Our DEI Journey
Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers believes that we can only care for the places we care about by first caring for the people that visit and live in our shared outdoors. We also believe that working collectively through stewardship can help us to find common ground and work toward building a more resilient and vibrant community. To this end, RFOV is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive community of staff, board, volunteers, and partners regardless of any social, economic, or other barriers that might limit engagement in stewardship of our public lands. And as the needs of our region evolve, we will adapt by engaging directly with the communities RFOV serves, working collectively for the public good.
RFOV DEI INITIATIVES
While this work is ongoing and RFOV is beginning the journey of outlining a DEI plan and its implementation, we have started to incorporate our commitment into our programs and operations. Detailed below are some of the initiatives we have been working on.
Evaluating our Project Selection Process through the lens of DEI
Our project selection committee and RFOV staff have begun asking questions such as “what communities have historically been left out of our process?” “Who benefits most from our work and is that disproportionate to certain communities in our region?” “What biases do we have toward selecting projects?” “Who has power and influence in our process and is there a way to give power and influence to other stakeholders?” We are reaching out to new partners to think more creatively and inclusively about how we prioritize stewardship projects while incorporating these questions into our project selection process.
Removing barriers to engagement in our volunteer programs
We recognize that volunteering is a privilege and may not be accessible to everyone. We have identified a goal to select more projects that are more accessible by public transportation and offer childcare during projects to help families attend. We are also intentionally choosing a diverse suite of projects that range from physically easy to strenuous to provide opportunities for diverse ages, abilities, and backgrounds. We have expanded our group project program such that people can volunteer during the work day and are asking businesses to ensure that employees are compensated when out on an RFOV project. We are also actively working to build relationships with organizations and groups that represent a more diverse audience and are formulating a strategy to remove language barriers for participants. Within our Young Stewards Programs, we aim to engage thousands of youth in our valley, many of who do not traditionally have access to the outdoors.
Creating an organizational culture that celebrates diversity and is equipped to support a diverse community of staff, partners, and volunteers
The process of creating an inclusive and diverse community begins with the staff and board members who make up our organization. We have begun examining and modifying our hiring practices to minimize biases toward particular socio-economic groups and expand our reach to applicants who have historically been underrepresented in the outdoor industry. We have embarked on a compensation plan to increase compensation and benefits to full time and seasonal staff. Within our board, we are putting an open call for new board members rather than using internal networking to bring new board members into our organization. Finally, we are building our internal competencies and knowledge on DEI issues by providing ongoing staff and board training.
Please feel free to send us your thoughts in regard to this work at DEI@rfov.org.
