Kristina Ciari Tursi
At The Mountaineers, we believe a diverse and inclusive outdoors inspires unity, respect, and passion for the places we love. We aspire to offer outdoor opportunities for ALL. In order to realize this aspiration, we must take a critical look at our internal systems and processes to identify and discuss barriers that keep The Mountaineers from being a community where all people can feel a sense of belonging and experience the outdoors.
We’re investing in E&I as a commitment to our core values, in response to your feedback which drove our strategic plan Vision 2022. Our goals are to ensure that our membership reflects the greater communities we serve, which includes engaging people who have traditionally been excluded from the outdoors, and increasing transparency of our programs and processes.
Since December 2018, our E&I Steering Committee, chartered by the Board of Directors, has been overseeing this work. We’re looking for 3-5 additional volunteers to join our committee. If you’re excited to expand our E&I efforts and dig into brave conversations and solutions, we want to hear from you! Or, if you’re looking to join the conversation but aren’t ready to commit, we encourage you to learn more about our E&I Working Group and join.
Time Commitment
The E&I Committee, chaired by Siana Wong (Olympia branch, Board Member), meets in the evening on the first Monday of the month via Zoom. We’ll resume quarterly in-person meetings when it’s safe to do so. You commit to attending at least 70% of our monthly meetings (2 hours/month, 9-12 months of the year), and to actively lead or participate in sub-committee work. Our current projects center around leader training, recruitment, and resources. You serve a 1-year term, with the opportunity to extend in 1-year increments. Applicants need to be active members of The Mountaineers, as our work is focused on internal Mountaineers processes for the coming few years.
Selection Process
When building the initial committee, we ask all candidates to share their identities so we can be intentional about representation and intersectionality on the committee. We seek to represent as many identities as possible, while recognizing that no one person can speak for a group of individuals. Candidates will also be evaluated based on a personal statement outlining their interest and commitment to this work, and on whether or not they have professional experience with JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) or change-management related work.
The identities/backgrounds considered are:
- Ethnicity and/or race
- Gender identity
- Age
- Disability status
- Military status
- Sexual orientation
- Parent or guardian status
- Branch affiliation
- Primary activities
- Length of involvement and engagement with The Mountaineers
- Leadership experience
Applications will be reviewed by the current committee members. Applications are open until July 31, and will be reviewed on August 3. Final candidates will be contacted in August, hopefully to join our committee in September.
Apply
The Mountaineers are committed to creating a diverse committee that includes people with diverse backgrounds and experiences who are passionate about JEDI work. BIPOC, women, LGBTQIA+, veterans, persons with disabilities, those 55 and older, are encouraged to apply.
Learn More
You can learn more about our Equity & Inclusion work on our E&I Committee page, which includes a list of resources and all of the blogs we’ve posted on E&I to date.
E&I Working Group
The Equity & Inclusion Working Group was established in September 2018 to offer a forum for our members interested in contributing to The Mountaineers work to increase equity in the outdoors. This work is based on our belief that a diverse and inclusive outdoors inspires unity, respect, and passion for the places we love. This is a reflection of our core values, which were written by our community.
The Working Group consists of ~120 individuals who have opted in to provide feedback and resources and participate in conversations as it relates to JEDI work. People in this group agree to receive messages from staff on The Mountaineers a few times or more a month, and to participate thoughtfully and respectfully with other members of this working group. Members participate in good faith, and continued participation is predicated on respectful communications and aligning with the norms of the Working Group.
If you're interested in joining the Working Group Basecamp, please contact kristinac@mountaineers.org.
