Dear Friends,
Inspiring Girls Expeditions stands united in full support of Black people, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the ongoing protests against police brutality and centuries-long systemic white supremacy. The recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the many before them have left us outraged and heartbroken, and they underscore the inequities and injustices in all aspects of our culture, including the science and outdoor communities.
We believe wholeheartedly in our core mission - to remove barriers to participation in the science and outdoor communities for underrepresented and marginalized groups. As a majority-white-led organization, we have not done enough to battle systemic racial oppression which ultimately undermines our organization’s efforts and the empowerment of our participants.
We commit to the following ongoing work within the Inspiring Girls Community, within the broader science and outdoor leadership communities, and within ourselves:
We will recognize and fight racism and discrimination wherever we encounter it, and we commit to educating ourselves with intention, including initiating difficult conversations about privilege, inequity, bias, oppression, and discrimination.
We commit to amplifying Black voices in the science and outdoor communities by spotlighting and citing the work of Black-led organizations, Black scientists, artists, and outdoor leaders, and Black alumni on our social media platforms and website.
In our pursuit of allyship, we recognize that we will likely make mistakes. We commit to seeking feedback, deeply listening, and correcting our actions in those times.
We commit to increasing the diversity of our leadership by actively seeking and hiring Black scientists, artists, outdoor leaders, and activists, and providing the necessary support and allyship within our organization.
We commit to critically reviewing our curriculum resources, expedition formats, and instructor training resources to be more inclusive and accessible, and we recognize that this will be a constant and continued effort for everyone in our organization.
To our Black alumni and community members, you mean the world to us. We are listening. We promise to act and we pledge to support you in every way we can. To our entire leadership and alumni community, let’s come together to act. Inspiring Girls must do more. Please reach out to us with comments, critiques, or visions for our community.
Thank you,
Inspiring Girls Leadership