building equitable systems and processes, and a culture of awareness around diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace

 
 

A Facebook Live conversation with Camber Outdoors and Verde Brand Communications 

Note: This is part our Verde’s DEI resource series>

Kristin Carpenter, the founder and CEO of Verde Brand Communications, hosted Emily Newman, the Executive Director of Camber Outdoors, and Renita Smith, Camber’s Chief Programs Officer, to talk about action and continued steps that WE can all take to build equitable systems and processes, and a culture of awareness around diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. 

We all have the best of intentions and want to be a part of the solution, but where do you start? How can you and your company take action against systemic racism? Kristin, Emily and Renita discuss the best steps forward to begin - or continue - your organization's journey to become more inclusive. 

Camber will also be sharing an integrated suite of strategies, tools and resources designed to ensure not only an immediate response to the current crisis, but also on-ramp to a long-term transformation of our systems and workplaces. 

In order to drive the conversation forward, we need to learn, act, and change.  

The below is a pre-recorded Facebook Live event from June 10, 2020, as well as the transcript and additional resources.  

Sign up for the Workplace Anti-Racism Action Agenda and to receive free resources. To learn more about how you can support DEI initiatives in the outdoor industry, visit Camber Outdoors. Small businesses and nonprofits are eligible for free membership!

Resources:

From Camber Outdoors: 

Additional Resources:

TRANSCRIPT:

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI): How to be a Vehicle of Change

Kristin Carpenter, Verde Brand Communications and Emily Newman and Renita Smith, Camber Outdoors*

This is a transcript from a Facebook Live that was originally recorded on Wednesday, June 10, 2020.

 

Kristin: Alright, we are here. We are very happy to be here. Welcome everybody to a Facebook live that Verde Brand Communications is hosting in tandem with Camber Outdoors on diversity, equity, and inclusion, How to Be a Vehicle for Change.

 I am so, so proud to introduce to you, Renita Smith and Emily Newman from Camber Outdoors. Welcome to the show. It's wonderful to have you.

Renita: Thank you.

Kristin: I just also want to welcome everybody because this has been quite an incredible time that we're all living through. Just 2020 has turned out to be extraordinary, and I, for one, am so grateful to have all of the resources from Camber Outdoors. I am just so excited to share our platform to get the word out on the great work that you're doing. We need you more than ever. And with that, I would love for you to both give an introduction of Camber and then both of your professional backgrounds and we'll get into a great discussion here today. So Emily, would you like to kick us off?

Emily: Terrific, I'd love to. Thank you so much. It's great to be here. Thank you to everyone for joining us, to talk about this timely and just critically important topic.

So maybe we'll start with just a little bit about Camber Outdoors. Overall, Camber Outdoors is dedicated to increasing inclusion, equity and diversity throughout the workplaces that comprise the $887 billion outdoor recreation economy. Originally, Camber was founded to promote leadership and advancement opportunities for women. But a few years ago, the organization evolved, it responded to the needs of the industry, which annually employs more than seven million people, and now Camber provides systemic operational supports that promote workplace inclusion, equity and diversity across all communities who have been persistently underrepresented in the workplaces of active outdoors. So our work really lives in helping those workplaces to evolve to being great places to work for all. Maybe Renita, you want to share a little bit about our current program focus?

Renita: Sure. Our current program focus is to help companies develop an action agenda. And  this is one that right now is currently focused on moving through the anti-racism issues that face us and the ongoing pattern of systemic racism and police brutality. Really, we're connecting that to a larger agenda of creating inclusive, equitable and sustainable workplaces that are a tool for systemic change, for social change, for combating racism and for engaging employees more fully and fulfilling them more completely and making a brand's identity and true self more authentic and backing it up with an inclusive workplace.

Kristin: That's fantastic. And again, I'm so grateful to have all that you bring to the table. I would love to just, I think, to set up our conversation here today, it's really important that we make a bit of a delineation between DEI in the outdoors and DEI in the workplace. Because in the active outdoor lifestyle industries, often these companies are just employed up to the roof with outdoor enthusiasts, and it's very hard for us to understand that there's a workplace and there's an outdoor life. So I would love for you to expand on that and give us some understanding of why that's important to make that change... Or like the two lanes in your mind, not that we're trying to be divisive, but it's very important, I think, to focus on that because in our world culture in the workplace can really bring in both really tightly.

Emily: Sure. I'm happy to jump in there a little bit on that. We think a lot about it almost as sort of a pie, and that the work and workplace is one slice of that pie. It's really important that we get to systemic change. We're seeing what happens without commitment to systemic change, and one of the places where you can make institutional change that leads to systemic change is in that workplace. But workplaces actually share a lot in common across industries, so we're seeing promising practices in DEI work in a number of different industries, and it's important that we're drawing from those promising practices to think about things like, are we doing salary equity reviews? What are our systems of hiring? Rather than just working from the knowledge and experience that's only in that outdoors workplaces. But also to recognize that there's important work that's being done in equity and inclusion broadly outside of the workplaces and the outdoors too, and that that's also very important to be supporting in such a passion driven industry.

Kristin: Renita, would you like to weigh in on that?

Renita: I would just echo the fact that, to your point, it is very easy to get the two blurred and confused, and there's a certain amount of learning that companies have to do in terms of becoming more aware and fluent in the issues that face various marginalized communities, groups. One way to learn about those is by being aware of overall movements in the active outdoor industry to involve more minorities, people with disabilities, LGBTQ, plus various groups in the outdoors. So that can be helpful in terms of overall awareness raising, but the real work of creating and sustaining those inclusive workplaces requires and demands a very tight focus. That's why at Camber Outdoors, we're very committed to helping to staying in that lane because we think it's such an important lane and one that no one else occupies. So we are seeking to fully occupy that lane and help our corporate partners in the industry do the same.

Kristin: That's awesome. So I have a quick request before we go into exactly how you're here to help, and there are so many great resources you're about to discover everyone, would you both give a little bit of your background? Because I personally feel just so much confidence knowing what you have amassed in terms of experience and what you bring to our communities.

Emily: Sure. Renita, would you like to go first?

Renita: Sure, I'll start. My early career work was primarily focused on brand management and marketing, which led me to start my own strategy consulting firm. And once I had the independence and freedom to choose assignments, I really built a career focused on spanning nonprofit and for-profit companies and organizations.

So what's exciting to me about the times now are that my work in helping companies devise their strategy and create a brand experience for employees, partners, suppliers, communities, it directly links to the work happening in the nonprofit space of trying to build awareness, combat racism, empower communities and employees because now brands can't have authentic brand identities without delivering true commitment to society, to having a purpose, to being values-led. So, whereas before I was running my consulting firm, doing lots of branding and strategy work, taking on my assignments that I love, for example, Los Angeles Urban League, where I met Emily, and we both worked on the executive leadership team there in transforming communities in South Los Angeles, but now there's just a perfect meeting of the disciplines.

 I worked on The State of Black Los Angeles report while at the Los Angeles Urban League, in which I looked at the outcomes across African American communities and compared them to other communities and developed an action plan for how to bridge gaps in shortfalls. I also worked with the largest global seafood manufacturer who was seeking to enter the American market, and I had to give them a wake up call about sustainability for seafood and targeting millennials and what does it take to do that? It means that you have to have an authentic commitment to social responsibility and giving back. So I bring the brand perspective, as well as deep experience in nonprofit work in underserved communities to this work. And I'm thrilled to be able to merge them.

Kristin: We're thrilled you're here.

Renita: Thank you.

Kristin: We really are. How about you, Emily?

Emily: Well, I'll join you in chiming that we're thrilled that Renita is here. My background is I've spent the last 20+ years of my career really focused on the system's work of equity and inclusion, with a very deep focus on the workplace. So this has really been my lane for a long time.

I started my career thinking about how to broaden actually the definition of... I started working in disaster straight out of graduate school, and how do you broaden the definition of disaster? Because as we look at disasters like COVID-19, they're experienced differently by different communities and so, how could you take a look at how organizations, cities, other services were defining what constituted a disaster so that you could be more inclusive in the communities who experienced needs at different levels? So that's where I started.

And then later I led a nonprofit organization that had a 93% success rate, helping persistently homeless individuals secure employment across a number of different communities in LosAngeles. I worked with an extraordinary tribal government to help them architect a giving program focused on systems of change to support Native American tribes in communities across the country, as well as their local community.

And then I also worked in a leadership at My Brother's Keepers Alliance, which as you know was built by the Obama administration to support boys and young men of color in response to the Trayvon Martin tragedy. So that's really where I come to this work from, but with a real passion for how can we create those extraordinary workplaces that work for everyone?

Kristin: So if the audience is maybe thinking this thought right now, I'm going to go ahead and make sure that it does not become a belief, you can start exactly where you are. So talking about an extraordinary workplace, that definitely can be yours, just making a commitment and taking the steps to get toward that goal. That's what we're here today to discuss is all about making everybody feel like they can show up to that start line, to the table to continue working wherever you are in the journey. And so I wanted to start our conversation by really going there because I think aspirationally, you wouldn't find a single person, I think, anywhere in our communities who isn't committed to this work. They may just not know what the right steps are to take in order to show up in a way that they feel is trusted and authentic. That's what we're here to talk about today is to make sure everybody is welcome to start exactly where they are.

So I would love to just have one of you start the conversation to maybe talk about how you don't have to have a lived experience if you're a person who wants to do this work within your organization.

 

Emily: Yeah, I'm happy to jump into that. I mean, I think that intention is really important. And as we think about that starting line, what would be different if, for example, with Trayvon Martin, really if everyone moved forward from that starting line, or any event that you go back because we are talking about a problem that is not new. So, how can you seize the current moment to be part of a long term solution and not a part of the problem, sitting on the sidelines here? Inaction is a well worn path, and we're seeing the pain that that has produced for the Black community and for our country.

I'm a believer in that quote about all that is required for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing. And I think that this is the perfect example of that. I do think I really agree that there is the sort of will in this industry, and so engaging and taking meaningful action, now is the time. That's what we're here to work with our partners on because your workplace is a place where you can really begin to immediately affect that change and that leveraging the power of your company has significant ripple effects. And I know we'll talk more about that later.

Renita: I would add that just I wholeheartedly agree and would just say that calculated risks are key. I say that because we live in a call out culture, and I think the active outdoors industry in particular has sort of a culture of activism, which is a blessing, but it can sometimes stoke fear in companies that are trying to make decisive steps to make a change. They're not sure how to move forward and there's fear that they might be called out on social media for making a misstep, and I think the antidote to that is calculated risks. So having resources to provide guidance to you and making the right decisions, but then stepping out and making the best step that you are in a position to make. Because what often does paralyze companies and organizations, is that fear of making a mistake and not doing anything is definitely the biggest mistake.

Kristin: We actually got a comment that I'm going to address because it ties right into this question. So Laura wrote in, "I would push back on the idea that you can't find people who are not committed to this work", and she wanted us to discuss this assumption. So I totally hear you, Laura, and you're absolutely right, that was an assumption. To Renita's point, there may be a little bit of a challenge or a barrier between what employees are assuming leadership might be thinking or allowing or wanting versus what they would love to see in their workplace. So that might be a great opportunity for us to dive in a little bit deeper in terms of enabling people within all levels of an organization to understand how they can start pushing the conversation forward and creating change.

Renita: Absolutely.

Emily: So I took this role at Camber because the board convinced me that the company is comprising, this industry had the will to engage and take meaningful action. But it's certainly been my experience that not everybody arrives to inaction for the same reasons. I think it's important to acknowledge that there will be different reasons that people decide to engage in this work. But I think that as corporate leaders, if you take a look at both the short and the long term future of companies in this country, that at the root of that is a thriving, welcomed, included workforce. It is both the right thing to be doing at this point from a human level, as well as it is the right thing to be doing... There are many arguments from a corporate success and corporate future level as well.

So I think we want to welcome all of those people to the table because we're aiming at the same result, but I hear what you are saying. I think that our hope is that there are a variety of different ways that people will engage, whether that's with Camber or whether that's beyond Camber. I think we will see that those companies that do engage, those are the ones that will be succeeding, that will be thriving and that have a really bright future.

Kristin: Okay. Awesome. We will be addressing questions as we go here, but we definitely have some points to get through and I'll do my best to weave those in and then we'll answer more at the end once we get through the conversation that we've put together here today. But thank you, everybody, for your comments and you're welcome to put them here on the Facebook live.

Okay. I wanted to actually say two things before we hop into our next topic here. I definitely feel everything that we... We study consumer behavior every day at Verde, and I will say that through a lot of the studies and surveys that we've been reading, workplace communication and employees trusting their workplace as trusted news in the era of fake news and fake reviews, et cetera, especially in just such a time as now. So it is actually incredibly important that we're talking about this from the workplace standpoint. So I just want to throw that out there because our goal with our resources through Verde Brand Communications to the communities that we serve is to provide direction with communication. Obviously we're going in a lot of different places on this today, but I wanted to just say that workplace communication is revered right now. It's sacred. It's something that you really do need to think through and follow with action.

Obviously, the workplace culture, I believe, was... And Emily, you and I spoke about this back in late February and early March when COVID was really starting to settle in on our day to day, frankly in the shelter in place, and we were discussing at that time how excited you and the team were about the programming that you have in place to help. And we were talking about, well, this could be great for employers potentially resourcing employees who might have extra time, or who want to take this time to work on their workplace inclusivity, et cetera. So then to have the additional heightened national focus of the ongoing pattern of what we're seeing with systemic racism and police brutality come in, it has really elevated this so much in our communities.

 And so I wanted to just make sure that we discussed today, again, to set the foundation to talk about what you're doing with your fantastic programming to resource your membership and the industries at large, you've made like last week you hailed a membership, I believe it was a membership Zoom webinar that I joined. And I would love to just hear as this keeps evolving, how are your programs evolving? And Renita I imagine this is a question for you if you could speak to that.

Renita: Definitely, thank you Kristin. We are committed and completely mission driven to create and sustain these inclusive, equitable, and diverse workplaces and to be the go to resources for our partners to guide them. And that mission goes back to pre our current situation with all of the national focus on systemic racism. It goes back before then, before COVID and so it's been a long standing commitment. What we've tried to do is tailor it to fit the times that we're in, that are rapidly changing and evolving. And we have essentially developed a portfolio of custom content custom to our times. We've fielded countless webinars and content and tools and reading rooms and reading lists and hands on templates for having discussions within your companies about how to do this work, how to implement this work. We ourselves have a mentoring program. We are going to be launching a building blocks of DEI program for those who want to strengthen and enhance their current DEI work.

But some people need to go back to the beginning. People are at different points in the continuum in their companies. So we're trying to aim at companies that are at different points and give them the resources they need to either start for the first time or deepen the work that they're already doing. And in the face of the heightened focus on racism and police brutality, we are getting unprecedented interest, request for guidance and support, and we are stepping up and have delivered an agenda that we'll talk about later in our conversation, but it's essentially an action agenda. And I think even more important than the agenda is the help and the resources that we'll be providing to activate that agenda. Emily, do you have anything to add on that? That an overview of where we're going from a programmatic standpoint.

Emily: Yes. No, I think you've summed it up really well. I think that we're really building and recognizing that I joined Camber towards the end of last year and Renita came on early this year that our focus is really making sure that our partner companies have those tools, those resources along that journey, because it really is a journey. And I think that sometimes people get confused about the workplace work being very summative, right? Did you get there or not, as opposed to what are the building blocks to Renita's point that you are putting in place to create that workplace that is responsive, that your employees feel is an excellent place to work and where they are seen and heard and valued. And that altogether you are working to accomplish your corporate mission as well.

Kristin: I think that the takeaway there is if a leader within a company might feel a little bit exposed because they haven't done what they believe is enough to date. It's still more important to continue to take steps, to welcome the conversation and to not go silent. Obviously we started rehearsing for this last week and during that time, all of Verde's clients, and I know a lot of businesses in the network were really struggling in terms of what to, I think statement wise what to say and how to support and make their workplaces feel like they were able to raise their hand and the people working there be able to be proud of how the company was responding.

There was a lot of fear of misstep, and I think Renita your point of call out culture is something that has really been paralyzing frankly, to a lot of companies that have incredible reach and impact with their fan bases, their followers and their workforce, frankly. And I just would like to make sure that we make the bridge between what you were just speaking about from all of the incredible resources that you're offering to the people leading these organizations who truly want to do the right thing in terms of where do they start when it comes to having to take action on something today. Such where we are in terms of our social media and what our brand stand for, if we don't have that foundation in place. So I'd love it. If you could speak to that.

 

Renita: Exactly. Well, Kristin the foundation of our agenda is that you start with learning, so it's learn, act, change. So the “Learn” step directly acknowledges the fact that we don't know at all. You don't know at all, there's still learning to be done about the daily lived experience and what people are enduring. For example, what African Americans are enduring in the streets, in interacting with the police. It was a learning experience for us all to see that video and to see that up close and personal and realize the magnitude of the crisis, of the tragedy, of this pattern. So there's learning going on at many levels and it's okay to be learning. And we have a set of resources to help you learn. And that learning is both externally focused and internally focused.

So if you're a leader seeking to take a step, one of your steps, and we'll be issuing this week actually five guiding questions to discuss internally with your teams and within your organizations. Part of it is learning what are the values that are leading and guiding us? What are the concerns that your employees have? How safe do your employees feel in this workplace? Are your African-American employees feeling supported? Are your non-African-American employees feeling equipped to support and to deal with the situation so that we can move forward and accomplish the goals of the company? So it definitely starts with that learning piece. And then there's the action piece, which is directly addressing the immediate situations of today. And so we're also, for example, issuing a guidance document on how to develop your statement if you have not already, because some companies are still developing their statements and part of the reason they're doing so is because they don't want to just issue an empty statement with no actions.

So they're figuring out their actions so that what they put into that statement they can really execute on. So there are some early action steps that are important to take concurrently with the learning piece, especially as we move deeper into the protests and the activity that's going on around this. And then we moved to the longer term piece, which is change, of learn act change. And change is more beyond addressing and taking action against the immediate situation, it's what are you doing to make a long term change in your organization? What steps are you implementing? Have you assessed your benefits and policies and practices? What support systems are in place? How are you looking at your current pipeline and creating an environment that supports that talent once you attract it?

So it's definitely a holistic look across the continuum, and it does break into those three buckets, learn, act, change. Which we've been seeing based on people who are within companies now and implementing it and giving us feedback is that those companies are seeing some success. They're seeing their employees have a greater sense of connection, engagement and feeling supported even as they just get started in the work.

Kristin: That's very heartening to hear, especially as we know, so many companies in your membership and across our communities are short staffed and really struggling right now. And I think it's something that we need to just command everybody on taking these steps, because I know so many of us already feel like we're a little bit hamstrung, I suppose, where we could almost say if I had these resources, I would do this. And what you're encouraging us to do is start exactly where we are, even in the midst of everything we're navigating. So thank you for that.

Emily: Kristin, I would just add to that, I'm a part of a DEI workplace leader group that meets from companies around the country and industries and 70%, they did a survey, and 70% of companies in the U.S. are saying they believe that a statement at this point, it's not one and done. They're really thinking about what's the next step and the next step and the next step. And so I think that it's important for people to understand that you're not alone if you don't feel like you have done enough? The truth is just that there has not been enough progress in the DEI space in workplaces. And this is an opportunity to demonstrate to your customers, demonstrate to your employees, that you recognize that fact and that you're committed to moving to action.

Kristin: In our, one of our rehearsal calls, I loved what you were both explaining about how Camber Outdoors is there to resource the flywheel. And I love that you know in your mission that this is not about Camber, it's about your members and the people who work within those companies and resourcing that base is really where the true reach and power is, is what you said in our rehearsal, which I thought was really great. So not only is it important to realize that everybody feels like they are feeling similar to you more than likely as Emily was just pointing out. It's literally around all of us in our peers in other companies, et cetera. We've been reading about systemic change, can you talk a little bit about how that ties in with your view of the flywheel and maybe give us a better understanding of like how we can, no matter what size our company is be part of that systemic change?

Emily: Sure. Love that. I like that. I'm a believer in the flywheel and even when I started at Camber, people were talking about what Camber’s saying, and our reach is to our corporate members and to the employees at those corporate partners. But if you think about the reach of the corporations in this space, it's really extraordinary. There's really an extraordinary opportunity to build up. I think there's been demonstrated ability to collaborate on issues of importance, specifically the environment. But I think that this is another space where that collaboration can really shine. And when I think about that flywheel, I think about things like people have been asking us for good example, right? and I know Renita will, she'll talk a lot next about how do you build that foundation of moving to action.

But if I look at a great example and thinking about where your strengths lie as a company, I look at the way that Visa has moved quickly to in one specific area, a long term multi-pronged strategy, tied to investment and scholars and jobs. Now they're doing a number of other things as well but looking at that as an example, thinking about the economic impact at education and jobs, that's a well demonstrated impact. But if we look at this industry, right? If 65% of jobs nationally, approximately require college education and the impact of having a job is a million dollars more per person for a lifetime, how important is it that the leaders in this industry are looking inside at the resources that you have, thinking you from a systems perspective, what happens when you release and participate in a diverse talent pipeline learning sprint, as we're forwarding this summer connected to our job board, that's exclusive for partners who are committed to doing this work.

And then there are young people who are entering into that space and feeling welcomed, who are earning a million dollars more a lifetime. There's 7 million jobs in this industry. What of an impact could that have, right? And that's hiring that our companies are going to do. You are looking to fill jobs right this very minute, but what are the systems that back up equity and inclusion in that hiring process so that you really are using that strength moving that flywheel to have that broader impact and you can only imagine the impact that has across communities and for individuals and families. Renita, do you want to add to that?

Renita: No, I mean, I think it's powerful. I think when we talked a little bit about how there are various lanes and it's easy to get pulled out of different lanes, or for people to say, why does this piece matter, or this workplace isn't enough in and of itself. And this part isn't enough, land conservation isn't enough in and of itself and this. Well, nothing's really enough in and of itself, but together that's how we get to it being enough. And the workplace is really an under valued. It's been less active than it should be and could be considering the impact it has. Considering the number of hours that we spend per day in our lives working to your point Kristin, the fact that the workplace voice for news for communications is more trusted than many other voices. So workplace has tremendous potential to be an incredibly powerful gear.

I wish I were a little more techie now of the flywheel, but essentially in terms of moving that flywheel and making change throughout society and that's what we're talking about because we're talking about changing systems and addressing systemic racism. It's not just a few bad cops who need to be disciplined. No, there's a system that's consistently and continually targeting people who are African-American descent and having a reaction and an outcome that manifests in death toward this population, it's systemic. And so workplaces as an integral part of that systemic change to address this racism, the police brutality, many of the issues that we face post pandemic, such as unemployment and deep recession, the workplace is a critical, vital part of the flywheel.

Kristin: I'm so happy to hear you say that because inherently in times of crisis humans just in our very DNA, we seek community. We seek to want to belong and workplace culture in our workplaces are a really important part of that. Because we spend so much time there, but also it's part of our aspirational identity. And it's also the people we surround ourselves with every day. I have a really interesting question. That's come in that I would love to have you address on this topic. This is from Amy, and she says - having experience working in majority white workplaces, much energy is spent on correcting people who have caused harm. Do you have any advice on providing meaningful healing space for people of color? I'm assuming she means within the workplace as it's evolving.

Renita: Right. Well, I would just jump in here and first of all, just emphasize how important it is to provide that space and how exhausting it can be for African-American employees in the workplace to continually educate everyone around them. That's part of what can drain, even though African-American employees want the connection, they want the understanding. They want to foster that understanding and see it as being part of their responsibility. But it is extremely energizing to African-American employees and people in general, if those around them are making an effort to educate themselves. And they're seeing this effort around them, that others are saying, "I want to learn, and I'm taking some steps myself." Right now, six of the top 10 bestselling books on Amazon are about race and race relations. That gives me hope. That's encouraging. That's a sign of people saying I do want to learn and educate myself.

So I think just making the effort to learn yourself as part of creating that healing space and place of refreshing for African-American employees. And then I do think for companies that have not yet started employee resource groups, this is a great time. I mean, this would be a vital step to take, or if you have one that's been relatively inactive or operating at a very low level, this is the time to give some company emphasis and support and reinforcement to those efforts to bring African-American employees together and also to foster some educational outreach and interaction amongst other employees in the company as well. Mentoring is also key. If there's not a mentoring program in place, this is an exceptional time to connect, particularly African American employees with mentors. If they can be African American, that's great, that works. But even if they're not, connecting them with someone in the organization who's a support and an advocate is key. And the more tailored your mentoring matching program can be, where you can ask someone if they feel that they really need someone to be an African American mentor right now, versus a majority culture mentor, then trying to take that into account is really helpful. But you won't always have the critical mass of African American leadership, you're not necessarily there yet where you have that. Again, the effort though, to connect with mentors and in some times, if necessary to reach out to outside organizations for mentoring opportunities can just make a world of progress in creating that safe space.

Kristin: That's a great answer. Thank you so much.

Renita: Thank you.

Kristin: And great question, Amy. Thank you for your question. Emily, are you interested in chiming in there? Because Renita did a pretty amazing job with that one.

Emily: No, I think she got it there. I would only let you know that there are ... If you're specifically looking, we are being very intentional about sharing a lot of free resources because we think it's important to be supporting the industry overall. So sort of reference in that learn place. We've got, up on our social media, you can click through and actually support Black-owned bookstores with your purchases of anti-racism workplace books. So just making sure that you're connecting and looking for even those tools, if you're not able to ... Your company's not a member yet. Those tools are available that you can yourself take it on and begin to do that learning.

Kristin: I appreciate you being so flexible with the questions that are coming, and this is a very active Facebook discussion, which I'm so grateful for.

Emily: Yeah, great.

Kristin: I want to make sure we are delivering what we promise here, which is I think more of the framework that you're offering. Emily, you had mentioned that Renita is really leading that, that you wanted her to address the building of the foundation to move to action. You've done a lot through the questions you've answered already, Renita, but is there anything specifically you'd like to share in terms of, again, maybe it's a little bit of a sneak peek to what you'll be announcing this week. But I would love to just make sure that we capture all of that before we head back into the questions that are coming in.

Renita: Absolutely. Thanks for that opportunity. I would say if there's one word that would characterize our entire process right now, it is action because we've heard for a long time from our partners and companies, okay, we get it, we're not diverse enough. We can be more inclusive. We can be more equitable, but how do we do it? How do we get there? So that's the focus of our action agenda. And as Emily mentioned, lots of resources have been shared broadly across the industry, just in the spirit of sharing as we go through these turbulent times so that our entire industry can benefit from learning how to create these workplaces.

We do have another level of resources and engagement that sort of take you by the hand step-by-step guidance that is available to our corporate partners. And it plays out across three primary tracks, IED. At Camber, we flip the script a little bit from DEI and we focus on creating the inclusive workplace first, supported by an inclusive culture with a sense of safety and belonging that I think is even more important now than any other time. Undergirded by equitable systems and supports because if you have this great culture of belonging, but you don't have a performance appraisal system that's fair and equitable, you don't have benefits and compensation strategies that are fair and benefits that reflect differences in needs across groups, for example, black and brown, people being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. If you haven't taken the step back to look at how you're meeting those needs, there's a big equity opportunity there. So once you have inclusive culture, undergirded by equitable systems and supports, then you're really ready to create the diverse workplace and tap into the talent pipeline that's diverse. Because then you have an environment that will actually not only attract, but retain those employees.

So all of our thinking on our action agenda in terms of kind of a sneak preview fall into I, inclusive leadership and culture, equitable systems and supports, and diverse talent pipeline and workplace. And we have a suite of resources in each of those tracks to support companies. 

Emily mentioned the talent pipeline sprint, that will be a four to six-week deep dive, where we look at talent pipeline and the workplace that's waiting at the end of that talent pipeline to help companies access and tap brand new talent pools, but in an inclusive way that supports them, introduces them to the active outdoors industries with language and tools that work for people who aren't aware of this industry, who don't know what they don't know, don't know all the lingo, may not feel as comfortable, may not see as many diverse faces, depending on what company they're looking at. So that's just one example of a program where we'll be taking our partners into a very deep dive and across our other tracks. 

We have hands on resources and they are all geared toward action. Like, these are the questions that you take into your internal discussions with employees, here are some of the resources and tools that you use to move from point A to point B in assessing your HR benefits and policies. We're trying to be very, very actionable.

Kristin: Fantastic. Emily, did you have anything that you'd like to add? And then I think we're getting ready to go into the questions.

Emily: Yeah, I can see them. It's wonderful. I think I would just sort of put out there the important reminder that all of this immediate firm work is really within on-ramp to work that has to be sort of a commitment year round. And that is sort of critical to undergird, as Renita said, the systems of your business and the culture of your workplace. This is an important moment to be responding to, and also to acknowledge that this moment is a response to something that is not new. We're not newly experiencing racism and police brutality. So acknowledging that we are becoming aware, that we are learning, we are activating in this moment, but that that activation is a commitment to being a great company and building those systems throughout the year. And so there's so much more even that we could talk about from a programmatic standpoint that our members will be accessing month on month, every month, and have already. I mean, it's amazing how quickly our times have changed with COVID and so forth, but there's already great information, great panels thinking about equitable return to work and so forth that's available.

Kristin: Thank you. That's great. I had some questions that we actually fielded before the Facebook live that I'll run through, and then we have the ones that are remaining in our feed. One of the questions that I wanted to start with is, “Are there small business focused groups and meetups that exist specifically to bring races and cultures together? In the short term, we are looking to bring on a summer intern and our part time contractors. In posting a job or position, is it acceptable to specifically encourage BIPOC candidates? Are any job boards channels better than others?” It's a great question.

Emily: Sure. Maybe I'll jump in here with that question. Because I feel like there's kind of two questions in there. One is, how do you sort of broaden your network, right? And I think that meaningfully engaging on issues of importance across communities will sort of expose you to a broader network, more events, and that you should choose to participate in them. It's important to get off the couch, so to speak and move into spaces that you might not traditionally have participated in. And then if you think about the things that you are invited to, I would also flip that and say with nonprofits, with interns, with leaders, I mean, companies are going to and participating in industry wide events that cost money. And to think about who could you invite and who could you sponsor to attend those different events, so that you're then also feeding that extended network for different individuals.

And then whether or not around candidates and so forth, I mentioned our job board, there's going to be so much there. I think that also those meaningful partnerships with outdoor inclusion organizations broadens your access to talent as well. We'll be fielding an open source list of Black-owned businesses in the outdoors. That companies, again, can think about one of your components, your flywheels, right? To tie into that flywheel is how are you spending your dollars and who are you spending it with? So that'll be a list that people can use and engage. I think it's most important to be taking a look at that job description, giving it some thought to how that job description uses language to be inclusive and inviting, and the types of onboarding systems and processes that you're going to have in place to support those candidates, who may be at first at your company. I don't know, Renita, If you have anything you'd like to add there.

Renita: Right. I would just reinforce the importance of that job description because I don't think it is actually appropriate or legal to say, I specifically want candidates who are black indigenous or people of color candidates. But you can send a signal and a message of wanting fresh perspectives and diverse points of view and be very welcoming in how you position that job.

There's been research shows that women are less likely to apply for a position. Men will apply for a position if they meet only 60% of the requirements whereas, women tend not to. There's been lots of discussion about what are the reasons for that. Is it that women don't want to waste their time if they don't meet all the criteria? Is it that they're lacking confidence? But whatever it is, there needs to be language and companies are taking steps to say, please go ahead and apply, if you feel you meet the majority of these or many of these requirements, because it's about creatively framing, your experience, and we're looking for experience and we value different experiences.

So that same sort of language that speaks to women can be tailored to speak to people of color, people from all different backgrounds and walks of life. And I think with some thoughtful, intentional thinking on job descriptions, which is part of what we plan to help our partners do in the talent pipeline sprint, you can get the right message out there to attract the types of candidates that you are seeking.

Kristin: Thank you. That's an incredible answer. Thanks so much. Okay. Let's look at a couple of other questions here. Some of the questions have to do with crafting statements around, this is an ongoing, why don't we just go ahead and address? This is something that I know we get a lot of questions around from our client base. Here's a question, “We typically stay pretty neutral on topics of controversy when possible. I don't know what management's decision will be on this, but I want them to put the question out there, are brands able to stay silent?”

Emily: Sure. I'll jump in here. The surveys that I've seen indicate that nearly 70% of companies are making a statement and that's a big jump. In 2018, after Charlottesville, there were only 30% of companies who were making statements and who thought that that was an appropriate way for them to engage. And that's significant. From how you sort of view change, thinking about who's coming into that workforce, what are the expectations of the team, and how can your leadership meet those expectations, I think it's very compelling. But I think it is important that people, if you are not able to feel authentic in making a statement at this time, then that's really the time to activate around listening and learning. If that's something that really feels inauthentic. But companies can look at what do they value and how do they demonstrate those values connected to this and make those statements. And like I said, 7 of 10, those are your competitors out there that are saying something meaningful and moving to action.

Renita: I love your point, Emily, about if it feels inauthentic right now, then that's a sign that it's a learning opportunity. I think that is a critically important point because it is better to take that pause, than to try to do it as quickly as you can, but take that pause and say, what do I need to learn and think about as an organization to make a statement that is more authentic, that I do feel comfortable making? Because I can read statements and I have seen several out there, where it does feel like, I know I was supposed to make one, so hit send, here we go, publish, we're done. And that really comes through. It especially comes through to your consumers.

73% of millennials who I applaud for just driving the marketplace more toward cause oriented, values led commerce. But 73% say they're willing to spend more on sustainable brands. They define that, not just as environmentally sustainable, but sustainable in terms of communities and citizenship and engagement. 81% expect brands to make public declarations of corporate citizenship. And 87% of millennials will purchase a product because the company advocated for an issue that they care about.

Now, that was pre George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, that was before then. I can only imagine what these numbers will be when we resurvey them. There'll be off the charts. I bring this up because the authenticity is really important, but I do think it's also okay to say this is a business imperative and it's vital to the success of your brand in the marketplace. And I see several questions here about how I'm finding a lot of pushback, especially from white male colleagues about this work. I would say there's a very compelling business argument alone just in and of itself that you can make for those colleagues.

And people are going to enter this work in different ways. And for some, it will be more self serving, like, okay, I see the potential impact on market share. Well, that isn't viable, there is a huge impact there, and it will only grow. So if that is your most compelling hook to come into this work, as opposed to a long standing passion for this work, it's okay. Hopefully, we'll bring you along where you also care about the fact that it's the right thing to do, but actually it's a great stride for it to be seen as not only the good thing to do, but the strategically important thing to do.

Kristin: That is a great point. I really appreciate that. And thank you also for addressing that, because that is the theme through several of these questions. So we can even dive in a little bit deeper. There's a couple more on messaging, and then I think we should go over to that and dive in a little bit more.

Here's one, “I'm struggling as the leader of my company on what the message needs to be in the public. We are obviously against any form of racism yet, at the same time, we get backlash for not using the #blacklivesmatter. Being a company with significant customers who are cops, military, and pro military minded, I find that hashtag leads many people to believe we are now anti-American, anti-military, et cetera. Again, our company is pro military, and we're also not racist. I've done my best to post what we feel clearly defines this, and then we get lots of hateful comments on the same post from both sides, criticizing our response. And it feels like a no win situation.”.

There isn't exactly a question here, but I would love for you to address this because our markets do have quite a lot of companies that provide products for the military. And this person probably speaks for some other members of the audience out there who I think deserve to be heard. And also just for everybody to know that this mindset is out there.

Renita: Absolutely. I can jump in here and then Emily, I would love for you to add in. But I really appreciate you going here on this question, Kristin, and I appreciate people submitting that type of question, because it does need to be addressed. You don't have to use the #blacklivesmatter. There are multiple ways to express your commitment to this work, and it doesn't have to be through a particular nonprofit or movement, or even if one is currently highly visible in this work and has done a lot to advance it. But if it's not a fit with your customers, your employees, your partners, your communities, the constituents you serve, then it will be once again, inauthentic expression of where you stand on the issue. I think it would be more valuable to take that time to look within and figure out what organizations you would like to affiliate with and use those, and also issue your own statement. But there is more than one angle on this and more than one way to approach it.

Black Lives Matter has been a very valuable vehicle for catalyzing this movement, but it's definitely not the only way. I know they're sort of competing hashtags, like all lives matter. Black Lives Matter is not trying to say all lives don't matter. Black Lives Matter is trying to say within the context of all lives mattering, Black lives haven't been mattering as much as evidenced by brutal killings at the hands of the police. So let's address that.

But there is sometimes this what's often a false dichotomy that's out there in the marketplace. So I'm not trying to legitimize that false sort of putting them at odds. But I am saying that it is out there. And depending upon the constituents you serve, taking that on may not be the most effective or efficient way to get your message out at this present time, to sit there and have to go back and forth over Black Lives Matter and all lives matter. Like we condemn racism and all its forms. And this is the action we're taking to put that into motion.

Emily: Yeah. I mean, I think that you mentioned sort of identifying organizations, nonprofits that you really... sort of that align and are meaningful with your brand, but that are specifically supporting the Black community, that thinking about how do I engage with those organizations? How can I invest with them? How could I continue to support them over time? Right? Because what we don't want is we don't want for everybody to have supported organizations right this very minute, and then that fades away, right? Really meaningful is that commitment to, "Hey, maybe before in my CSR, charitable giving portfolio of our company, we weren't intentional about supporting organizations that support this community, and we are now going to do that. And these are the ways that we are going to do that." I think that that thinking in the long term is really critically important there.

Renita: One other point I would add on this is... Well, first I would say, I think that's just a critical vital point that you just made, Emily, because if companies don't choose to align with a nonprofit that really is a fit, it won't be sustainable, and this donation they make will be a flash in the pan. And when a year later, everyone's saying, "Well, what have you done?" Which is what I think is going to happen with a lot of this work, people are going to be, especially on the one year anniversary of the death of George Floyd, I mean, okay, let's have a report out, in essence. If it's been just something you aligned with, because it was in the news or because everyone else was saying, "This is what you have to do," it won't still be around a year or two or three years later.

And the other point I was going to make is that one reason I think that people feel particularly driven to associate with #blacklivesmatter is that sort of best practices around making these statements is that you don't try to lump everything into one blob and say, "We condemn all forms of racism and evil across all people, all colors, men, women, blue, pink, green."

I mean, at some point it sort of dilutes there is something happening right now in the African-American community, and we have to take a decisive stand on it. But you can do that without necessarily using that particular hashtag. But I know some organizations have said, "Hey, if I want to make a strong statement that's not too diluted, where I'm specifically taking a stand on the issues facing African-Americans, don't I have to do Black Lives Matter because it does say Black lives matter?" You don't have to. You can just say, "We unequivocally stand against racism and police brutality against the African-American community."

Kristin: That's fantastic. Great. So I'm looking through the question list here. I wanted to acknowledge Kenji has definitely weighed in a bunch here. He had something that I wanted to bring in, up to everybody. His question is the outdoor industry was founded in the adventure spirit, exploring the unknown and learning. Are brand leaders taking this approach today, when it comes to DEI adaptation? Said another way, do they clearly see the objective as they iterate through steps to become more inclusive?

I love that you have a brand background, both of you. So what I think is really valuable here is you're asking something specifically about our communities, which is why we're here, but we have two experts who are in our community now with an incredible background that comes from much broader prior. So this is a great question. Are brand leaders taking this approach today, when it comes to DEI adaptation? I believe he's saying the adventurous aspect of it.

Emily: I love that. I certainly feel like we're seeing that with some of our members. There really is a great energy in this sort of pouring in to figuring out, knowing what I don't know, and committing to this work over time and engaging employees in meaningful discussion. But I love the idea that sort of bringing that adventure spirit into the work because it feels very aligned.

I think that the other thing to bear in mind is that the workforce that is here is not the only adventurous workforce, right? And so even thinking in that framework around kind of adventure really comes from that, could really inform how you think about hiring, who you're thinking about hiring. Are there people who are demonstrating that spirit of learning, of adventure, of trying new things as an underlying value that isn't necessarily, "Hey, I had access to the mountains as a young person or college student."

Renita: I think we have this incredible opportunity right now to reimagine the future of work and really take our adventurous spirit and sort of project ahead and say, "What would a workplace look like that was freer from racism?" And just as we're reimagining the workplace post pandemic, we need to reimagine it... We'll never, I don't think, be fully post everything, post-racial, completely beyond that, but to strive toward that goal and say, "What would a workplace look like that truly is supportive, truly does allow employees to show up and come with their whole selves?" I think is a way that we need to take our adventurous spirit and apply it.

We'll actually be leading a series of workshops around reimagining the future of work, and putting out some resources that say, "Hey, this is what the future looks like. How do we get there?" It means you'll need some new tools, because right now we're using some of the old tools for sort of a yesterday kind of reality. We need to work toward a new reality. We don't want to be polishing our medieval sword while cyber attacks are going on, right? Not to use a warfare analogy.

Kristin: Fantastic analogy, I love it.

Renita: Thank you for having an adventurous spirit, Kristin.

Emily: There's an old playbook that's out there, right? I mean, that's for sure, around community engagement. So we're pretty excited about... We'll have a podcast that'll be releasing in the next couple of weeks, just a discussion that really does begin with the end in mind of what is that... what can that future workplace look like, and how can our senior executives sort of scaffold their systems and processes to get to that extraordinary future workplace. So we're pretty excited about that coming down the pike

Kristin: When is that dropping? That's very exciting. As you know, I'm a podcast nerd!

Emily: Yeah. We'll probably have something in hand for our members in the next two weeks.

Kristin: Fantastic.

Emily: Technology, not withstanding.

Kristin: Wow, you have so much, so many great resources. I also wanted to really say thank you to Rishi who's been super, super active in our comments. You've had so much to add here. One of my favorite things, and there are many that you noted here, Rishi, is another way to move the needle on DEI in recruiting is to seek people that will add to the culture versus the traditional cultural fit to reinforce the status quo. I just think that is so profound.

Emily: Yeah. It's a best practice in this work. I was speaking, I don't know, months ago, and someone said, "Well, we always hire for cultural fit." And I thought, "Oh, no." Right? Because that can really be an exclusive practice, right? So we do want to be thinking about all of the extraordinary things that people are bringing to the table.

Kristin: Yep. I just want to reinforce again, as we're look to wrapping up here. You've been so gracious with your time. Thank you to everybody who's been with us this whole time, and obviously to both of you. But I wanted to make sure that we just reiterate again that DEI in outdoor activities is very different than the workplace. It doesn't mean that one's more important than the other, but they're very different in terms of strategically approaching that, even though your company is in the outdoor active lifestyle markets and is especially brand that advocates and tries to get more participation out there. Especially now, we're seeing a huge influx of new people wanting to recreate outdoors.

What we're speaking about today is the positive impact that can come from the workplace to, I think, create lasting participation well beyond what's happening here with COVID. Hopefully, that will also remain as we make those new people feel welcome as well. But this truly is about workplace and inclusivity, so I just wanted to make sure that we touched on that at the beginning and the end because it's something that I really valued as we are rehearsing, understanding the need around both and how they're separate.

Emily: Yes.

Renita: Absolutely. And I think that, overall, the trend is, we're bridging the gap between stakeholder and shareholder is narrowing. We're bridging that gap. So the stakeholders, the employers, partners, communities, vendors, and shareholders who are just purely focused on financial performance of a company, I mean, that's changing. And these two things are merging and coming together. Just as a people say, "Well, wait a minute. Why are you showing people of color in your ads for outdoors, but yet your employees, your company doesn't have many? The representation isn't here. How are you putting the action behind these images? How committed are you really to true diversity, or is this just nice stock photos of people in ads who are hiking and climbing?" And so there's really this opportunity and a mandate to bridge the two. So if you say you're committed to diversity in the outdoors, where's your commitment to diversity indoors, in your workplace?

Kristin: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Very, very well said. Is there anything that either of you would like to add before we close the discussion for today?

Emily: Well, I would just reiterate that, there's a lot of resources that we're offering to the industry online. Find us on our social, and LinkedIn, and everything else. And there's a lot that we want to be just supporting the industry overall. We're really excited about being able to share that. And maybe, as a sort of final, I get a lot of questions about tied to the sort of indoor and outdoor, and how much and more, and who's more important. The truth is, is that this is all important work to be engaging in, and this is really the moment in time to step on the gas of that engagement. And with an industry that is as big as this one is and so much passion in it, there's great opportunity to make significant change. So now is the time. Think about that from a, sort of, a multi-pronged approach, and you're going to do great. It'll be extraordinary to see where this industry can go.

Kristin: I agree.

Renita: Same here.

Kristin: Where can our incredible audience learn more about... There are lots and lots of questions in the Facebook thread here, about where they can learn more about resources for members and also resources for just community who are not members of Camber.

Renita: So if you go to camberoutdoors.org, there's plenty of resources that are just all over the website. And there are places also... There's a button in the top right corner where you can join.

Kristin: Perfect.

Emily: Find us there, and we're also on LinkedIn and we're also on Instagram and Facebook. So there's a lot there. A first place to sort of check, your company may already be a member, so you can find that out online, too. Everyone who is employed at the company becomes automatically a member. We also set up some systems to continue that membership because we think learning is important, to continue that membership for employees who might have been downsized because of COVID. So if you were with a company that is a member, you still have access to resources through the end of the year because we want you to come along this journey with us. But we would love nothing more than to see all of our companies fully activated with their employees, because it's not, as we're seeing right now, it's not just bottom up, it's not just top down, it's everyone digging in in that learn act and change framework.

Renita: Exactly. In addition to our corporate partner memberships, we do also have free memberships for nonprofit organizations and small businesses. I just want to put that out there, too.

Kristin: Thank you. That's fantastic. Thank you so much. This has been an incredible learning opportunity. I really, really appreciate your time, both of you. I look forward to helping to get the word out on all the great work that you're doing. Keep in mind everybody, your brand is truly a vehicle for positive change, if you choose to put the work in to make it that way. Everybody, as we are creating our COVID content at Verde, it was absolutely so crystal clear that brands that are proud and understand and display their ethics are really creating the loyalty and the emotional relationships with consumers today.

People see that brands can create more change than legacy institutions right now. I don't know when that will change, but that is definitely where we are right now, and I feel like you need to understand the opportunity and the responsibility is so awesome right now for you to take these steps. I just want to thank both of you, Emily and Renita for joining us, for the great work that Camber Outdoors is doing. Thank you so much.

Renita: Thank you for this opportunity.

Emily: Wonderful. Thanks, everyone.

Renita: Thank you.

DEI, Camber OutdoorsBecca Katz