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Thrive Outside Program Manager

Though he was born in New Jersey, Chris has called St. Louis home for over 50 years. He began working with young people in the city a decade ago through community development and program management positions with Children’s Education Alliance of Missouri and Gateway Region YMCA.

Before joining River City Outdoors, he served as Rec Supervisor and Program Director for the City of St. Louis, where he oversaw all the recreation centers as well as the management of the pools. During Chris’s time with the City, some of his favorite camps to hold – and most popular with the youth – were fishing, tree climbing, archery, and geocaching.

Chris is passionate about the communities he serves and building access to and appreciation of nature and the outdoors. He is part of the leadership team behind the Tower Grove Farmers Market and feels strongly that everyone should have access to local, healthy, sustainable food sources.

He loves to visit the ocean and swim in the massive bodies of water. He also enjoys camping and fishing, and one of his new favorite outdoor activities is paddling on the Mississippi River, which he hopes to do a lot more.

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Thrive Intern and Social Media Manager (Spring, Fall 2023)

Originally from Memphis, Tennessee, and currently in her second year at Washington University in St. Louis studying Environmental Analysis, Caroline joined us as a part of Washington University’s Impact Intern program.

She has previous work experience in outdoor education, gardening, and loves all things outdoors. At WashU, she is an exec for Outing Club, which works to get students off campus and into the outdoors at no financial cost. She is also captain of the club ultimate frisbee team.

In her free time, she loves to read, hike, go camping, and generally just spend time outside. She is committed to the effort to engage more people in the outdoors.

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Thrive Intern and Social Media Manager (Summer 2023)

From Tennessee and Georgia, Lilly is a rising junior at Washington University in St Louis, where she is studying Global Health, Environmental Studies and Spanish. She assists with RCO’s programming and social media content development. In her free time, Lilly likes to climb, run, skip, and try her hand at art.