about camp
CAMP POV's Mission
Camp Point of View’s mission is to help nature-deprived kids see the value of experiencing, remembering, and utilizing nature with her timeless lessons in everyday life and embrace that they have the abilities to manage their daily stress and manifest their overall positive mental health.
The Kids We Aim to Reach
All kids benefit from getting into nature and out of stress and attending camp – no matter what they are or could become stressed out from. That being said, Camp POV is extra-intentional about making sure kids from underserved communities are invited to attend camp — disadvantaged children are most likely to experience the greatest stress toxicity and need tools for resiliency.
Our work
Extraordinary Experiences at Camp
Camp Point of View aims to curate extraordinary and evidence-based FUN experiences in nature-based learning. We host camp five ways – online, in-person, & on-demand classes as well as day and overnight camps.
Camp is first and foremost about enjoying the outdoors in ways that are age-appropriate. But while they are doing it our team infuses entertaining and relatable stress-resiliency everyday tools they can use. And we teach kids a little biological science along with it so they understand what is happening and how they can become a leader in their own body’s wellbeing. And we’re doing Camp with exactly what worked for the creators of one of the largest culprits of mental fatigue, lack of concentration, and STRESS – screen content – by gamifying mindfulness (making it fun for kids).
In short, our programming aims to meet children where they are at in their lives emotionally, using nature as a natural common denominator in finding what works for them. At camp we help kids move past the fear of the unknown of nature, lose their addiction to screens, and overcome the boredom they may have.
building life-long habits
Bringing Camp Home
While we view nature as an antidote to stress it is also an excellent backdrop to learn life-long coping skills. Together, this aims to help kids avoid the harmful short- and long-term effects stress can have on one’s mind and body. It is paramount that the skills we pass along to children are ones they can use at home — Camp Point of View is a state of mind, not a place or a moment in time.
We are looking to empower kids to build skills so when they have adversity, they deal with it an effective manner, utilizing stress-management techniques they have within and the natural world they have outside. Ultimately we teach a wide array of techniques and habits and empower kids to figure out what is right for them to incorporate in their own daily lives. In this way they can establish THEIR OWN connection to nature and stress resiliency — habits that they relate to and that feel right for them.
Our BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Our Board of Directors all bring their own unique mental health journeys and nature-loving experiences to the table — looking to pay it forward, one child at a time. We each feel passionately that nature has been a foundational backdrop for our own mental wellbeing. Each director also brings a unique professional skill set to support the organization.
Chris Scherer, President
Chris has led major nonprofits to success – most recently completing his tenure as President at the Fort Atkinson Chamber of Commerce. He also owns a successful company helping music educators, performing arts centers, schools, and nonprofits navigate audiovisual installations. He also has extensive background in event management, budgets and finances, small business startups, and coaching kids sports. Chris is passionate about helping kids dive into nature, and sees being outdoors as paramount to helping today’s youth build stress resiliency at a young age.
Since HIS youth, Chris can be found camping and getting out in the woods whenever possible. He also is an avid player of pickleball and board/card games for fun and is an entrepreneur at heart. Chris strongly believes there is a richness to life when one can slow down and believes nature is the perfect way for kids to build relatable, life-long habits to do so.
Richard Judge, Vice President
Rich is a career Human Resources executive, helping lead large companies’ HR and Talent Acquisition teams through a myriad of experiences. Currently he is working for Vilas County. Rich is helping Camp develop its administrative policies and procedures — literally helping build the important stuff to make sure the organization is set up for success and sustainability.
As a child growing up just outside NYC, nature was THE key respite for Rich as life got complicated. He believes strongly in the power of nature and looks forward to Camp POV helping kids the way nature helped him. For fun Rich practices his Jeopardy skills and believes in the power of a good laugh in watching comedy. He currently lives in the Northwoods and finds peace on walks in the forest.
Madeleine Schad, Director
Trained as a couples and family therapist, Madeleine’s passion for working with those looking to find more joy and wholeness in their lives runs deep. It wasn’t until she began her own search for joy in her everyday life that she turned to nature and the outdoors, leading to her connection with Mother Earth to become a pivotal part of her spirituality and message she wants to share with the world. Madeleine understands how fast-paced and busy our world has become—she has a passion for assisting others in living slower-paced lives and finding more opportunities for joy, creativity, and connection to the natural world, our loved ones, and ourselves.
Madeleine holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and a Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy from Capella University. Her family’s history is rooted in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, and while she hasn’t always lived here, the Northwoods has always felt like home. When Madeleine isn’t working as a licensed therapist in her private practice, she also coordinates programs and retreats to help others deepen their spiritual identities at Marywood Franciscan Spirituality Center in Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin. In her free time, Madeleine likes to express her creativity through various mediums, such as writing, fashion, and modeling.
Darren Coady, Treasurer
With a Masters in Nonprofit Administration, Camp POV is a passion project for Darren. He looks to utilize his deep skill set to launch the organization to sustainable success. Darren feels strongly about helping kids get perspective on life by engaging nature — literally seeing the forest from the trees with life’s problems and challenges. He also feels it is incredibly important to prioritize mental health in today’s fast pace world.
Darren can be found living year-round in the Northwoods, ever-striving for work/life balance as a resort owner. He loves fishing with his son and chasing the northern lights. He is really looking forward to helping show urban youth how to enjoy the woods as much as he does.
Lisa Young, Secretary
Lisa is a public relations and marketing guru, having recently executed digital, social & corporate comms efforts for clients like J.P. Morgan, Ford Motor Company, and NCSA at Illinois, as well as with various community, university, and F500 leaders. She cofounded a boutique marketing firm before earning her BS in communication at Purdue & MBA at Illinois. Lisa has spent a good amount of her adult life paying it forward by regularly supporting community efforts, events, and nonprofit organizations, as well as leaning into her own journey to mental resiliency and wellbeing. She is passionate about access and helping to open doors for youths of all orientations and backgrounds to learn tools to become self-reliant and find joy.
Lisa finds peace in cooking for those she loves, learning new things on TikTok, pursuing her Master Gardener’s accreditation, and spending time in nature—pulling her family and pups, Juno, with her when possible. Lisa knows that the outdoors has a singular ability to help today’s youth reset and reconnect with themselves.
Our STAFF
Dr. Genevieve Coady, Executive Director
While an economic development/urban planner and resort owner by trade, Genevieve has spent much of her adult life personally diving into mental health — learning tools like yoga, meditation, Buddhism, counseling, and breathing techniques to overcome her history of worrying and anxiety. She ardently believes that to live life fully, mental health is just as important (if not more so) than physical health. She feels extraordinarily strongly about helping today’s youth learn stress resiliency so that they are better empowered to live long, healthy, happy lives. To her, nature is the perfect backdrop. She is currently becoming a certified youth yoga, mindfulness, and meditation instructor.
Genevieve can be found also living year-round in the Northwoods, always trying to find the small moments to stop and be in awe of nature through camping, walks, meditation, outdoor yoga, and boating with their son, Oliver. She also loves to relax by cooking, painting, and photography and is a voracious reader. She has a PhD in urban planning and a minor in art from her undergraduate days. With Camp she is excited to help transfer the mental health tools she has learned to today’s youth. She is also looking forward to helping kids discover, with confidence, their best selves at Camp POV and beyond — both physically AND mentally.