The Great Outdoors Fund is dedicated to expanding equitable access to the outdoors and improving recreation opportunities through public-private partnerships so people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds can experience and enjoy nature.
We support sustainable outdoor recreation and conservation for current and future generations by encouraging people to get back to nature and reminding them why it’s worth protecting – because you can’t love it if you don’t know it.
Outdoor recreation is great for our health and well-being, our economies, and the lands and waters on which we depend. But public agencies responsible for stewarding these precious resources cannot take care of what we have, let alone build new opportunities for our growing and diversifying population. The gap between needs and resources is HUGE and GROWING. So it’s up to us to give back to nature to protect our access and ability to enjoy the great outdoors.
The Great Outdoors Fund was established in 2017 as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization to serve as a neutral funding mechanism facilitating collaboration between any public agency responsible for managing outdoor recreation and the private sector to provide a full range of high-quality, year-round recreation opportunities, both economically and environmentally sustainable, through public-private partnership projects.
Lori McCullough has more than 25 years’ experience as a CEO and Executive Director in the conservation and outdoor recreation communities. As a graduate of Duke University’s Executive Leadership and Nonprofit Management program, Lori has spent her career working with leaders of Fortune 500 companies, natural resource agencies, non-government organizations and special interest groups to build hundreds of lasting partnerships to protect recreation access and opportunities around the world. Her passion for promoting responsible recreation and an outdoor lifestyle, combined with her commitment to helping keep the great outdoors open for the benefit and enjoyment of all people played an integral part in the establishment of The Great Outdoors Fund.
Melissa advocates on behalf of Sempra to foreign governments, the U.S. congress, and U.S. executive branch. She has more than 15 years of experience in domestic and international energy policy.
Melissa has extensive experience in senior government positions. She served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Energy Transformation at the U.S. Department of State, working to promote U.S. energy exports, open markets, and reduce barriers to energy trade and development. As Deputy Under Secretary for Forestry at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, she supervised energy and wildlife policy directives and regulations for the U.S. Forest Service. Prior to that, she served as Counselor to the Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management and Deputy Director of External Affairs at the Department of the Interior, where she developed a regulatory framework for access to public lands.
In her private sector positions, Melissa advocated at the state and federal level to successfully champion domestic energy production through interagency coordination across the federal government through strategic coalition building and communications.
Melissa is a native Coloradan and graduate of Creighton University School of Law.
Brad Franklin has been involved with the outdoor recreation industry for more than 30 years, most currently with Yamaha Motor Corporation USA. For the last 15 years, he has served as Government Relations Manager, directly involved with vehicle compliance and regulatory issues, as well as land and water access issues. Prior to his involvement with Yamaha, Franklin worked for American Suzuki Motors. Brad also serves as Chairman of the American Watercraft Association and is an active member on many committees of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), as well as a board member for the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation and the Off-Road Business Association.
Andy Treharne joined the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) as a State Program Manager for the Western United States in October 2011 and is an appointed member of the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Sportsmen’s Roundtable and the Colorado Habitat Stamp Committee. Prior to joining CSF, he served as the Policy Director for the House Republicans in the Colorado General Assembly where he supported a 33-member caucus through agenda development, policy and budget analysis, and regulatory monitoring. Additionally, he has worked as a Legislative Aide in the Colorado House of Representatives and as a staff member for U.S. Senator Wayne Allard (CO) in Grand Junction, Colorado, and Washington, D.C.
