Diversity

#BlackLivesMatter, Diversity, Environmental Justice, Madison, New Century Vision / 11.07.2016

My wife Shamane and I enjoy an early morning ritual. Three days a week at 5:45 AM we venture out on to Madison’s Lake Monona to swim. To be more accurate, she swims while I pace stroke a few miles on a standup paddle board. In the hopes of keeping her safe in the choppy waters of this urban lake I provide just a bit of security as we both embrace the grateful privilege of beginning our day together with much needed exercise. I watch out for the...

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Diversity, Magazines, New Century Vision, Outdoor Retailer, SNEWS / 01.07.2016

[caption id="attachment_2063885" align="aligncenter" width="536"] National Park Ranger Shelton Johnson welcomes visitors to Yosemite[/caption] Under my feeth the inflatable stand-up paddling board felt unsteady. The rushing water of the Colorado River took some getting used to as I marveled at the sheer walls of towering sandstone all around me. I feathered the blade of my paddle in sculling strokes to hold my position as the five boats in our party took up their positions behind me and we made ready to get underway. It was the third morning of a 16-day...

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Commentary, Diversity, New Century Vision, The Centennial Initiative / 09.06.2016

Like most of us, I have a lot to learn about diversity and inclusion. The very nature of this important work is fraught with more than a few opportunities mistep and tragically contribute to the very circumstances we are striving to overcome. As I am literally packing my bags for the next leg of my current mission I must pause  to express my sincere regret and to apologize for a profound error in judgement. I recently announced the launch of reporting project to explore the merits of efforts to make...

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Children In Nature Initiative, Diversity, Healthy Living, Kids in Nature, Life Out Loud / 18.04.2016

The City of Madison is on course to start an exciting initiative. With a planning grant of $25,000 from the Children & Nature Network in partnership with the National League of Cities Institute for Youth several public, non-profit and private institutions are working together to formulate a program to make the many outdoor recreation resources of our community more accessible to kids. With a few organizational meetings already concluded and a collaborative process set in motion, efforts are now underway to make Madison a national leader in nature-based...

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Adventure Activism, An American Ascent, Book Tour, Charitable Giving, Diversity, Kids in Nature, National Parks, Special Events, The Adventure Gap / 21.10.2015

For some reason I couldn’t get the song to play. After having spent hours getting the introduction just right I’d be damned if I was going to let the opening frames of this film presentation go without music. Trying not to panic I simply reconfigured the audio file from .AIFF to .MP3 and it played flawlessly. Jake Shimabukuro’s tune Dragon flowed in perfect sync with the animated text and the logos of the Madison-based nonprofit groups this screening of An American Ascent aimed to support. With a free...

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Adventure Activism, An American Ascent, Charitable Giving, Diversity, Film preview, Madison / 28.09.2015

After almost a year of festival screenings around the country I’m very excited to announce that our film on Expedition Denali called An American Ascent is finally coming to Madison. Hosted by Edgewood College in the Anderson Auditorium on October 17, 2015 at 7PM I’ll share this documentary film that details the first team of African-American climbers to attempt a summit of the highest peak in North America. And like the expedition itself this event aims to encourage a new generation of young people to become involved in...

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