About

Outerhaven is led by Lacy McDonald, and partners with Lake Middle School, the Denver DJ School, and Codecombat.com. The best way to mentor kids is to provide them equal opportunity to a wide range of experiences.

A black and white photo of a man in a military uniform.

MEET LACY

FOUNDER OF THE OUTER HAVEN

My name is Lacy McDonald and I am proud to serve my Community, and do at least a few things to help reduce youth experience inequities. Outerhaven currently mentors kids through gardening, camping, DJing/podcasting, computer programming/chess, and physical fitness.

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    SSG Lacy McDonald served honorably with the United States Army for 13 years with 2 deployments to Afghanistan. Currently, he volunteers full-time at Lake Middle School as a fitness coach and garden lead, providing weekly lessons to Lake’s center-based students. Additionally, he created a nonprofit organization called Outer Haven that provides outdoor urban education through fitness, camping, gardening, and archery. Lacy was a highly decorated Soldier being awarded the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, Combat Action Badge, Army Commendation Medal with Valor, and nominated Soldier of the year in 2014 by the Chamber of Commerce of Aurora.


    Lacy has an extensive background mentoring and guiding the youth over the last 8 years. It is Lacy’s goal to provide wisdom, character building, social-emotional support, and leadership skills for the youth today to become the leaders of tomorrow. Lacy demonstrated policy leadership in the development of the Big Green DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) as an experiment in democratizing and decentralizing our grant making when it comes to Food Justice. More recently, Lacy was appointed to serve on the Board of Healthy Food for Denver’s Kids. Lacy enjoys spending time with his family and youth in the community he serves.

We were

Made TO

LEARN

our core values

LEARN. community.

Learning and Community are at the heart of everything we do. We are dedicated to creating an environment where children can engage in meaningful educational experiences, fostering a lifelong love for learning. Our emphasis on community building helps nurture a supportive network, encouraging children to grow together, share experiences, and develop a sense of belonging and mutual respect.

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