PHOTO BY RYDER REDFIELD
Founder of Wildkind Outdoors
Advanced Wilderness Survival Certification | 50 day training in Colorado (The Survival University)
Certified Wilderness First Responder (WFR)
Home Preparedness Trainer
Certified Health Coach (IIN)
Aliveness Coach
Leadership Mindset & Intuition Trainer
Resident Instructor The Survival University
Editorial Journalist for Thurston Talk and Grays Harbor Talk
Outdoor Educator
Wilderness Survival Instructor
Bow Hunter | Archer
Forager with Ethnobotony Training
Angler
Jess Caldwell is the Founder and lead instructor of Wildkind Outdoors. She is a wilderness survival instructor and curates outdoor adventures, nature-based education courses and rewilding retreats. With her unique background in holistic health, mindfulness training and guided nature immersion experiences in the backcountry, Jess is an advocate for living with greater ALIVENESS and cultivating resilience for fearlessly and compassionately navigating the many challenges of our modern world.
Jess is also the Founder of Wildkind Academy, a nature-inspired rewilding & leadership school for teens & young adults. Wildkind Academy is a nonprofit organization guiding teens through transformational experiences that deepen their connection to the natural world. We empower the next generation of changemakers to lead with courage, confidence and connection.
Jess completed a 50-day advanced immersion in the mountains of Colorado while living in a primitive shelter that she built from natural materials.She forged for wild food, honed in her skills of firecraft, harvested water and experienced profound joy mastering the hard skills that anchor us to our primal roots. After the successful completion of her seven-day solo challenge with only a knife, a ferro rod and the clothes on her back, Jess experienced what she describes as embodied ALIVENESS. She has a fierce inner fire that fueled by her passion to support others on their rewilding journey.
"I have discovered that getting offline and immersed in the wonders of nature have been crucial to navigating modern stressors with more resiliency. As a parent of two young men, I am well-versed in the many challenges that we are all facing as we consider the next generation and how our modern lifestyles can be detrimental to our mind, body Spirit and planet. In this unique and challenging time of global uncertainty, there is freedom and expansiveness through the inward journey of self-discovery and our personal engagement with the elements and natural world. Nature humbles us, she teaches us and we become more confident, compassionate and reverent humans in her presence".
~ Jess Caldwell
Outdoor-based education and learning the basic hard skills that our Ancestors passed down throughout generations, help shift us into a greater integration with the natural world.
Check out my Field Notes Blog to learn more about hunting, clamming, archery, fishing, foraging and direct living skills including natural crafts like basket making and fish tanning.
I love being an educator and retreat facilitator. It is an honor to have the with the opportunity to share and receive knowledge from others. Thank you for taking the time to read a bit about me and I hope to see you at one our Wildkind Outdoor trainings or retreats!
"In this unique time, we are being called to live in greater communion with ourselves, humanity and the natural world. We can awaken our senses to engage life in a more meaningful way through what I call ALIVENESS training. By becoming a student of the outdoors we give ourselves the gift of going to wild places with greater reverence and confidence. Welcome to the way of the Wildkind... for those who value joy based living, nature connectivity and equanimity of mind" ~ Jess Caldwell
