More than a run club.
We're creating opportunities for people to reconnect with themselves, each other, and the city they call home.
It started with a feeling.
We Outside ATX began as a simple idea: creating a reason to show up, move together, and meet people outside of the usual spaces. What started as a run club has grown into a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization building community through recreational and outdoor activities, service opportunities, and partnerships across Austin.
Our work is rooted in serving Black communities by centering culture, community, and wellness in everything we create. We believe wellness should be culturally accessible, joyful, and grounded in real connection. As our community has grown, so has our vision. We are expanding programs that increase access to movement, create pathways for service and mentorship, and collaborate with partners who share our commitment to equity, care, and collective well-being.
Our work is guided by the belief that access and belonging are essential to well-being.
Community shouldn’t be hard.
Why We Exist
Black Austin is still here.
As Austin grows, many Black communities have been displaced and long-standing cultural spaces have disappeared. We're creating new places to gather, belong, and build community again.
The outdoors should feel like ours too.
Austin is known for fitness, parks, trails, and outdoor living, but Black people are often underrepresented in those spaces. We’re changing what “outside” looks like.
Austin should feel like home.
Too many people leave Austin searching for the sense of community they couldn't find here. We're building more reasons to stay.
Community changes everything.
Everything we do creates a reason for people to gather, build relationships, and keep showing up for one another.
Meet Mercedes
Our Founder
“I just wanted people to enjoy being outside as much as I did. Outside has always been my home away from home. Austin, Tx… not so much. I lived in the city for over a decade and it never felt like a place that I belonged to. I was one of those people who wanted to leave Austin because it wasn’t Black enough.
But I couldn't leave with regrets. This was my second time living in Austin, and I knew I wasn't coming back again. So I decided I had to at least try to enjoy the city. I started going to more places and meeting more people but something was still missing.
Then I realized that so many other Black people didn't really want to be here either. They were here for work and looking to leave.
So I did what any crazy person would do, find a solution. I figured that a run club would be the easiest route to get people together outside. Mind you… I’m not even a runner.
I hosted the first one...and people kept coming. So I kept showing up too. We slowly introduced more activities...and here we are.
Looking back, I never wanted to build a nonprofit. I just wanted to build the kind of community I wished already existed.
Turns out... a lot of other people were looking for it too.”
Today, We've Hosted
100+ events
2,000+ people connected
20+ community partnerships
And we're just getting started.
What People Say
“I didn’t know there was this many Black people in Austin”
“I was thinking about moving out of the city until I started joining ya’ll”
“My favorite part about We Outside is the community”
The city feels different when you have people to experience it with.
What You'll Experience
Everyone was new once.
Whether it's your first event or your fiftieth, you're welcome here.
You don't have to earn your place here.
No pressure to fit in or keep up.
We're rooting for each other.
We celebrate each other, not compare.
Consistency makes progress.
The more you show up, the more everything begins to evolve.
There's room for you.
However you move, however you show up.
Maybe this is your place too.
We'd love to meet you!