Ben Aiken is the co-founder and Dallas-Fort Worth Director of the outdoor education non-profit, Gateway to the Great Outdoors.  He attended Washington University in St. Louis where he received his BA in Architecture as well as minors in Environmental Engineering, and Education. Growing up he volunteered with special needs children and was a leader of his Boy Scout Troop, eventually reaching the rank of Eagle Scout. While living in St. Louis he worked on numerous after school programs and in 2015 he co-founded Gateway to the Great Outdoors, an outdoor education program focused on mentorship and science enrichment for Title 1 schools, with Nadav Sprague.  He joined the DFW Teach For America Corps in 2016 and currently teaches 4th grade in Fort Worth. Since moving to Texas he has opened a Gateway program in DFW and looks to share his passion for the wilderness with more students.

Check out or donate to GGO at https://gatewayoutdoors.org/ or reach out at baiken@gatewayoutdoors.org.