HAWKs’ co-founder and CEO shares how nature-based adventures build curiosity, confidence and a love for the environment in children.
Parents in today’s world are constantly urging their kids to spend less time on their screens, reminiscing on the days when they would play with their friends outside until the sun set like they were living in The Goonies. Emma Flanders, the co-founder and CEO of HAWKs (@hawks.kids on Instagram), is working to encourage kids to be curious and adventurous by spending time outdoors.
In the HAWKs’ programs, kids also learn about the nature around them and how to take care of it. We got the chance to speak with Flanders about the origin story of HAWKs, her background, her advice for parents and how she spends her free time.
Please tell a little bit about HAWKs and the program’s mission.
HAWKs — Hiking Adventures With Kids — is a nature-based enrichment program that helps kids grow through exploration, play, and meaningful connection to the natural world. Our mission is to build resilience, independence, and joy through real-world experiences on the trail — while nurturing a deep sense of environmental awareness along the way.
In a time when kids are more stressed, over-scheduled and screen-saturated than ever, HAWKs offers something radically simple: fresh air, freedom, and challenge. Our outdoor programs are designed to ignite curiosity and build confidence through hiking, team adventures, and direct encounters with local ecosystems. Kids learn to identify native plants and animals, practice Leave No Trace principles, and develop foundational skills in trail safety and stewardship — all while having the kind of wild, imaginative fun that childhood is meant to include. HAWKs is more than another kids’ program — it’s an investment in children’s wellbeing.
Please share a little bit about yourself and why you decided to create HAWKs.
I grew up in Berkeley, where childhood was full of freedom. We hiked the fire trails in the Berkeley Hills, built forts, got muddy, got lost, and figured things out as we went. It was messy and creative and a little wild — and it shaped who I am.
Years later, as a parent living in L.A., I started to see how different things had become. I watched childhood get squeezed into structured activities and screen time, and I kept thinking: Where is the wonder? Where’s the magic?
HAWKs came out of a deep desire to give that back — to create a space where kids can feel free, capable, and fully alive. It’s about letting them get muddy, test their limits, solve their own problems, and make up their own stories under the trees. I wanted to build something that feels like what childhood used to be: full of curiosity, challenge, friendship, and adventure — all within the context of their local ecosystem and community.
What advice would you give to parents?
Let go — just a little. Give your kids room to fail safely, to figure things out on their own, and to have experiences that aren’t curated or optimized. The goal isn’t to prevent every struggle, it’s to help kids build the internal tools to move through them. Growth doesn’t come from safety alone, it comes from challenge. Trust your kids a little more — and get them outside more often. Let them climb the tree, walk barefoot in the creek, and get a few scrapes. It builds resilience. And it also builds a relationship. You can’t protect something you’ve never touched. If we want kids to grow up caring about the planet, they need to experience it directly.
What is your background with hiking and spending time outdoors? How has this impacted you?
Hiking and adventure are in my DNA. I’ve always been pulled toward the unknown — toward dirt paths, big views, and the kind of experiences that ask something of you. From an early age, exploring was how I made sense of the world. It taught me to trust myself, to stay curious, and to get comfortable being uncomfortable.
As I got older, that pull led me to travel, wander through rainforests, deserts, and coastlines, and connect with people whose lives looked nothing like mine. Those adventures shaped not just how I see nature, but how I see humanity. They made me more open, more grounded, and gave me a deep respect for different cultures and for the land itself.
Adventure has always been my teacher. It’s shown me what I’m capable of, connected me to communities around the world, and inspired a lifelong commitment to protecting people and places.
Did you have a mentor growing up? What role did that person play in your life and your career?
I didn’t have one single mentor — I had an entire constellation of strong women who helped shape me. My mom – a public school educator, her friends and colleagues, the women I grew up around in Berkeley — they were bold, creative, outspoken, a little rebellious, and deeply rooted in community. They modeled what it looked like to be self-reliant, to trust your instincts, and to build a life that reflects your values.
That energy stuck with me. I saw women who didn’t wait for permission, who made things happen — they were raising kids, starting businesses, traveling the world. They showed me the importance of having your own foundation, of being able to stand on your own two feet. Later, as I built my career, I kept finding those women — teachers, business leaders, artists, activists. They didn’t always offer formal mentorship, but they modeled how to live with purpose. HAWKs exists because of that influence — because I was lucky enough to see, over and over again, what it means to lead with curiosity, courage and care.
What is the biggest challenge you have learned from creating this program and working with kids? What did you learn from it?
One of the biggest challenges has actually been explaining what we do — because HAWKs doesn’t look like a traditional kids’ program. We’re not at one fixed location, we don’t have a building or a classroom, and no two days look exactly the same. We’re out in the wild — hiking different trails, exploring different ecosystems, learning in real time from the world around us. And while that’s exactly what makes HAWKs so powerful, it can also make it harder for parents to fully grasp.
So much of our work on the business side has been about education — helping families understand why this model matters, and how this kind of immersive, place-based learning builds resilience, confidence, and curiosity in ways that indoor programs often can’t. Instagram has been a key tool for that — because it lets us show people what HAWKs feels like with in feed images and reels.
What I’ve learned is that if you’re doing something truly different, you have to get really good at storytelling. You have to keep showing up, sharing the moments, and helping people connect the dots. Because once they see it, they get it — and they want it for their kids.
When you are not working, where will we find you?
Probably out exploring, whether that’s discovering a new trail or tracking down a funky little science museum in a strip mall somewhere. I’m always on the hunt for new experiences for my kids — finding those things that spark curiosity, expand their view. Sometimes that looks like a road trip to a national park, and sometimes it’s as simple as turning the backyard into a whole new world. I love showing my kids that adventure doesn’t always mean far away — it’s really just about paying attention and being open to surprise.
What are some of your favorite spots and activities in and around L.A.?
I love Debs Park — not just for the trails, but for how it connects city dwelling families to native ecosystems. The Audubon Center there is fabulous. Griffith Park is a classic, and I’m obsessed with the biodiversity in the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook — you’ve got ocean views and native sage scrub in one walk. I’m also always down for an overnight at Leo Carillo – you can walk from the campground to the beach, which has endless hours of fun with the tidepools and caves.
