The People of the Global Majority in the Outdoors, Nature, and Environment (PGM ONE) conference convened for the first time last year in Berkeley, California. Leaders from the conference included outdoor educators, national park representatives, youth development program directors, and many other leaders in the outdoors. PGM ONE convenes hundreds of emerging and established professionals of the global majority to lead the racial equity and inclusion movement in the outdoor and environmental sectors. The term PGM is used here to shed light on the interesting fact, shared on the PGM ONE website, that “people of color represent over 80% of the world’s population”. The innovative conference included integrated workshops and activities such as talks titled, “De/Re-Constructing Conservation: Is Conservation Becoming the New Colonialism?”, an art space, spoken word opportunities, and reflective and meditative practices for identified leaders of color to heal and express themselves in a supportive and welcoming space.
Art table at the 2017 PGM ONE summit. Photo by Michael A. Estrada
Jael Berger leading a session at the 2017 PGM ONE. Photo by Michael A. Estrada
According to the 2016 Outdoor Industry Association report, 48.4 percent of the US population, participated in an outdoor activity at least once in 2015. Participation of Americans of color, however, fall behind Caucasians in the United States but continues to increase. Although demographic data on outdoor instructors and leaders in the U.S. was difficult to find during an internet search, individual reports from current employees and organizations in the industry seem to reflect low amounts of representation in leadership positions in outdoor recreation related jobs. This unfortunate reality leaves those within the field at risk for feeling additionally isolated or unsupported, making conferences like PGM ONE a critical space to welcome individuals working in the field everyday and can offer an encouraging atmosphere to discuss intersectional issues of race, culture and environmentalism.
As climbers of color, we may often encounter or lead dialogues similar to the talks highlighted at PGM ONE but rarely do we witness such conversations given the platform on a larger scale.
Monserrat Alvarez speaking on oppression in the outdoors. Photo by Michael A. Estrada
One of the many interesting and possibly controversial aspects of the conference is that it is, as an entity, an affinity space. To clarify for those unfamiliar with the term, an affinity space is is a place – virtual or physical – where informal learning takes place. Affinity spaces are often held for single identity groups to connect in a non-threatening environment. While people may have varying degrees of opinions on the topic with regards to race or ethnicity, from the participants of the first PGM ONE, spaces like these, are needed and valued. Monserrat Alvarez, a Denver leader of Brown Girls Climb and community activist, who attended the event last year shared, “As professionals of color and people of color, it is hard to break down those ideas especially when we believe them… We need to talk about the ways that systems of oppression try to break us down and how we lean into other people of color for support and mentorship.” Most of the employers of companies and non-profits that employs the small percentage of PGM present as white men and women. The lack of diversity in leadership positions may leave those interested in working in the outdoor industry apprehensive about joining a homogeneous workplace with supervisors and peers who may possess little to no training in cultural competency.
Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin opening the 2017 PGM ONE summit. Michael A. Estrada
As the summit director of PGM ONE, Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin is intimately familiar with the gaps that exist in the industry for people of color and her experience and initiatives continue to develop a once, barely visibly, trail for marginalized people in the outdoors. Trained as a chemist and a lawyer, her path represents the often bitter-sweet state of “traditional” success for women of color in American society. “I am a woman of color in her 40s who has been so immersed in white spaces throughout my careers in engineering, law, outdoor ed(ucation) and conservation that I’ve assimilated… I don’t even know who is the real “Aparna” anymore,” she shares. Her unique perspective though is what seems to drive her to break open and break down these spaces for others, “The bottom line is that I feel I have the responsibility to make sure NOBODY in their teens, 20s, or 30s even has to ever go through this type of assimilation. That we can all be ourselves and feel like we belong in these spaces. And PGM ONE precipitated from that sense of responsibility”.
So what happens when this type of affinity space is created for outdoor leaders? “Moving, intense, uplifting” and “relief” are just a few words to describe the weekend. Acting as the keynote speaker for the event, Dr. Carolyn Finney, author of Black Faces, White Spaces, was one of the highlights of the conference. Dr. Finney’s work primarily focuses on bringing cultural competency to the environmental sector while highlighting the geographical and historical narrative of African Americans in the United States. At last year’s PGM ONE, she also deliberately and thoughtfully addressed topics such as erasure of indigenous narratives of public lands and complex identities which can oppress and be oppressed in the outdoors. “Honestly, I don’t think that anyone wanted it to end…To me, this showed how deeply we were all needing community and a safe space to just be,” says Montserrat.
Art display from the 2017 PGM ONE summit. photo by Michael A. Estrada
The past few years, a number of articles have described the outdoors as a place of healing and restoration for people. Although these articles are exciting to read, they may leave some of us pondering our own diverse experiences in the context of the outdoors, a context that in some ways may be both relaxing, comforting and unsafe or explicitly unwelcoming to marginalized communities. PGM ONE and the leaders who participate in it are beginning to ask the difficult questions concerning ‘how’ and ‘for whom’ this healing and other privileges occur. Disentangling the biases that we all carry will not be easy. Like a good trad leader though, education and self-rescue skills make for a better partner, overall. PGM ONE allows those working in the industry, the space needed to be honest and authentic about themselves with the goal of creating inspired and confident leaders, not only in the industry but within all the communities they represent.
A meditative state at the PGM ONE summit. Photo by Michael A. Estrada
The 2018 PGM ONE is set for May 23rd -25th and Aparna and the incredible team she collaborates with plan to dive even deeper into topics affecting our communities. Some of the elements you can look forward to are affinity group meetings or caucusing within the space for people with particular identities, intersectional conversations about gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, and class, more outdoor sessions including specialty ones which center on healing and trauma, and more art!
Follow PGM ONE at #PGMONESummit on Instagram, Twitter, and @PGMONESummit on Facebook. Support the 2018 PGM ONE by giving at www.pgmone.org.
For more information on the Avarna Group and to learn more about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training and consulting services, check out #TheAvarnaGroup on Twitter and www.theavarnagroup.com.
Thank you Aparna and Monserrat for sharing your story and for the many others supporting authentic voices in the outdoors and special thanks to Michael A. Estrada for providing photography and media.
Brown Girls Climb
Author: Bethany Lebewitz
