Past Webinar Recordings-What Can We Do - A Conversation with Camber Outdoors

Video Transcription

Video Summary

The call featured Emily Newman and Renita Smith from Canberra Outdoors presenting a workplace anti-racism action agenda for the climbing and outdoor industry. They explained Canberra’s mission to support inclusion, equity, and diversity in workplaces, with a focus on building safer, more equitable systems inside organizations.  

Their framework centers on three phases: <strong>learn, act, change</strong>, and three focus areas: <strong>inclusive leadership and culture</strong>, <strong>equitable policies and systems</strong>, and <strong>diverse talent pipelines and workplaces</strong>. They emphasized that anti-racism work must go beyond statements and become a long-term, measurable commitment supported by employee feedback, data, and leadership action.  

Canberra also highlighted resources available to members, including free memberships for small businesses and nonprofits, workplace and employee surveys, learning tools, an Agile Basecamp of resources, and public guides such as five guiding questions for internal reflection. They discussed practical approaches for climbing gyms, including how to engage law enforcement members respectfully while still addressing systemic racism, and how to write public statements that are action-oriented rather than symbolic.  

In Q&A, they advised that community outreach should begin with educating internal staff and building authentic relationships with existing anti-racist and community organizations, rather than placing the burden on marginalized communities. They also noted that sustainable change often comes from employee engagement, feedback systems, ERGs, and improved hiring pipelines.  

The CWA closed by announcing its own JEDI action plan and encouraged members to stay involved in ongoing webinars and discussions.

Asset Caption

Are you committed to building a workplace that works for all? Are you asking yourself what you can do to make your business more inclusive, equitable, and diverse?

In this special edition of the CWA Community Calls, we are joined by leaders from Camber Outdoors, a non-profit organization with the mission of supporting workplace inclusion, equity, and diversity.

Keywords

anti-racism

workplace inclusion

equity and diversity

climbing industry

inclusive leadership

equitable policies

diverse talent pipelines

employee feedback

community outreach

JEDI action plan