(December 10, 2024) — The Outdoor Diversity Alliance is happy to announce our first Catalyst Member, KEEN – a 21-year-old family-owned and values-led shoemaker with purpose. As a Catalyst member, KEEN is committing $25,000 to ODA in 2025. With their support along with our other members, we will be able to move forward in our efforts to further engage the outdoor industry and underrepresented communities in collaborative diversity, equity, and inclusion work.
The Outdoor Diversity Alliance (ODA), which launched late last year, sits in a unique position to carry on the work of diversity within outdoor brands, organizations, and foundations. ODA is a group of outdoor industry businesses and organizations working together to build the outdoor industry of the future. We hope to catalyze the outdoor industry by addressing systemic issues related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion through collective action and centering historically underrepresented communities across gender, race & ethnicity, physical ability, and sexual orientation.
This work can only be done with financial backing, and with the recent political pushback on diversity, equity, and inclusion, we’re afraid that funding will be increasingly difficult to come by. We welcome other industry companies to join ODA as a Catalyst member. As a Catalyst member, your $25,000 tax deductible yearly membership dues will help continue funding for community advisors, co-directors and a part-time program manager.
We cannot afford to sit on the sidelines and expect the work of diversity to remain relevant on its own. We must work diligently to ensure that it does.
