Prepared by Kristina Ciari, SheJumps Board Member and SheJumps Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee member
SheJumps was founded by three friends who rallied around the idea of, “If she can do it, so can I”. Our first trip took 9 women to climb the Grand Teton, the largest group of women to date at the time, and since that trip we’ve grown into a community offering opportunity for women and girls (transgender and cisgender) to Jump In, Jump Up, and Jump Out at any level, all over the country.
Looking toward the future, we want all people who identify with the women’s community to find belonging in SheJumps, and that’s why we’ve signed on to the Outdoor CEO Diversity Pledge, led by Teresa Baker, to support a future that looks different than the outdoors of today.
We began by wanting to celebrate the accomplishments of women from all experience levels and provide them with a support system to feel confident taking jumps (risks) and trying something new. And while we strive to have a community that consists of women and girls of all backgrounds and ages who help one another reach their highest potential through outdoor adventure and education, the reality is that not everyone has the same type of access to the outdoors. The outdoor industry has been historically dominated by affluent, older white men, and an intentional focus on representation is necessary to create opportunity where all people have the same opportunities to belong.
To further advance and deepen the mission of SheJumps, we have adopted Teresa Baker's Outdoor Industry CEO Diversity Pledge.
As such SheJumps commits to:
Hire and support a diverse workforce and executive leadership.
Present representative marketing and advertising in our media.
Engage and support broadly representative ambassador and athlete teams.
Finally, we will share our experiences with other leading brands.
What this means for SheJumps is:
Intentional recruiting for our board and staff, specifically seeking out candidates of color.
We put a lot of thought and intention behind who is shown on our website, in our social media, and through our printed materials.
In our strategic plan, we outline our desire to become a leading resource of free and low-cost access to outdoor education for girls and women of all backgrounds:
By August 22, 2020, SheJumps will have developed implementation partnerships with at least two community organizations that serve a under-resourced population.
By August 22, 2022, at least 25% of SheJumps participants will be from underserved and/or marginalized populations.
Through our partnerships across the country, we continue to advocate for inclusive language, practices, and experiences for our participation.
We are committed to this work and to changing the face of the outdoors. We know change takes time and will be uncomfortable for some people, but we invite you to dig into this hard stuff with us so we can continue to support each other to Jump In, Jump Up, and Jump Out!
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