Underrepresented Communities and the Environment

By Teresa Baker

How do we engage underrepresented communities in the work of environmental protection? This question has been weighing on me for some time now. With the need growing ever so urgent, we can’t afford to push aside ideas that have not been tried nor can we wait around for answers to fall into our laps.

My initial thought was to simply pair environmental organizations and outdoor brands with affinity groups across the country and encourage a working relationship geared around environmental efforts. Then I thought, no, it needs to be much broader, the reach needs to expand beyond individual connections. My next thought was the entire outdoor industry needs to be working as a collective with individuals across the spectrum, that means underrepresented communities along with the more common faces of the outdoors, which would include ambassadors, to attack environmental issues head-on. Could this work, would the outdoor industry welcome such a relationship, would there be pushback from the outdoor industry, would this concept be welcomed, how much time and effort would it take to implement such an idea?

What I know for certain is that I alone don’t have all the answers, the answers lie within all of us, our voices, our connections, our influence. Combined I know we can make a difference. To open up dialogue and gather thoughts from various sources, I reached out to a few others and asked the question: How do we begin and/or build on the work of reaching underrepresented communities in partnership around the protection of the environment? Here are their answers:

Strick Walker

Merrell, Chief Marketing Officer and the Conservation Alliance board member

“I believe the outdoor industry is shedding old muses – redefining what a ‘core’ enthusiast looks like. We can celebrate people from all backgrounds, experience levels and points of view getting outside. Outdoor sport doesn’t have to be the defining pillar of their lives. From a conservation standpoint, diversity and inclusion is key. Loving the outdoors creates advocates—we need more advocacy to protect wild places, public lands and the natural world. We need it now and the outdoor industry is in a unique position to do something. Let’s go.”

Rose Marcario

Patagonia, CEO and President

“By being more intentional in our recruitment, investment and storytelling, we can bring in underrepresented communities in our efforts to protect the planet. But the experiences we have outdoors, and the way we share those stories, also offer meaningful opportunities to create a more inclusive and inviting space for groups not historically or regularly represented in our industry. And there is no time to waste—the climate crisis necessitates urgent action and we need all hands on deck.”

Adam Kolton

Alaska Wilderness League, Executive Director

“Our members and supporters are responding to brands stepping up and speaking out for our outdoor heritage in ways that don’t shy away from controversy. Henry David Thoreau once called for citizens to ‘cast your whole vote, not a strip of paper merely but your whole influence.’ Outdoor retailers and others in the sector have the same opportunity to use the full power of their reach, their marketing savvy, reputations, and very real economic and political clout to fight for climate solutions and the protection of our last great, wild places. By doing this authentically, in partnership with nonprofit advocacy groups and others in the sector, they can not only move the needle but create deep and enduring consumer loyalty.”

Katie Boué

Outdoor Advocate

What can we do to bridge the gap between underrepresented communities and the outdoor industry at large?

“The outdoor industry has a listening problem–and I mean all of us. We have a lot of gaps between our communities, and the only way to start bridging them is to listen. Once we start effectively and compassionately listening, we can grow relationships. And when we have relationships, we can serve each other, uplift and amplify, invest in growth, build community together. But you have to start with listening and cultivating true relationships.

“As a communications professional, also I look quickly to storytelling for solutions. Let’s start shifting those marketing budgets towards amplifying new perspectives, different communities, stories that connect on a deeper level. Most importantly, do that by putting that funding and resources straight into the hands of the people who are out there on the ground doing the work that bridges communities with the outdoors. It’s one very tiny step in a series of many, many steps, but I always look to media as a powerful tool for spreading community.”

What role does the industry play in the protection of the environment?

“I believe that anyone who profits off the outdoors has a responsibility to protect the environment and the places we benefit from. We take so much from the land, and contribute greatly to the impacts had on these places we claim to love so deeply–shouldn’t we be giving back in a magnitude to balance how much we take? If we’re going to run a powerful ‘industry’ off recreating outdoors, that industry must be built upon a foundation of stewardship and sustainability. We’re doing an okay job right now–I know folks are trying, but I’m looking forward to seeing us all step up in much bigger ways together. Taking action for the protection of the environment is fundamental to who the outdoor industry claims to be.”

James Mills

Journalist, DEI Advocate

Being a person who has been around the outdoor industry for years, what is the industry lacking and how can the industry build stronger relationships with underrepresented communities?

“The one thing that the outdoor industry needs is a definitive statement on diversity, equity and inclusion. Despite a few thoughtful discussions in recent years, there has been no declaration from the Outdoor Industry Association that defines DEI as core values nor has its leadership established basic principles of common purpose to guide member companies toward substantive change. Before we can create a truly diverse equitable and inclusive professional environment, we must first know exactly what that means. To do that we must thoroughly engage and involve in the decision-making process communities color, indigenous people, women, the differently abled, those who identify as LBGTQ+ and the many others who have been systematically neglected for decades. Only then can we begin to explore how we can make the business of outdoor recreation open and accessible to everyone.”

We, too, are your customer base, your land stewards, environmentalists, and many of us do not feel included in the work that is underway. This message is not new, but it is growing more urgent by the day.  With all the talk around reimagining the industry, a revamping is indeed needed, fresh faces, new ideas, all of which underrepresented communities bring. So let us sit together, build together and fight together for what we can no longer deny, an environmental crisis.

We, the underrepresented.