Emily Fisher, executive director of��Youth Sports Alliance��(YSA), discusses the impact of winning��the Outdoor Accessibility and Education category of the 2023��Defender Service Awards��Presented by CHASE. Designed to support hardworking nonprofits across the United States and Canada, the award (which included a brand-new customized Defender 130) recognized YSA’s work helping kids of all backgrounds to experience the wonder and empowerment of outdoor sports, from mountain biking and sailing to skiing and snowboarding.

Defender embraces the impossible. A modern-day hero that anticipates the future. Available in 90, 110, and 130 body styles, with up to eight seats, each has a charisma of its own. Learn more at .

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Here at , we believe in supporting and partnering with nonprofit organizations who work to protect the planet and grow outdoor participation among youth and underrepresented communities. We believe that together with our audience of 80 million people per month, we can make a difference. Will you help us get more kids out on the slopes or the bike for the first time? Fund the fight for climate action? Bring yoga to those who need healing—and seeds to community gardens?

Join us to support seven nonprofit partners from our Find Your Good that are doing this work every day.

Give to one (or more!) of your favorites by Dec. 6—your tax-deductible donation goes directly to the nonprofit(s) you choose.

and help protect the places you love from climate change.

�� and kick down barriers to winter sports.

and help empower a new generation of environmental activists rooted in equity and inclusion.��

and train youth to be effective leaders at the intersection of the environment and climate justice movements.

and help bring trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness practices to incarcerated people.��

and help teach young people to lead, create, and grow a healthy, sustainable future through community gardening.��

and help increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in cycling.��

The post Find Your Good This Giving Season appeared first on ���ϳԹ��� Online.

Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver. —

Hiking & Camping

takes inner city kids on transformative outdoor adventures. A $25 donation will provide essential medical and safety supplies for one youth trip.

leads wilderness trips for the queer ad transgender community and conducts inclusion training for educators. A $25 donation will buy food for one person for a 4-day backpacking trip.

Running

empowers and trains women around the globe to create safe, supportive running communities. A $25 donation will fund a training kit for one community coach.

connects Native American youth to the spiritual and cultural legacy of running through competitive and non-competitive programming. A $25 donation will provide a day of meals for one Wings Facilitator as they travel around the southwest coordinating Running & Fitness Camps for Tribal youth.

Climbing

protects public lands, restores climbing areas impacted by use, buys threatened land, and educates climbers and land managers about responsible stewardship and risk mitigation. A $25 donation buys 6 wag bags for the climbing community.

provides rock and ice climbing experiences and training for adaptive athletes and works with climbing facilities to help build local adaptive climbing programs. A $25 donation will cover a scholarship for an adaptive climber at a local skills clinic.

Cycling

provides inner-city youth access to bikes, gear, and training, along with resources and education to foster success on and off the bike. A $50 donation will provide three Student Cycling Club members with a club tee-shirt and baseball cap.

works to make the sport of cycling more diverse, equitable, and inclusive�� by providing education, access, and opportunities to ride to underserved communities. A $50 donation will help Grow buy bike helmets sized for little girls with lots of braids and curly hair.

Sustainability

trains and empowers youth across the globe to be leaders and take action for the environment and social justice.

connects people to climate justice movements in their local communities through storytelling and education. A $50 donation will buy three environmental justice books to give out to our community.

Healthy Living

offers food-based education to youth, using food, farming, and the culinary arts as a foundation for academic exploration, leadership, and pursuit of post-secondary pathways. A $25 donation will supply 5 students with growing starter kits.

offers healing yoga programs and training to incarcerated people and correctional facility staff to address the trauma, addiction, and mental health issues that lead to and arise from incarceration. A $50 donation will provide yoga books to five individuals who have been impacted by incarceration.

Snow Sports

unites outdoor enthusiasts, athletes, scientists, and Congress members in the fight to stop climate change. A $50 donation will fund online climate advocacy training for 7 outdoor enthusiasts.

eliminates barriers and gets underrepresented kids out on skis and snowboards by providing gear, instruction, and transportation. A $25 donation will buy a child a seat on the ski/snowboard bus.����

is how ���ϳԹ��� supports nonprofit organizations who work to protect the planet and grow outdoor participation among youth and underrepresented communities.

The post Your Daily Good Deed appeared first on ���ϳԹ��� Online.

Massachusetts became , joining 17 other states across the country that aim to galvanize and harness the collective power of outdoor businesses.

The new office, announced yesterday by Lt. Governor Karyn Polito at a ceremony at Wachusett Mountain ski area, is within the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) and will work alongside state agencies, including the Department of Fish and Game, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, to enhance outdoor recreational opportunities throughout the state and support the associated economic, environmental, and quality of life benefits they bring.

What does this mean for outdoor recreationists in Massachusetts? “When a state like Massachusetts invests in outdoor businesses and opens an OREC office, it means new business recruitment and retention, resilient rural communities, equitable access to the outdoors, and increased public health and wellness, not to mention making states more competitive, period,” said Chris Perkins, senior director at Outdoor Recreation Roundtable.

“Outdoor recreation is a consistent economic driver for communities throughout the Commonwealth, creating jobs and supporting small businesses,” said Lieutenant Governor Polito. “Our world-class parks, beaches, and trails attract visitors from all across the world, and the creation of this office will promote collaboration between local communities, outdoor businesses, and the Commonwealth on expanding these opportunities even further.”

According to a in Massachusetts accounted for $ 9.5 billion or 1.5% of GDP and 93,422 jobs or 2.6% of employment in the Commonwealth. This represents 24 percent growth over the previous year.

A director has not yet been hired, but the state has . The office will focus on the following efforts:

• Coordinating outdoor recreation policy;
• Identifying funding opportunities for programs and infrastructure;
• Enhancing public access and recreation infrastructure;
• Supporting the outdoor recreation economy;
• Advancing equity and access to outdoor recreation opportunities; and,
• Promoting Massachusetts as a great place to work, live, and enjoy outdoor recreation.

“With as much participation and investment as there has been in outdoor recreation of late, and more people than ever moving to and working in places with great outdoor recreation opportunities, I predict that a number of states will be watching Massachusetts’ announcement today and asking themselves, “why can’t we be next?” said Perkins.

The post Massachusetts Announces New Office of Outdoor Recreation appeared first on ���ϳԹ��� Online.

Think about your most profound outdoor experience. The one where it all began, your love of being outside, your connection to nature, and your discovery of a new passion. Think about your sense of awe during that moment at how you fit into the natural world and the unspeakable beauty of it all.

What if it never happened? How different would your life be if you never discovered hiking, cycling, running, climbing, skiing, or whatever it is that you love to do outdoors?

At ���ϳԹ���, our mission is to get everyone outside. We believe that the future of our planet depends on it. That’s why our parent company, ���ϳԹ��� Inc., created and partnered with 14 nonprofit organizations that share our mission. Put simply, our new philanthropic branch, Find Your Good, is a place where you can find and support causes that align with your passions.

There are hundreds of amazing nonprofits out there showing up for people and the planet. We spent months researching organizations that bring in under $5 million in funds per year (because we prefer to focus on grassroots efforts). We surveyed organizations about their audience and impacts. And we finally landed on 14 mission-aligned partners working in seven categories: , , , , , , and .

Trust us, these organizations are worth your attention and support. No matter what your outdoor jam is, we’ve got you covered. So pick your passion, then Find Your Good.

Hiking and Camping

The Outdoorist Oath

What they do: Through free workshops and learning tools, the teaches people how to take personal action for the planet, inclusion, and adventure and creates a community of allies for sharing and support.

A recent win: Since its launch in early 2022, almost 1,900 people have taken the Oath’s free educational workshop and 3,000 people remain in the queue.

Big City Mountaineers

What they do: (BCM) takes inner city kids on transformative outdoor adventures that strengthen life skills and build community.

A recent win: In 2022, BCM increased the number of program hours enjoyed by its youth participants by 82 percent.

Cycling

Bahati Foundation

What they do: provides inner-city youth access to bikes, gear, and training, along with resources and education to foster success on and off the bike.

A recent win: Bahati fully sponsored five young riders for their first ever 100-mile gravel race at�� Steamboat Springs’ SBT GRVL in August 2022. Three of them made the podium!

Grow Cycling

What they do: works to make the sport of cycling more diverse, equitable, and inclusive�� by providing education, access, and opportunities to ride to underserved communities.

A recent win: The city of Los Angeles approved Grow Cycling’s proposal to in a public park which will provide cycling opportunities to thousands of local residents. The city will also be adding extra bike cars on metro trains and expanding bike racks on city buses leading to the pump track to ensure safe access to the new facility.

Climbing

Access Fund

What they do: protects public lands, restores climbing areas impacted by use, buys threatened land, and educates climbers and land managers about responsible stewardship and risk mitigation.

A recent win: Access Fund (with the support of Backcountry) just announced that will bring ten local climbing projects around the country to life in 2023.

Paradox Sports

What they do: provides rock and ice climbing experiences and training for adaptive athletes and works with climbing facilities to help build local adaptive climbing programs.

A recent win: Paradox held its first ever Adaptive Climbing Summit in July 2022 in Denver, Colorado, and has since taught four Adaptive Climbing Initiatives with three more scheduled for the fall.

Winter Sports

Protect Our Winters

What they do: (POW) unites outdoor enthusiasts, athletes, scientists, and Congress members in the fight to stop climate change, through lobbying in Washington DC, get-out-the-vote efforts, social media campaigns, and education.

A recent win: By encouraging hundreds of thousands of people to contact their Congress members, writing op-eds, and even taking senators skiing and climbing, POW played a critical role in the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act designed to fund solutions that will protect the places we live and lifestyles that we love.

Share Winter Foundation

What they do: partners with and funds local community centers around the U.S. to eliminate barriers and get underrepresented kids out on skis and snowboards, providing all the gear, instruction, and transportation needed.

A recent win: Last winter, Share Winter launched partnerships with companies such as Motel 6, United Airlines, and Alterra Mountain Company that expanded ski and snowboard access for 1,318 youth.

Running

Wings of America

What they do: Through competitive and non-competitive programming, (Wings) connects Native American youth to the spiritual and cultural legacy of running through the power of their own legs.

A recent win: Wings rebounded from the pandemic and successfully completed more than a dozen youth enrichment camps for nearly 500 kids in Tribal communities across the Southwest this past summer.

261 Fearless

What they do: empowers and trains women around the globe to create safe, supportive running communities.

A recent win: 261 Fearless Inc. has educated over 350 women coaches from 12 countries on 5 continents. These coaches have launched 19 women’srunning groups and united over 5,000 women of all ages, backgrounds, and cultures around the joy of running.

Healthy Living

Prison Yoga Project

What they do: (PYP) offers healing yoga programs and training to incarcerated people and correctional facility staff to address the trauma, addiction, and mental health issues that lead to and arise from incarceration.

A recent win: PYP is just wrapping up its third round of , which is rooted in social justice, teaching instructors to offer trauma-informed and accessible classes outside of a studio setting.

Jones Valley Teaching Farm

What they do: (JVTF) offers food-based education to grammar-, middle-, and high-school-aged kids, using food, farming, and the culinary arts as a foundation for academic exploration, leadership, and pursuit of post-secondary pathways.

A recent win: JVTF’s annual this year (featuring ���ϳԹ���’s director of food and nutrition, ) has raised $337,000 to date that will be used to propel the org’s growth and impact on youth.

Sustainability

Intersectional Environmentalist

What they do: Through story-telling and education, (IE) connects people to climate justice movements in their local communities and amplifies the work and legacies of diverse people in the environmental space.

A recent win: During Climate Week NYC, IE hosted 120 attendees at its fifth , which featured local orchestral group Gaia Music Collective performing hip hop songs, a panel discussion about identity and activism, and a screenprinting activation featuring climate-focused designs.

Earth Guardians

What they do: (EG) trains and empowers youth (ages 15 to 21) across the globe to be leaders and take action for the environment and social justice.

A recent win: EG recently approved more than 30 microgrant applications, awarding $300 to $500 to youths executing community projects relating to reforestation programs, building waste management systems, and climate education in elementary schools.

The post We Just Launched Our New Fundraising Platform: Find Your Good appeared first on ���ϳԹ��� Online.

Mystery Ranch, the industry-leading pack company built on a heritage of comfortable load carriage, has announced its partnership with Big City Mountaineers (BCM) and ���ϳԹ���. to kick off the inaugural fundraising campaign, with a donation match during the month of September.

���ϳԹ���’s Find Your Good platform launched in 2022 with the mission to connect people who love spending time outside with like-minded nonprofits anchored in the outdoors. Find Your Good supports groups in seven categories: hiking and camping, cycling, running, climbing, winter sports, healthy living, and sustainability. BCM is one of the Find Your Good beneficiary organizations committed to changing the trajectory of children’s lives by introducing them to the joys of nature.

“The Find Your Good initiative is an incredible tool helping to connect people with nonprofits that have similar principles and values rooted in the outdoors,” said David Taus, executive director at Big City Mountaineers. “���ϳԹ���’s dedication to supporting Big City Mountaineers and other organizations with similar values really catalyzes BCM’s goal of breaking down barriers to outdoor access for young people from disinvested communities.”

To further bolster the 2022 campaign, BCM has partnered with Mystery Ranch, which has pledged to match every dollar donated to BCM from September 12 to 22, up to $5,000. To support BCM and double your impact through this generous matching campaign, please make your tax-deductible donation below.

To sweeten the deal, one donor will be selected at random to receive a Mystery Ranch gear package.

“I’m so thrilled to have Big City Mountaineers as a member of our first cohort of Find Your Good,” said Kristin Hostetter, head of sustainability and community partnerships at ���ϳԹ���. “The work BCM does is so important and impactful, not only to the kids it serves but to the outdoor community at large. We’re honored to support them and share their incredible work with our audience.”

Michelle Fleming, Mystery Ranch’s product marketing manager, also voiced her support for the campaign. “The work that BCM has done over the years has been incredible,” she said. “It strongly aligns with our belief that the outdoors is a transformative place. Providing access to the outdoors for youth who lack equitable access to nature is so important. The support BCM receives from companies like ���ϳԹ��� and Mystery Ranch is critical to their programming and we are so honored to be a part of Find your Good and this meaningful collaboration.”

Founded in 2000, is committed to making the best load-bearing gear in the world. A product-driven company from the beginning, Mystery Ranch designs packs for the jobs that need to get done, and for the people committed to doing them, with the best materials available and the most durable construction methods that exist.

The post Mystery Ranch Partners with Big City Mountaineers and ���ϳԹ��� to Launch ‘Find Your Good’ Campaign appeared first on ���ϳԹ��� Online.

Jessie Diggins’ life revolves around snow. She is, after all, the most decorated Nordic skier in U.S. history. But recently, it’s not the snow itself that’s top of mind for her; it’s the lack of it. Losing winter as we know it—along with the other environmental ravages of climate change and a warming globe—has become one of her biggest sources of worry and motivation.

“I want my grandkids someday to have the opportunity to learn cross-country skiing,” Diggins told OBJ. “Maybe they like it, and maybe they don’t. But at least I want them to get the chance to experience winter the way we knew it growing up.”

Earlier this year, that wish brought the three-time Olympic medal winner to Capitol Hill��to lobby for a wonky-sounding bill that could help : the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which finally became law on August 16.

She’s not the only pro athlete getting involved in politics. Environmental concerns��also brought Tommy Caldwell, one of the planet’s best rock climbers, and Colorado senator John Hickenlooper together for a climb last fall, so that Caldwell could bend the senator’s ear about his climate concerns. Mountaineer Conrad Anker has paid repeated visits to the offices of Montana senators Jon Tester and Steve Daines for the same reason. And pioneering climber Phil Henderson, the leader of the first all-Black American team to summit Everest, is out pounding the pavement, encouraging his community to , when he’s not making sports history.

As athlete activism , some fans are for folks like Diggins, Caldwell, Anker, and Henderson to stay in their lanes and quiet down. Whatever the haters may say, their efforts are working. The four athletes, working with nonprofit , were among the many voices that helped move the IRA over the finish line. The law tackles health care costs, tax codes, and pollution in historically marginalized communities, and also contains the largest climate investment��in U.S. history.

“This puts us on a path for energy security in the 21st century,” said Mario Molina, POW’s executive director. “It will also help us reach our commitment under the Paris Agreement��of 40 percent greenhouse-gas emissions reduction from 2005 levels by 2030.”

But the fight isn’t over.

A little over a week after President Biden signed the bill into law, ���ϳԹ��� Business Journal sat down with these four athletes, along with Molina of POW, to ask what the legislation means to them, their careers, and the broader outdoor community—and what still needs to be done to ensure a safe future for our planet. The below conversation has been edited for��clarity.

Of all the ways you could spend your time, why advocate for climate-change legislation and the Inflation Reduction Act?��

Jessie Diggins: It doesn’t matter if you’re a huge fan of fresh powder or you’re��into fly fishing or trail running, we’re��all invested in some way in being outdoors, breathing clean air, enjoying the amazing environment, and protecting our crazy-cool outdoor playgrounds.

Tommy Caldwell: I don’t like politics, and I don’t really like the idea of lobbying. But I do understand that policy is our quickest way to make a change. At the very least, I want to slow down climate change so we can extend the health and wellbeing of our children and our children’s children. This is really about future generations.

And will this law actually protect our planet, in your view? Or at least help?

Mario Molina: Under a business-as-usual scenario, where we don’t do anything at all, we are on a trajectory to reach warming of 3.5 to 4 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. Everything that we’re experiencing now—the heatwave that we just had, the increase in hurricanes, floods, reduced snowpack, the unreliability of winter, droughts and fires out West—is the consequence of about 1.2 degrees.

Say you’re mountain biking down a 40-degree slope and you see a cement wall in front of you. When is it too late to hit the brakes? Do you want to hit that at 50 miles per hour? Or do you want to hit it at 25 miles per hour? We are going to continue to see the impact [of climate change], but there is a scenario in which those impacts are manageable, and we were able to protect some semblance of seasonality.

What has that 1.2-degree warming, and the resulting climate changes, looked like for you on trails and mountains over the course of your careers?

JD: A couple of years back, we started our World Cup season with the pre-camp in Finland in Rovaniemi, which is right on the edge of the Arctic Circle. Even there, the trails had completely melted out, they were full of rocks and dirt and puddles, and it was down to a very thin layer of man-made snow. We would jog home after skiing these small loops on this dirty snow, and there would be little flowers and green moss and plants blooming on the side of the trail—in November! In the Arctic Circle! For me, that was just really shocking. It brings it home that nowhere is safe.

Phil Henderson: The biggest example I can give is from Mount Kenya in 2000, where I spent a lot of time, and where there are permanent ice fields. The route to one of the higher peaks is easy [Editor’s note: easy for you, Phil]. I went back in 2010, and that ice was gone, those permanent ice fields were pretty much gone.

Similar story: I went to Kilimanjaro in 2000, and then back in 2018, and again what you see is shrinking glaciers, ice that’s��not there anymore. So I’ve��seen it with my eyes in places that most people will never see. But others see it in their cities, in the urban areas: winter coming later, the snowpack being far more shallow, no runoff in the rivers.

Tommy Caldwell: I started noticing the glacier changes in the mountains—that’s��really obvious. As glaciers melt out, the mountains are thawing and starting to fall down in certain places. Beyond that, the two places where I spend most of my time, Colorado and Yosemite,��are drastically changed because of forest fires. Once, the summertime was an incredible climbing season; now a lot of the time we’re��stuck inside because of the air quality.

What do you mean by that? Mountains are actually falling down?

TC: Ice is melting out of the cracks. I first started to notice it in Patagonia. Mountains melted and moved, and that created ,��but also just completely sporadic rockfall, whole sides of the mountain.

Conrad Anker: The original ascent route of The Ogre [in Pakistan’s Karakoram Range] is completely melted out. It’s��not climbable from a safety parameter. Think of it like this. If you’ve��ever scraped ice off in your driveway on a cold day, it’s��completely stuck there. You chip so hard, you end up breaking the concrete. If you’re��an ice climber, you want those conditions. But then on a warm day, when there’s��a bed of water underneath it—which is what happened this year in the Marmolada Glacier Collapse [in the Dolomites]—that’s when things move.

So while this bill likely won’t stop some of those changes, it sounds like it could help them from getting worse. Where does it fall short?��

MM: We would have loved not to see oil leases included in the bill. The International Energy Agency has said pretty emphatically that in order to reach the 1.5-degree Paris target, there can’t��be any new fossil fuel development.

Now, having said that, rarely in politics do you get something done that doesn’t��get criticism from both sides. If you’re��getting criticism from both sides, you’ve��probably struck somewhere in the middle of the best you could get.

What are some of the tangible, immediate benefits of the climate portions of the bill?

CA: Near-term, if we have more solar panels and wind towers, those two industries hire from the climbing community.��They put advertisements in the magazines that talk to those people; they actively recruit within them. So there’s��going to be more climbers working on towers and using their skills. We’re��going to create jobs. Here in Montana, we’re a coal state but have a tremendous amount of wind and solar potential. The law will put people to work.

TC: I moved into a new house a few years ago and I’ve��been debating putting solar on—I’ll admit, it does seem a little bit expensive. This [the bill’s Residential Clean Energy Credit, which allows homeowners to subtract 30 percent of solar costs from their federal taxes through 2032] just moves the needle to a place that makes it a no-brainer. If that can happen for me, on my house, it can happen for other people.

What’s next then? Where do we go from here?

MM: The work that’s left won’t be done in our lifetime. That’s��something we have to recognize. But this is a massive quantum leap. Number one is clean-energy permitting and number two is interconnection and transmission [of that energy]. We have to make permitting far more effective, far more efficient. After that, the focus is grid upgrades.

What can we do as people who love the outdoors?

JD: . And not just every four years. Vote this fall [in the midterms]. We’ve��seen history made in the margins of elections, in the smallest numbers you can imagine. That can actually make a big swing and change the course of what will happen and what laws are able to be passed.

PH: Look at your daily life, and minimize as much energy use as you possibly can. If you can use solar, switch to solar. If you can drive an electric car, drive an electric car. If you can ride a bike, ride a bike. If you can walk, walk. We just have to really change our way of thinking and living on a day-to-day basis.

Even with everything you’ve seen—ski trails melting, mountains crumbling—do you feel hopeful?

TC: It’s��amazing how my mood can go from feeling pretty discouraged to feeling very hopeful just based on this one bill. Once this version of the bill finally passed, I did find myself filled with hope.

JD: We need to remember that we’re��not at the end of the race yet—and this is a very, very long race. But I think it’s��important to celebrate where we are right now, and then to keep looking forward, using our voices, and not taking for granted how amazing the outdoors are. Every time I get out to ski, I have to remind myself how incredible that opportunity is, and that we have to fight to protect it. It’s��when we start taking things for granted that we’re most at risk of losing them.

Editor’s note: Protect Our Winters is an ���ϳԹ���. . POW is focused on sparking the civic engagement that fuels big climate policy wins like the Inflation Reduction Act.

The post Four of the World’s Top Outdoor Athletes Explain What the Inflation Reduction Act Means to Them appeared first on ���ϳԹ��� Online.

Lise Aangeenbrug is stepping down as executive director of the to become the ’s chief program officer, Aangeenbrug told OBJ today. She will leave OIA August 19 and begin with the National Park Foundation September 12.

“I wasn’t looking to leave OIA, but the more I learned about the position [at the National Park Foundation] and what they needed to have done, I came to the conclusion that it was a really great fit between my passion and skill sets and what they needed,” she said. “I’m still very passionate about what’s possible with the outdoor industry, but I’m really drawn to driving immediate results on the ground for national parks.”

Aangeenbrug has helmed OIA since February 2020, and previously served as executive vice president of the National Park Foundation from 2016 to 2018.��

“It’s bittersweet for me,” she said of leaving OIA. “I love the outdoor industry, and OIA plays a really important role, this is just a chance for me to do something very direct in protecting our parks.”

What She’ll Be Doing

The National Park Foundation is the congressionally chartered charitable arm of the National Park Service and works with more than 200 affiliated groups across the country that raise funds for specific parks. As the National Park Foundation’s chief program officer, Aangeenbrug expects to be charged with figuring out how to balance the needs of the National Park Service, visitors’ needs, and projects that donors want to fund.

“It’ll be combining all of those things and figuring out how to deliver in a timely and effective and strategic manner,” she said. “It’s everything from fixing the roof on the Lincoln Memorial to telling more complete stories at our parks. Half of the park system is focused on culture and history.”

The National Park Foundation addresses history and culture, landscape and wildlife conservation, resilience and sustainability, climate change impact, youth engagement, and the Parks of the Future initiative—all issues with which Aangeenbrug has deep experience. “This position really brought together all of the things I’ve been working on throughout my career that I really care about,” she said.

Leaving OIA in a Good Place

As for the timing of her departure, Aangeenburg feels the moment is right. “I’m leaving [OIA] in good hands,” she said. “We have a strong board. The business model change has been in place for a year and is working. We’ve really strengthened our advocacy work. Things are just in a stronger position than two and a half years ago at OIA, especially coming out of COVID. I don’t think I would have left a year ago if this position had been presented to me, but now’s a good time. I feel like I’m leaving it in good shape and my [departure] won’t be leaving it in a lurch.”

Aangeenburg cites the reorganization of membership dues at OIA as a major accomplishment that has benefited the trade organization.��

“There may need to be refinements, but generally having the members pay higher fees for things they deeply value, such as our advocacy work, or , or the enhanced research, has been successful,” she said. “Our revenue is tied to delivering products to our members that they badly want from their trade organization, instead of it just being pass-through revenue from Outdoor Retailer. There’s a deeper connection now between members and OIA.”

When asked about the future of Outdoor Retailer and its moving back to Salt Lake City, Aangeenbrug said she’s taking a wait-and-see approach. “With as many members as we have, everyone has different wants and needs. But we do know that for our small- and medium-sized members, trade shows are still incredibly important.”

Of all her accomplishments at OIA, though, Aangeenbrug said steering the organization through the pandemic was the most important, in her view.

“Getting OIA through COVID and dealing with those unique challenges [was critical],” she said. “The organization was able to pivot and help our members figure out how to get PPE loans. We then quickly researched how the industry was changing…during the pandemic—how participation was changing.”

The Future of the Trade Association

Aangeenbrug said she will not be involved in the selection of her successor at OIA, but that she hopes OIA will continue to increase its work toward advocacy for the outdoors while supporting outdoor-industry businesses.

“OIA understands that, as outdoor businesses grow, they reach a point where they can become more active in advocacy,” she said. “Business success and outdoor stewardship go hand in hand, and I hope to see that continue. As the conservationist David Brower said, ‘There is no business to be done on a dead planet.’”

As for her time in between positions, Aangeenbrug is going to spend some time bikepacking and hiking in the upper peninsula of Michigan.

“I need to get outside and practice what I preach,” she said.

The post Outgoing OIA Director to Join National Park Foundation appeared first on ���ϳԹ��� Online.

Executive Director will step down from her position on Friday, August 19. While declining to comment in detail, Aangeenbrug told OBJ that a “compelling opportunity” at the National Park Foundation was the motive behind her decision, which she says she’ll explain next week. She announced the news to the industry in a posted to OIA’s website.

Aangeenbrug’s appointment as OIA’s executive director was announced on February 6, 2020, following a six-month search that involved more than 400 applicants. Prior to leading the trade association—which was founded in 1989 and represents more than 1,300 outdoor retailers, manufacturers, and suppliers worldwide—Aangeenbrug served as the executive director of the , OIA’s charitable organization, whose goals include getting underserved children and families into the outdoors. She was also the executive vice president of the from 2016 to 2018, executive director of from 2009 to 2016, and director of programs for the Colorado Conservations Trust from 2001 to 2007.

“OIA has a unique role around bringing together voices and ideas to support thriving outdoor businesses, to empower and build thriving outdoor communities, and to ensure a thriving planet,” Aangeenbrug said in 2020 after accepting the ED position. “This is a dream job, and I am excited to collaborate with the outdoor industry and other organizations to build a big tent that leads to powerful action.”

Aangeenbrug began her career as a field biologist in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve in southwestern Kenya, a job that eventually propelled her to positions with the U.S. Department of the Interior and the California Department of Fish and Game. She earned her master’s degree from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and her bachelor’s degree from St. Lawrence University.��

Aangeenbrug’s Work at OIA

During her tenure as OIA’s leader, Aangeenbrug helped the outdoor industry lobby at the federal level, visiting the White House and meeting with President Biden in 2021 alongside other labor leaders and union representatives. She worked in support of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (), legislation that eventually helped reinstate FICOR, a government group that tracks the economic impact of the outdoor industry in the U.S.

Under Aangeenbrug’s direction, OIA also lobbied to reinstate protections for Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts national monuments—federal lands exposed to commercial development under the Trump administration. She led OIA through the most challenging phase of the pandemic, when the group’s main revenue generator, Outdoor Retailer, was replaced by virtual stand-in events in 2020. And she helped OIA adjust its membership-fee structure, arguing that the old model was outdated and unsuited to a twenty-first century outdoor industry.��

“The way our funding model worked in the past was fairly imbalanced,” she said in a December 2020 interview with OBJ. “If you came to Outdoor Retailer, you paid a lot each year to support what we do at OIA. If you didn’t come to OR, you paid much less. That created an unnecessary division in the membership, I think, and made the revenue stream very uneven and susceptible to major disruptions.”��

OIA did not respond to a request for comment about a successor to Aangeenbrug, or how long it may take to replace her.

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, a nonprofit organization that helps outdoor recreation businesses bring increased diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into their workplaces, has announced the promotion of to CEO. Smith had been Camber Outdoors Chief Development Officer since June 2021.

“I’m super excited to be able to transition from CDO to CEO, and I’m looking forward to the ride,” Smith told OBJ today. “I’m so excited not just about the future of Camber, but for the future of the outdoor industry as well.”

Smith will lead Camber in helping more than 300 outdoor industry partners including REI, Timberline, Smartwool, CamelBak, Topo Designs, Thule, Rivian, Jack Wolfskin, and Yeti implement DEI practices in their workplaces. Services offered by Camber Outdoors include helping companies attract and retain a diverse workforce, salary equity reviews, employee and market surveys, and professional mentorship programs.����

, co-president of Camber’s board of directors and McDonald’s global chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, said in a press release, after the news broke, “Tiffany joined the organization with a proven track record of impact and continued the trend of success within the first year at Camber. She established a partner experience which has increased partner engagement by 60 percent, increased partner retention rate, diversified funding streams, recruited and managed leaders as well as enhanced communication strategies.”

Added Miller, “Tiffany was poised for this promotion with her undeniable impact within our organization and within the outdoor recreation economy. Tiffany is a seasoned leader whose vision, energy, and sense of purpose will drive systemic change in building more inclusive, diverse, and equitable workplaces.”

Smith said the upheaval experienced by businesses in recent years makes this an opportune time for companies to re-evaluate themselves, and that business leaders have to consider the reality that everything happening in the world right now is affecting their employees in real and lasting ways.

“Where you choose to work is a form of activism, based upon the value structure and mission of the company,” Smith said. “We help companies view the workplace as a vehicle of change. We spend a majority of our time at work with our colleagues and team members, and the more that we infuse [workplaces with] this inclusive culture, the more we provide resources around equality and equitable systems. I believe that the workplace is a microcosm of the larger world. And if we can get this right, just maybe that impact will go into our communities and we’ll see the changes we’re looking for.”

Smith brings to Camber more than 15 years of strategic leadership experience spanning both the nonprofit and for profit sectors. She has held leadership positions with national nonprofits including the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Girl Scouts, and the National Urban League. Smith is currently enrolled in Harvard’s Interdisciplinary Studies–Business Management dual bachelor’s and master’s degree program.

Smith will continue implementing Camber Outdoors’ strategic plan she helped develop as CDO that includes five key priorities: amplifying the narrative of Camber’s mission; catering to Camber Outdoors’ partners with new programming and initiatives; assessing core needs through ; creating a more diverse pipeline of professional talent in outdoor recreation industries; and continuing to find ways to strengthen Camber Outdoors as an organization.

“The outdoor industry is perfectly poised to have a reach that other sectors do not,” Smith said. “Everyone goes outside and has outside experiences—whether it’s hiking on trails or riding bikes in urban communities. Having that point of connection where everyone can relate to being outside opens up opportunities to speak to the huge audience that the outdoor industry has.”

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