Created by campers, for campers—mission-driven, built for access
Outdoorithm is a camping discovery platform specializing in public lands. We're a mission-driven company partnered with Outdoorithm Collective, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. A portion of our profits supports guided camping trips for families historically excluded from outdoor spaces. We focus on front-country car camping at established campgrounds, creating accessible on-ramps to outdoor exploration for everyone.
Our family's camping record
Justin and Sally Steele built Outdoorithm because they couldn't find a platform that worked for their family of six. These are their actual reservation records.
Audited from reservation records across Recreation.gov, ReserveCalifornia, and 3 other booking platforms (2012–present).
Our Team
Sally Steele
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Sally Steele is a strategic leader with proven experience scaling mission-driven organizations from grassroots initiatives to thriving enterprises. She combines her expertise in operational excellence and building inclusive community programs with firsthand experience making outdoor recreation work for urban families. Previously, as Co-Executive Director of City Hope, Sally grew the organization from a volunteer initiative to a multi-million dollar community development center, serving thousands across San Francisco through programs focused on healing andcommunity transformation.
An REI Embark Fellow and ordained minister with degrees from the University of Virginia and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Sally bridges the practical and life-giving aspects of outdoor experiences. Her work creating spaces where people feel seen and connected, together with hands-on experience getting urban families outdoors (averaging 20 camping trips and nearly 50 nights outdoors per year with her family of six), fuels Outdoorithm's mission of making nature's restorative benefits accessible to all through technology.
Justin Steele
Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer
Justin is a seasoned technology leader with a Bachelor's degree in Engineering from the University of Virginia and dual master's degrees in business and public administration from Harvard. With over a decade of experience in public interest technology, he led major initiatives at Google.org as Director for the Americas, overseeing $700 million in philanthropy, launching Google's AI Opportunity Fund, and creating its first racial justice initiative. His work has empowered millions through digital skills training and innovative, techenabled solutions for social impact.
At Outdoorithm, Justin combines his technical skills in full stack development, AI applications, and data science with a commitment to accessibility, building a platform that simplifies camping for urban families. Shaped by his own experiences exploring the outdoors as part of a mixed-race African American family, Justin is dedicated to making nature more inclusive and enjoyable for all. Outside of work, he enjoys outdoor adventures with his family, fly fishing, and coding for home automation.
Our Story
Sally and Justin on their first hike together in Shenandoah National Park in 2004 (notice the Timberland boots and blue jeans, classic tells that we were early in understanding of how to stay comfortable outdoors)
Justin and Sally met at the University of Virginia and have been camping and hiking together ever since. Justin grew up summer RV camping with his family in the Pacific Northwest while Sally grew up in a military family where the answer to "Should we go camping?" was, "Why would we do that?" Both also grew up in mixed families with Black fathers and White mothers. In any space, families that looked like theirs were rare, but especially in outdoor spaces.
As they became more comfortable occupying outdoor spaces and experiencing the mental health benefits of making it a regular practice, Sally and Justin began, mostly unsuccessfully, to recruit their friends to start camping too. The barriers of place (where do I go and how do I get a campsite there?), equipment (will I have what I need to be safe and comfortable?), and belonging (is the outdoors a place where I will be included and valued?) kept surfacing, so the Steeles set out to create a platform to address these barriers for families like theirs who want to go camping but don't know how to do so in a way that consistently works for their family.
They also knew the reservation hustle firsthand. Over the years, the Steeles have placed 381 campground reservations to secure 107 actual trips—a 61% cancellation rate that isn't indecisiveness, it's strategy. California's most popular campgrounds sell out in minutes when booking windows open. Experienced campers book multiple options, then consolidate to the best site as plans firm up. That hard-won knowledge of how reservation systems actually work is baked into every feature on the platform.
Sally and Justin on the last leg of the Zion Traverse in Zion National Park in 2018 (as you can see, we learned a thing or two about equipping ourselves in the 14 years since our first hike in Virginia)
The entire Steele family in 2022 camping at Kirk Creek campground in incredible Big Sur, California
Over 13 years, the Steeles have logged 107 camping trips and 273 nights outdoors across 54 different campgrounds in 4 states—buying and testing more gear than they care to admit along the way. From their home base in Oakland, California they have used weekends and holidays to road trip to amazing places, zero in on the gear they love, and figure out what makes for a memorable camping trip for the whole family. Since 2021, they've averaged 20 trips and nearly 50 nights outdoors per year—roughly every other weekend spent at a campground.
Over 20 years of camping together, Sally and Justin noticed who wasn't in campgrounds with them. They saw the barriers families faced: lack of gear, knowledge gaps, and most critically—not feeling like outdoor spaces were for them.
This led to creating two interconnected solutions: Outdoorithm.com (a free camping discovery platform specializing in public lands) and Outdoorithm Collective (a 501c3 nonprofit providing fully-supported camping trips). Outdoorithm is partnered with the Collective, and a portion of profits supports Collective trips.
Why this model? It's sustainable, scalable, and aligned. The platform serves everyone planning camping trips. The Collective creates first camping experiences for families historically excluded from outdoor spaces. Every search on the platform helps fund someone's first night under the stars.