BIPoC Outside

Ellen Bradley is a Lingít scientist and professional skier whose work brings Indigenous perspective to both climate science and the outdoor industry. We had the opportunity to sit down with Ellen to discuss her work, how skiing helps her connect with land and identity, the arc of western science, extractive tourism; what it is, the consequences, and what perpetuates it, how the skiing industry's a...

Brittany Leavitt is a jill of all trades in the climbing community as an educator, instructor, athlete, and community organizer. She is also a founding member and now Executive Director of Brown Girls Climb; a national non-profit which strives to facilitate mentorship, provide access, uplift leadership, and celebrate representation in the outdoors and climbing for People of the Global Majority. We...

Alison Mariella Désir is an endurance athlete, author, activist, mental health advocate, the mind behind PBS's Out and Back series, and the founder of Harlem Run, Run for all Women, and the Meaning Through Movement Tour. We had the opportunity to sit down with Alison to discuss her work and comprehensive approach to community building, how exclusionary histories inform the spaces we move through,...

Dr. Nicole (Nykkie) Lugosi-Schimpf is a world traveler and polyglot. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta and a qualitative scholar specializing in: International Indigeneity, BIPOC-Indigenous relations (Canada and Central Europe), nation(hood), identity, and structural racism. We had the opportunity to sit down with Nykkie to discuss wha...

Tori Baird is a canoeist and wilderness adventurer who has expeditioned in some of Canada's most rugged, remote, and wild places, often with her boys and dogs in tow. She also runs "Paddle Like a Girl," outdoors' skill-building and canoeing workshops that are geared to women. Tori paused her most recent adventure to chat with us about her expeditions, remote wilderness, back country, and water ris...

"L” (short for Lanisha) Renee Blount is a Harvard-trained designer, creative strategist, professional adventurer, storyteller, and photographer. We had the opportunity to sit down with L to discuss her work, her approach to allyship in the industry, how creatives with cultural capital change outcomes, tips for newcomers to the industry, and defining what the win is.

Guarina Lopez is a Yaqui citizen, visual artist, storyteller, cyclist and the Founder of Native Women Ride & The Indigenous Cycling Collective We had the opportunity to sit down with Guarina to discuss her work, how culture comes first, the roots of the problem with environmentalism and feminism, the cycling space, the wild west of social media, building solidarity by respecting individual age...

Teresa Baker is an outdoor diversity activist, writer, and founder of several organizations which most recently includes the In Solidarity Project. We had the opportunity to sit down with Teresa to discuss African American National Park Event, retracing the route of the Buffalo Soldiers, overcoming fear, breaking the mold of the outdoor person, giving people space to make mistakes, bringing humili...

Judy Kasiama is a multi-sport athlete, an outdoor advocate, and the founder of Colour the Trails and the Like Me Film Festival. We had the opportunity to sit down with Judy for the second time to discuss what she's been up to since we last chat, the positive change in snow sports demographics, the work left to be done, how industry is still getting it wrong, and how they can change that.

Jose Gonzalez is a professional educator, conservationist, artist, community builder, the co-founder of the Outdoorist Oath, and founder of Latino Outdoors. We had the opportunity to sit down with Jose to discuss Latino Outdoors, making structural changes to our approach to environmental conservation, education, engagement and inclusion, the spectrum of nearby nature to far away wilderness, and th...

Dr. Lydia Jennings is a soil scientist, science communicator, educator, and long-distance runner. We had the opportunity to sit down with Lydia to discuss her work, environmental policy impacts, Indigenous data sovereignty, the cultural history of spaces, running to decode land, 50 Miles for 50 Indigenous Scientists, disrupting deficit narratives, celebrating #LandBack at the Boston Marathon, and...

Mardi Fuller is an Outdoors Woman, fully and unapologetically. She is also a multi-sport athlete, outdoor educator, and outdoor leader. We had the opportunity to sit down with Mardi to discuss the White Mountain region of New Hampshire, the opportunity cost of being in the outdoors as a racialized person, the ridiculousness of 'firsts', ski bum culture, racial literacy, water safety in Black commu...

James Edward Mills is a freelance journalist, contributor to National Geographic Magazine, a Fellow of the Mountain & Wilderness Writing Program of the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada, a professional educator, and a recipient of the Paul K. Petzoldt Award For Environmental Education. He is also the author of “ The Adventure Gap: Changing the F a ce of the Outdoors ” and the co-writer/co-producer o...

Ruandy Albisurez is a multisport athlete, professional sports photographer, mountain bike educator, community organizer, and the founder of Warpaint Magazine, filling the gap in media coverage of BIPoC folk in the outdoors. We had the opportunity to sit down with Ruandy to discuss his career and community work, problematic narratives in traditional sports media, extractive journalist practices whe...

Josephine Baran is a multisport athlete, a professional in the outdoor industry, and the director of the Outward Bound Canada Training Academy. We had the opportunity to sit down with Josephine to discuss her career, the barriers to the outdoors both, recreationally and as a career path, the increase in eco-anxiety, and how the Training Academy is working to change that.

Connor Ryan is a professional skier, ultra runner, and film director actively working to decolonize the outdoors. We had the opportunity to sit down with Connor for the second time to discuss the huge response to Spirit of the Peaks, Indigenous running traditions, renaming Mount Evans, the importance of placenames and language, and how it’s not activism, it’s an obligation.

Coree Woltering is a professional runner of all distances on all surfaces. We had the opportunity to sit down with Coree to discuss his career progression, growing up in the industry, creating space for the next generation, and how getting out into the real world can restore your faith in humanity. 

Lamont Joseph White is a professional artist at the center of the current conversation of meaningful representation and the outdoors. We had the opportunity to sit down with Lamont to discuss his work and upcoming projects, meaningful representation, multiculturalism, Black and Indigenous Futurisms, and how Martin Luther King Jr. ‘I’ve Been to the Mountaintop’ speech inspires his work.

Patricia Cameron is the chair of Outdoor Leadership and Recreation Technology at Pikes Peak State College, Vice-Chair of the Board of Food to Power, and on the board of the Trails and Open Spaces Coalition. She is also a Wilderness First Responder and a Wilderness First Response, First Aid, and Heartsaver CPR instructor, a Certified Interpretive Guide, a Leave No Trace Master Educator, and a 4 tim...

Ivan McClellan is a photographer and designer based in Portland OR. In 2015 he was invited to attend his first Black rodeo which was the start of a journey to the heart of Black cowboy culture where he found community and reframed his perception of home. 

Benji Alexander doesn’t think small. When he broke out on the scene in 2020 declaring his intention to ski for Jamaica in the Beijing Olympics it took the ski world by surprise. Not only was he not a professional skier, but he had just started skiing. Many of us missed the big picture though, this was more than a singular goal, and it’s manifesting in the most incredible way.

Anna Soens is a multi-sport adaptive athlete, a committed outdoors person in all seasons, and a wildlife biologist. We had the opportunity to sit down with Anna to discuss her expeditions and projects, tackling old problems in new ways, making trails and bikeways accessible for everyone, how adaptive sports and traditional sports are not separate spheres, and the dignity of risk.

Jalen Bazile is a professional outdoorsman and outdoor educator, a cycling advocate, a member of the Black Foxes, and the founder of the newly launched Trvl Wide. We had an opportunity to sit down with Jalen just prior to the launch to discuss his company, bikepacking as a path to healing, moving at the speed of relationships, different types of fun, controlling the narrative, leaving the doors op...