Our
Mission & Vision

Our vision is a world where  Black youth are culturally aware, confident in their potential, and curious about the natural world around them.

The Black community is a creative, strong, dynamic, and resilient force. We know that when Black youth are given the appropriate tools and resources, they become the next generation of game changers, thinkers, and inventors. We strive to provide some of those tools and resources that are traditionally not available to the Black community either due to a lack of accessibility, institutional racism,  discrimination, and/or educational disparities.

Our mission is to provide a traditional summer camp experience where Black youth expand their comfort zones, develop dynamic friendships, and embrace the outdoors. 

About the Founders

Alex and Angelica Young are twin sisters who were born and bred in Northern California and currently reside in Oak Run, CA. For the past 10 years, they have both shared a vision of creating their own recreational summer camp specifically designed to serve Black youth.  They both graduated from Oral Roberts University with Alex obtaining her degree in Psychology and Angelica obtaining her degree in Business Administration. They have both dedicated a majority of their careers working with Black and Brown youth in the public charter school systems in Sacramento and the Bay Area. Through Young Legacies, Inc, Alex and Angelica plan to not only inspire Black youth to explore and excel, but to give them the tools necessary to leave their mark on the world and build an impactful legacy. 

Our Board

Our board consists of individuals who share a common vision and actively provide support to advance the mission of fostering Black youth in the outdoors.

Amanda Plasencia

Board President

Amanda is the Director at Third Plateau Social Impact Strategies. In this role, she supports philanthropic management clients with creating and implementing their grantmaking, and also oversees the Third Plateau internal culture work. 


Her background is in education, with experience as a 7th grade science teacher and high school counselor. she has her B.A.s in Political Science and Spanish from UC Davis, and received her Ed.M from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.


amanda is from Sacramento and comes from a beautiful Mexican-American culture and family. she recently welcomed her daughter, Isabel, to the team. and is a proud Sacramentan and Kings fan. 


Amanda loves hiking in the mountains and spending time near the ocean - they help ground her and recenter herself and her priorities. This is why she believes so strongly in the Young Legacies vision to foster curiosity about the natural world. Everyone should have access to nature and she is so proud of the work YLI is doing. 


Matthew Boyd

Board Vice President

Matt currently serves as Principal Strategist for Global League of Legends (LoL) Esports at Riot Games, Inc. In this role he works to establish and implement strategies to develop the LoL Esports ecosystem (i.e. build the sport) around the world.


Matt's background is in consulting spanning the sports and gaming spaces where he leaned heavily into his research and insights skill sets to deliver recommendations to a diverse set of clientele. Matt holds a BA in International Relations from Stanford University and his MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. 


Matt was born in the Bay Area and grew up in Sacramento where his parents still reside. He is one of the proudest Sacramentans you'll ever meet. Matt currently resides in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles with his wife and two children (and where he frequently reps the Sacramento Kings). 


Growing up in Sacramento Matt spent many of his summers spending time camping and hiking in Lake Tahoe. He credits those early experiences with his fascination and appreciation for the outdoors. When YLI approached Matt to help be a part of their vision to increase access to the outdoors for black  youth and, importantly, to help build that same curiosity and appreciation it was a no-brainer. 

Shannon Wheatley

Board Treasurer

Shannon Wheatley (he/him) founded Lane 9 (Lane9.org) to support leaders, teams, and organizations working to advance justice and expand opportunity. Wheatley has over a decade of experience leading schools, school systems, and nonprofits and has been an Adjunct Trainer at The Management Center since 2018. He serves on the board at Teach For America Bay Area, CareerSpring, and Young Legacies, Inc. He lives in Sacramento and enjoys cooking, jazz, and spending time with his partner and two kids.

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