderness rites of passage globally. The vehicle for this investigation of rites of passage is the documentation of the story of the Earthlink Project. The Earthlink Project is an inter-generational rite of passage that is currently taking place between 12 elder wilderness rites of passage guides and 12 next-generation guides who have committed to be doing this work 20 years into the future. This specific rite of passage is being carried out as an experimental model of how to expand the individual identity into a community identity. We gladly accept donations for this project.