Channel Mastery Podcast - Ep. 205: Cycling, Entrepreneurship, and Native American Communities with Dr. Len Necefer.

featuring

In this episode, our guest is Dr. Len Necefer, Ph.D., CEO & Founder of NativesOutdoors – a native-owned athletic and creative collective. The company began as a social media project in March 2017 by Len Necefer (Diné), highlighting stories and photos of Native people in outdoor recreation and addressing the lack of representation of Indigenous people in the outdoor industry. The organization has expanded to providing advisory and consulting services to the outdoor industry on topics within the intersection of tribes, public lands, and outdoor recreation. NativesOutdoors is working directly with tribal governments, community organizations, and individuals on increasing access to outdoor recreation and connecting resources and opportunities within the outdoor industry.

In this episode, you’ll hear Len describe the bumpy road from working for the Department of Energy to founding NativesOutdoors, the federal policy changes introduced by President Biden affecting native land, ancestral sites, and the comanagement policies governing them, and stories of other entrepreneurial Native Americans and how they are contributing to the outdoor rec industry.

Dr. Necefer holds a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering and a Doctorate in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University. Previous to founding NativesOutdoors, Len has worked for the U.S. Department of Energy and, most recently, the University of Arizona. His work melds the intersection of sport, environmental advocacy, and indigenous peoples. His storytelling work melds the intersection of sport, environmental advocacy, and indigenous people and has been featured in the Alpinist, National Geographic, and over 50 film festivals globally.

Verde also had the pleasure of working with Dr. Necefer on our blog post: What is Land Acknowledgement & Should You Be Doing It?

show sponsors

The Channel Mastery podcast is presented by Verde Brand Communications, a consumer-centric brand strategy and communication agency serving the outdoor recreation industries. We are also grateful for the sponsorship and partnership of Life Time, Inc., owner of the Sea Otter Classic and producer of the Sea Otter Classic Summit outdoor recreation executive gathering, taking place April 17-19, 2023, in Monterey, Calif. Learn more at Seaotterclassicsummit.com.