Trailblazing youth leaders at Brave Trails

Trailblazing youth leaders at Brave Trails Brave Trails has a mission to build the next generation of LGBTQ leaders. As a non-profit organization dedicated to LGBTQ youth leadership, they aim to help the youth thrive by giving them a space to find their people, their place, and their passion,' and take those skills and experiences gained at their camps out into their communities and the wide world to make impactful change.

They offer several services throughout the year like mental health services, meet-up groups, and family camps, Charlie Moon explains, however their bread and butter is in running youth leadership summer camps for LGBTQ youth aged 12-18.

Charlie Moon, who uses they/them pronouns, is the Operations Planner for Focusrite in the US, and this year, they brought the magic of music production to Brave Trails' leadership summer camp.

I attended the fifth session of Brave Trails in Maryland as a Cabin Counsellor and Program Lead. As a cabin counsellor, I helped supervise campers throughout the day. As a program lead, I designed a 7-day workshop where campers learned the basics of music production.

Founded in 2015, Brave Trails has been steadily growing each year since its launch, with this year being their biggest summer to date - five sessions throughout the summer served approximately 400 campers from 40 different states and ten countries. Four sessions took place in California and the fifth in Maryland.

I became involved through my wife who learned about Brave Trails while volunteering for the Trevor Project, says Charlie. She has volunteered at Brave Trails Summer Camps for the past five years, but this year was my first.

Charlie's involvement with the Brave Trails summer camp was to teach music production to the campers. Their programme emphasised accessibility to music for all, providing them with equipment and essential know-how to get started making music and expressing themselves through song.

Through the Focusrite Pride in Music' Diversity & Inclusion workstream, we were able to donate Focusrite Scarlett Solo Studio packs, Novation Launchkey 37s, and laptop rentals. Without these donations the program would not have been feasible.

The overall goal of the program was to have campers build an 8-bar loop adding a new layer or element each day, resulting in a track the campers could play at a showcase hosted on the last full day of camp, says Charlie.

Given that I had no idea what level of experience with music or technology the campers would have, I was striving to make an experience that was accessible even if you've had zero experience with either. Across the seven days, the structure covered the basics of the gear and software (Ableton Live Lite 11), Drums, Chords, Bass, Melody, Mixing and Showcase performance practice.

A typical day at Brave TrailsBetween waking up, mealtimes and getting ready for bed, the camp included a range of activities, evening programmes and free time for the campers to chill, either on their own or with the wider community of the camp.

At the beginning of camp, campers chose their Build On' programs, with options between music production, musical theatre, poetry, and zine making, then attended their chosen program throughout the ten days of their stay.

Every night at dinner, campers could sign up for new workshops for each day, including LGBTQ History, Anti-Racism - mandatory for all campers and staff with the exception of POC campers who were allowed to opt out and attend a different workshop -, Public Speaking, Farming, Basic Design and many others.

Similarly, Free Choice' programs were available for daily sign-ups, which included dance, a high ropes course, archery, sports, astrology and BT Caf - this was designed to be a quiet break space for campers who needed more down time, to hang out, talk to their friends, paint their nails or read a book.

Trail Blazers Troops' allowed the campers to discuss topics they had submitted at the beginning of camp in small groups. At dinner, campers chose from four different topics for the next day. Some examples of topics included neurodivergence, gender fluidity, anime, nature, Ace/Aro, makeup and fashion, and peanut butter - I didn't realize there was so much to say about this one, Charlie remarks.

Cabin Chill' and Community Chill' hours allowed campers to get on with tasks or activities including cabin cleaning, reading, card games, drawing, and writing notes home, either on their own or with the entire camp collectively. To wind down their days down, campers could attend evening programming, with activities such as talent shows, campfires and skit nights.

One thing worth highlighting about the activities is that the staff worked hard to incorporate visibility and representation wherever possible, Charlie explains. For example, in Music Production, we began each day by highlighting an LGBTQ artist, discussing their accomplishments, and listening to their music. Another example was the sports workshop - it was led by a trans athlete who was able to talk with the campers about his experience coming out and transitioning as a professional athlete.

Unforgettable experiences Brave Trails not only provides formative learning experiences for the campers, but for the camp leaders themselves as Charlie recalls through their experience.

In general, I could not believe how amazing the youth at this camp were. There was so much talent, intelligence, and thoughtfulness. I really wasn't sure what to expect, having not spent much time with kids since I was one, but they really blew me away.

In particular, they point out their surprise in the musical skill of the campers and how fast they picked up music production.

Musically, there was a self-taught guitarist and a few kids who were in school choir. On day one, w

LINK:	https://focusrite.com/en/news/trailblazing-youth-leaders-brave-trails...
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