Looking Back at Tri-State Through a DEIB Lens

Welcome back to the DEIB Corner.  We hope you all had an amazing time at the ACA Tri-State Camp conference! We had over 3,500 participants in attendance, ready to build community with fellow camp professionals. Many were also excited to learn new best practices on how to improve both program and policies at camp, and truly dive deep into conversations on ways to center equity, inclusion, and belonging for all, especially those most marginalized at camp. We thank you for your dedication to this vital work. You all are the driving force behind progress and transformation in the camping industry. And together, we can move it forward.

We wanted to take this opportunity to share some of the ways the ACA Tri-State conference has acted as a model for doing our work through a DEIB lens. We are constantly thinking of ways to improve with the input of directly impacted groups. We learn more and more every day. 

This year, accessibility overall was (and will always be) a priority. This started first with our conference internship program. We provided support and access for folks to participate in this opportunity. We helped those who are new to the industry learn more about this field and how they can continue to be involved.

Each year we are constantly working to increase accessibility measures for those with both visible and invisible disabilities. This year, there was more seating, overall, at the conference & more consistent use of microphones by speakers along with closed captioning both live and on videos shared throughout the sessions. We will continue to collect feedback from participants on how to get closer to equitable inclusion for folks with disabilities. We can and will continue to strive to do better. 

The push for diversity, equity and inclusion went beyond the speaker rooms and extended to the vendor hall. We had two BIPOC and women/femme led organizations centering DEIB in the camping world sharing their important work in the vendor hall! 

S’more Summer and OAAARS transitioned from solely being conference speakers and facilitators to additionally being first time vendors. This was a unique offering at the conference paving the way for future DEIB leaders to take up space in the vendor hall and prioritize this vital work in the camping world. 

In much of the feedback of the sessions  rooted in DEIB, there was a call for more time and focus on this topic. This shows that this is increasingly becoming a priority in the industry and we will continue to provide opportunities for this to occur. 

In the coming months, we will be hosting a DEIB webinar series to continue the learnings from Tri-State and truly embed these practices into your camp. There was a deepened interest on how to both start and continue DEIB initiatives at a camp both in the summer and throughout the year. This includes actions like starting a JEDI (Justice.Equity.Diversity. Inclusion)  Rapid response team, infusing social justice programming at camp with young people, and continuing DEIB training for staff. 

In the DEIB Roundtable session, camp professionals worked collaboratively to solve issues around this topic and many walked away with tangible next steps they can implement this summer. We  will continue to provide that space for learning, collaboration, and implementation at our camps. 

In closing we wanted to offer a few potential next steps you can take to start or continue your DEIB journey including 

• Hiring an external consultant to audit your organizational culture and determine a DEIB centered strategic plan

• Introduce DEIB concepts to your board members to build the foundation for continued investment 

• Review your budget to see if it aligns with your DEIB goals

• Research DEIB professionals and hire them for your staff trainings 

• Survey camp stakeholders about their experience of cmap programming and traditions

If you would like a few resources to continue centering DEIB at your camp/organization, you can contact Kyle Medeiros.

We want to send a special shoutout to all of the presenters who made a concerted effort to center DEIB as a lens in their sessions. This would not happen without your dedication.

The ACA, NY and NJ DEIB Committee works tirelessly to push our camps forward in this work with the goal for being a model for so many in our industry. They work towards a camp that truly centers equity and inclusion one step at a time. If you would like to join this committee, please contact Alicia Skovera.