The Arizona Trail Association (ATA) is an organization where all employees and volunteers, whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education or ability, feels valued and respected. We are committed to a nondiscriminatory approach and provide equal opportunity for employment and volunteerism in all of our programs and worksites. We respect and value diverse life experiences and heritages and ensure that all voices are valued and heard.
Since 1994, our vision has been “a continuous, non-motorized path from Mexico to Utah connecting deserts, mountains, canyons, forests, communities, and people.” We think we can be a more unifying force when we truly listen to input and feedback from the community. With that in mind, we ask members and users to let us know what might better serve all individuals in making our National Scenic Trail even more of a shared treasure.
Leadership
The Arizona Trail Association strives to:
- See engaging diverse communities as connected to our mission and critical to ensure the well-being of our staff, volunteers and the communities we serve.
- Acknowledge and dismantle any inequities within our policies, systems, programs, and services, and continually update and report on organizational progress.
- Explore potential underlying, unquestioned assumptions that interfere with inclusiveness.
- Advocate for and support board-level thinking about how systemic inequities impact our organization’s work, and how best to address that in a way that is consistent with our mission.
- Help to challenge assumptions about what it takes to be a strong leader within our organization, and who is well-positioned to provide leadership.
- Practice and encourage transparent communication in all interactions.
- Commit time and resources to expand more diverse leadership within our board, staff and committees.
- Lead with respect and tolerance. We expect all employees and volunteer leaders to embrace this ethic and to express it in workplace interactions and through everyday practices.
Commitments and Action Items
The Arizona Trail Association abides by the following action items:Â
- Pursue cultural competency throughout our organization by creating substantive learning opportunities and formal, transparent policies.
- Improve our cultural leadership pipeline by creating and supporting programs and policies that foster leadership that reflects the diversity of Arizona and America.
- Pool resources and expand offerings for underrepresented constituents by connecting with other outdoor, recreational and conservation organizations  committed to diversity and inclusion efforts.
- Develop and present sessions to provide information and resources internally, and to members, the trail community, and the outdoor industry.Â
- Develop a system for being more intentional and conscious of bias during the hiring, promoting, training, or evaluating process.
- Advocate for public and private-sector policies that promote diversity, equity and inclusion.
- Challenge systems and policies that create inequity, oppression and disparity.
Into the Future
As an organization, we will continue to evaluate our systems and programs to identify strategies to meet our commitments, to provide authentic and informed leadership, to welcome inclusion within the organization and on the trail.Â
If you would like to engage with us around this work, please feel to reach out to us at ata@aztrail.org.Â