The mission of Girls Outdoors is to use outdoor adventure and exploration as a vehicle to support and empower refugee girls, ages 14-21, to become social and environmental leaders in the community of Burlington, Vermont by 2012.

In 2008, there were 16 million refugees worldwide displaced by war, social injustice or environmental catastrophe. Over 60,000 of these refugees, most originating from Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, were settled in the U.S. The U.S. State Department matches refugees with one of 10 nonprofit agencies, for example the International Rescue Committee, which resettle them in targeted communities like
Burlington.