Congratulations to Mercy M'fon of Wild Diversity. Last week at the 2024 National Outdoor Recreation Conference Mercy M'fon was awarded an Individual Service Award, recognizing outstanding contributions to the outdoor recreation profession. Mercy M’fon is a preeminent leader in creating a new model for decreasing the diversity gap in the outdoors.

Join us this Black History Month and beyond as we celebrate Black excellence, honor our collective heritage, and continue the journey toward a more just and equitable world. Together, we can build a future where diversity thrives, and the beauty of nature is accessible to all.

It was the last night of our adventure course and I was asking all the youth about their favorite parts of the week. We had been in the wilderness for 4 days now. Our Youth Adventure Course included camping, backpacking, and kayak camping. During the flow of the week the youth had to learn so much. They set up their own tents; learned how to pack and maneuver their kayaks; they even helped chef it up on the camp stoves and made meals for the whole group.

What I witnessed and experienced were strangers who gathered, laughed together, and recognized each other at the next meetup, then made plans to barbeque. We shared profound experiences being outside together learning about plants, playing in the dirt, and simply being together.

written by Chrisha Favors

Since the year of our inception, Wild Diversity has dreamed of ways we can create positive learning experiences in the outdoors for BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ communities. We believe that the outdoors are for everyone and that underrepresented communities deserve to experience the outdoors in a safer, and more inclusive way. As we dream for the future, we dream of pathways to building an outdoors for all with education being at the forefront of this effort.

written by Yilan Shen

I have a confession to make. I am not great at camping. I’m always rolling into the campgrounds late and in the dark, eating fruits and nuts rather than actually cooking, and sometimes I’ll sleep in the car rather than in the tent. I’m always borrowing somebody else’s headlamp even though I have a whole basket full of them.

As a young kid I was always striving for perfection. I lived 8 years of my life as a competitive cross country runner. I would wake up every morning for a quick run before school and end my day with a long afternoon run with my team. During these runs I would often veer off from the group and start running towards the mountains wondering how far I could go and if I would ever get close enough to touch them.

When Wild Diversity was merely a dream, we dared to redefine what community meant in the Pacific Northwest. We painted vibrant pictures of youngsters, elders, and every age in between reveling in the great outdoors together. In our minds, we could hear their collective laughter and sense the pure ease within these joyful spaces. We envisioned the invaluable intergenerational learning, understanding how each generation could enrich the community's tapestry.

My season as a backpacking guide may have ended but my adventures are far from over! The fall season has easily become my favorite season to backpack alone, no mosquitoes, fewer crowds and did I mention no mosquitos. While I love sharing my passion for the outdoors with my community, over the years solo backpacking has easily become my greatest love.

As a curly hair backpacker, I often find myself waking up extra early to wet my hair in the nearby stream, pulling out my tiny bottle of Cantu leave-in conditioner and braiding my hair long before others leave their tent.

Take a deep breath. Relax. The emails, the zoom calls, budget meetings, and policy convos will be there when you get back.

Find what brings you joy and leave the rest.

One of our priorities at Wild Diversity is to decolonize the way we operate to serve our communities best. This process is not a stagnant outline or a tried and true way of doing things…that would be more of the same. For us, decolonizing can look like questioning our processes and asking if there is a better way to serve our community. It is not reinventing or breaking the wheel for the sake of doing it, but because we know during the formation of outdoor education and guided adventures, racism and prejudice were a tenant of these programs.