Black History 365: Parker McMullen Bushman
We are highlighting examples of Black excellence throughout the year! Feel free to send us suggestions!
Meet Parker McMullen Bushman, Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder of Inclusive Journeys, and founder of Ecoinclusive Strategies. Parker is a dynamic speaker and facilitator that engages organizations in new thinking around what it means to be a diversity change-agent and create dynamic organizational change. Parker’s background in the non-profit leadership, conservation, environmental education and outdoor recreation fields spans over 24+ years. Parker has a passion for equity and inclusion in outdoor spaces. Her interest in justice, accessibility, and equity issues developed from her personal experiences facing the unequal representation of people of color in environmental organizations and green spaces. Parker tackles these complex issues by addressing them through head on activism and education. For 9 years Parker has worked with businesses to catalyze action to build culturally diverse and culturally competent organizations that are representative of the populations that they seek to reach and serve. Parker is the founder of the organization called Ecoinclusive Strategies. Ecoinclusive (ecoinclusive.org) provides training and resources for non-profit, cultural, and environmental organizations. In Parker’s role as Chief Operating Officer she oversee the core operational functions of Inclusive Journeys. Inclusive Journeys (www.inclusivejourneys.com) is a tech company with a mission to create data-driven, economic incentives for businesses to be more inclusive and welcoming, resulting in safer spaces for people who regularly experience discrimination.
Parker brings a unique background to this work having served in top leadership for Marine Science, Environmental Educational, and Cultural Interpretive Facilities. Parker has served as the Vice President for Community Engagement, Education and Inclusion at Butterfly Pavilion, an Invertebrate Zoo located in Westminster, CO. She also served as the Director of Education for the Marine Science Consortium, a research and education center located on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Parker has a Master of Natural Resources from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, with a focus in Interpretation and Environmental Education.
Parker is a member of several committees that focus on diversity in environmental fields as well as a presenter and trainer on diversity issues. She sits on the board of Environmental Learning for Kids, Metro Denver Nature Alliance, the Next 100 Coalition and the National Association for Interpretation. Parker is a Certified Interpretive Guide and Certified Interpretive Trainer.
Ecoinclusive was born out of a desire to make sure everyone has a connection to the outdoors. Especially communities of color that traditional have been underrepresented in these spaces. . Ecoinclusive provides resources for leadership at non-profits and environmental organizations to aid them in building a culturally diverse and culturally competent staff that reflects and connects with the populations that they serve.
Inclusive Journeys: Inclusive Journeys is a company that works to identify safe and welcoming spaces for all. Our first project is the Digital Green Book. We are working to build a website that’s like Yelp, but for inclusivity. On this website, users can submit business locations they feel safe in, businesses owned/operated by people of marginalized identities. Users can rate a business on a range of things, such as courtesy of staff, ADA compliance, sense of personal safety as it relates to their identity, gender neutral bathrooms, and more. Crowd-sourced entries (like Yelp) will populate “inclusivity reviews” for businesses and recreation spaces.
KWEEN WERK : KWEEN stands for Keep Widening Environmental Engagement Narratives. KWEEN werk / Earth KWEEN challenges traditional representations of what it means to be outdoorsy by showing a variety of bodies engaged in outdoor spaces. Kween werK is bringing people together in the fight for Justice and Equity. Using Social Media as a tool this Parker shows her many sides as a Social Justice Activist — part Diva, Artist and Educator.
http://www.cparkermcmullenbushman.com/bio.html