At Ketcha Outdoors we believe all individuals deserve to:
- Have equitable access to nature, outdoor education, and outdoor gear
- Feel welcome in outdoor recreational communities
- Be treated with respect and dignity
- Have fun, build connections, and enjoy the outdoors
We are committed to building a diverse outdoor community that welcomes and celebrates Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and LGBTQIA+ individuals as participants, students, campers, and leaders.
To do this we strive to:
- Prioritize and invest in anti-racism, racial bias, and gender diversity education for our board members, staff and volunteer leaders.
- Continually review and adapt our policies to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion across our workplace and programs.
- Increase the availability of scholarship funds across programs.
- Hire from within the communities we seek to better serve and create pathways for diverse participants/ campers/ students to become leaders within our organization.
- Invest in translation services for our programs.
- Invest in mental health training to support people of all ages.
- Form and maintain a DEI Committee composed of staff and board members to hold us accountable to these goals and adapt these goals based on community need and feedback.
- Recognize that this work is ongoing and needs to be constantly addressed and re-evaluated.
We acknowledge that the summer camp and outdoor industries have a history of appropriation and exclusion. As individuals and as an organization we are aware of our own biases and shortcomings. We state these goals to also remain aware of our organizational mission and our commitment to growing and improving everyday. We believe that together we can achieve these goals and we can leverage our resources to create a more diverse and equitable organization and outdoor community.
If you are interested in learning more, our land acknowledgement can be viewed at https://ketchaoutdoors.org/land-acknowledgement/