November 4, 2021
Dear Industry Colleague:
As we gear up for this coming winter and think about the 2022-2023 season, I sincerely hope that you are integrating inclusion throughout as you pivot, plan and take action.
Inclusion means finding ways to embrace and incorporate diverse perspectives and peoples everywhere, across the industry. Inclusion is about consciously reaching out to new, historically underrepresented customers and actively inviting them into our winter outdoor community. Inclusion also means including more voices, perspectives, and participants, from the slopes to the sales floor and from the c-suite to the production line.
Yesterday, SIA and its Inclusion Committee held an important discussion around the launch of the SIA Inclusion Statement and the role of inclusion in the winter outdoors. We issued an invitation and challenge to the entire industry: Do better, because our future depends on it!
It is clear that inclusion is fundamental to a thriving winter outdoor industry. Inclusion is a critical component to enhanced productivity, increased participation, greater innovation and sustained profitability. Any business or company that is not inclusive will get left behind. The winter outdoors community is 69% white. And yet people of color now comprise more than half of the nation’s total youth under 18 population. While it’s apparent we have some significant work ahead of us, we also have an incredible opportunity to not only share our love for the winter outdoors with a new audience, but also bring in a whole new energetic community to help protect and invigorate it. As an industry, we are ready for this! We are adventurers! We love a challenge! We are a community of forward-thinkers with a collective responsibility for the future of the winter outdoors. Together we can forge a path to a thriving future.
I want to personally thank the SIA Inclusion Committee for their support and guidance. A dedicated group of diverse professionals from across the winter outdoor industry, each with their own story and lived experience, they are committed to helping move this industry forward.
Please take a moment to read the Inclusion Statement that they composed and watch the Town Hall. I highly encourage each of you to think about what inclusion means to you and your business. Take the time to speak (and listen!) with someone from an underrepresented community about what winter means to them. Share the statement with your employees, post it to show your commitment. And take the time to ask yourself… ”Why Inclusion?”
Best,
Nick Sargent, SIA President