As the outdoors, conservation and agricultural sectors tackle becoming more inclusive and diverse, organizations have many questions on where to begin and where to focus. Executives are in the role of needing to define the vision, the roadmap, and the measures for both their boards and their staff. Articulating the business benefits of a coherent DEIJ strategy across and within a sector, and for individual organizations in ways specific to their operations, is the best way to achieve buy-in. Outdoors, conservation and ag rganizations generally agree and hold as factual that DEIJ is a “good” thing, but to have a sector or organizations truly embrace, live and promote it, a tangible set of best practices, guidelines and tools is necessary.

 

Without the capacity or ability to develop strategic diversity action plans, leaders are also left with a gap in assuring the sustainability and preservation of their accomplishments in perpetuity. Diversity of members, staff, participants, etc. is needed to broaden, deepen and strengthen the needed constituency to protect lands and sound practices. Without broad support with each new generation of voters and communities, preserves, farms and public outdoors spaces could be vulnerable to eminent domain or reversal of irrevocable trusts; environmental, land or ag protection policies may not be understood or supported; and organizations may not be able to attract needed talent from other sectors such as education, sciences, wildlife protection, and policy and legal professions--skills that will be increasingly needed into the future.