● Membership
Joining Everyone Outdoors Colorado
TL; DR: We’re a coalition of volunteers from all over Colorado.
Members and allies allocate their time and talent to the coalition through attending meetings, work groups, events, and imagining a more inclusive world and creating it!
(No biggie.)
● Why join?
Impact outdoor equity and inclusive conservation
Our members and allies decide our direction and bring the causes that are most impactful to them to the coalition.
Gain skills and hone them through movement work
Grow your skills by putting them to use for a cause you care about! We provide a safe vessel to learn, try, fail, and succeed in new skills.
Support from intersectional changemakers
We value everyone’s cultures, ancestral wisdom, and ways of being. Bring your full self and be welcomed and celebrated.
● Ways to join
Join a Member
The Coalition seeks Individual Members who readily identify as Black, Indigenous, or other affiliated Person of Color (BIPOC) and focuses on increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in public lands through work that promotes Everyone Outdoors Colorado’s mission.
The Coalition seeks Organizational Members from qualifying organizations that represent and prioritize BIPOC communities in their work, are visible in BIPOC communities, and reflect racial diversity among staff, board, and volunteers (as applicable). The Organization must have a majority of BIPOC in leadership, decision-making, and board positions.
Join as an Ally
The Coalition seeks Individual Allies who don’t meet the full criteria of an Individual Member but who seek to increase the diversity, equity, and inclusion in public lands through work that promotes Everyone Outdoors Colorado’s mission.
The Coalition seeks Organizational Allies that don’t meet the full criteria of an Organizational Member, but seek to do the work of the Coalition; donate time, talent, treasure, and testimony to the cause; and otherwise support Everyone Outdoors Colorado’s mission.
● How it works
Process for Joining
Fill out an application form.
We’ll review applications and make a final decision.
If approved, an Everyone Outdoors Colorado representative will reach out to schedule an onboarding meeting. If the application is not approved or there are additional questions, we’ll reach out.
Get your questions answered
Coalition Expectations
Active participation in the coalition is a requirement and privilege.
Individual Members
Attend monthly coalition meetings and participate in at least one working group.
Approximately 2-4 hour/ month commitment.
We understand that there are situations where these requirements aren’t able to be met. Communication with the coalition about absence and time commitment may suffice to keep your membership current.
Organizational Members
Have at least one staff member of your organization participate in monthly meetings, and actively engage in one working group.
Approximately 2-4 hour/month commitment per employee.
Allies
Serve on an Everyone Outdoors CO Working Group.
Submit an annual "amplification" report of ally activities supporting Everyone Outdoors Colorado
Attend in-person meeting(s) or event(s).
Attend trainings related to race, power, privilege, etc. hosted by Everyone Outdoors Colorado or partner organizations.
Advocate for change where needed in professional and personal spaces.
Foster community spaces to collaborate with other allies and organizations.
● A reminder
Allyship Framework
Within our society, we often see liberation movements co-opted for capitalist or other social gain while those entities claim allyship (e.g., Pride Month merchandise sold by companies who financially support anti-LGBTQ+ legislators). Additionally, allyship collaborations, partnerships, and/or sponsorships have often been used by those allyship organizations to prop up their own standing within their networks (e.g., listing the names and/or logos of the organizations they support), ultimately utilizing their acts of allyship to their own benefit. This tendency is what Nancy Leong, Ph.D., coins as identity capitalists, people and institutions who eke out social and economic value from oppressed peoples and their liberation movements (Leong, 2021).
While Everyone Outdoors Colorado recognizes the value of coalition building and allyships, we value building relationships based on reciprocity and solidarity and where one’s allyship with Everyone Outdoors Colorado is not exploited or used as a “stamp of approval”. Therefore, as an ally, the expectation is that you work with us and support our coalition and members while not capitalizing on your allyship status. Everyone Outdoors Colorado will not provide access to our logo or allyship status for promotional materials. However, this will not restrict a reciprocal relationship based on ongoing trust-building and commitment. Everyone Outdoors Colorado will work closely with allies to advance collective and shared liberation, including uplifting and supporting work led by allies who have demonstrated their commitment to this work.
Collective liberation benefits all. Therefore, Everyone Outdoors Colorado hopes to attract allies who see the value in moving towards transformational action as the primary benefit of coalition building and solidarity instead of the short-term benefits of allyship promotion.