It's Giving: Sleigh Bells

On this episode of It’s Giving, host Ingela Travers-Hayward is joined by Alexis Krauss from Sleigh Bells, a musician whose life as a touring artist and passion for community building have always coexisted. This conversation dives into her history of advocacy, focusing on co-founding two impactful outdoor organizations: Kinship Climbing Collective and Rise Outside.Alexis opens up about the gritty reality of starting and running a grassroots organization, and shares the realization that led them to move their mentorship curriculum from indoor gyms to the Shawangunk Mountains. Today, Rise Outside is an official, AMGA-accredited 501c3 structured around inclusivity, addressing socio-economic barriers, and acting as stewards of ancestral Indigenous lands rather than treating nature as something to conquer. As Alexis unpacks the idea of "compassion fatigue" on social media, this conversation offers a candid look at the tension between a frantic music career and the deeply grounding, human-scale impact of physically showing up for your community."If you believe in something, if you believe there is a space and there's a void, there's something that needs to be filled and you can bring life to that, do it."Follow along with behind-the-scenes notes and resources on the causes each musician champions: ⁠https://itsgivingpod.substack.comEnjoyed the show? Rate, review, and subscribe to help us keep these essential conversations going. Keep an eye out for Episode 6 next Wednesday, where we continue to explore the intersection of the music industry and advocacy!