Michele Whiteaker

Michele Whiteaker

Michele Whiteaker is a mom of two teens who believes in the power of parents and caregivers to give the children in their lives the gift of nature. She is widely quoted for coining the term “hummingbird parent” to explain a parenting strategy that allows kids some autonomy outdoors. She's spent the past decade building her free online community resource called FunOrangeCountyParks.com with more than 300 parks to empower local Orange County families to get outdoors. Michele is also a National Association for Interpretation Certified Interpretive Guide (CIG), which helps her tell stories and develop social media strategies for engaging online audiences.

Michele's stories

Environmental Literacy: A TK–12 Experience

Parent Michele Whiteaker reflects on the importance of ecoliteracy as part of her son’s K-12 education. She explains how outdoor experiences can be integrated into every subject of every grade, with students exploring and problem-solving along the way, so that environmental literacy can impact students in a lasting way.