Our Values
The Partners in the Outdoors Conference is grounded in our shared mission, commitment, and values.
- Collaboration: We believe the future of Colorado's outdoors depends on a cooperative spirit, respect, and mutual trust between individuals and organizations.
- Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: We believe that equity, diversity, and inclusion are essential to conservation. We welcome and create space for people of all backgrounds and seek to nurture a culture of respect, honesty, belonging, understanding and engagement.
- Communication: We strive to communicate openly and honestly to build trust and respect that will lead to meaningful relationships.
- Hard Conversations: We value opportunities for honest, challenging, and thought-provoking discussions.
- Transparency: We value transparency and integrity in all decision making processes.
- We are Better Together: No one knows everything, together we know a lot. We value all contributions to our collective work and support each other to reach our goals.
Participant Commitments
All conference participants must be respectful of individuals’ diversity in demographics, identities, backgrounds, geographic regions, perspectives, experiences, and knowledge. Participants are expected to contribute to an inclusive environment where all voices are valued and heard and, ultimately, to contribute to the success of the Partners in the Outdoors Conference.
As a conference participant, I commit to…
- Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
- Respect and make space for the diversity of perspectives and voices.
- Know my intent and own my impact.
- Take responsibility for my own learning.
- Embrace discomfort as I lean into new learning opportunities.
- Be kind to myself and to others.
- Respect the spaces where we are gathering.
- Be aware of air time (make room for others and share speaking time).
- Honor individual experiences as real.
- Be open minded, curious, creative, and solution-oriented.
- Be engaged and have fun!
Values and Commitments for the Partners in the Outdoors Conference were adapted from:
- Butler Center Guidelines for Dialogue
- Summit for Actions Guidelines
- CAEE Gathering Guidelines
- CAEE Ways of Being
Conference Ombuds
CPW is pleased to offer an Ombuds resource for conference participants. The Conference Ombuds is an impartial, independent, off-the-record resource available on-site to hear concerns confidentially. The Ombuds can assist with identifying options and resources to address conflicts or issues such as harassment, discrimination, or any violation of our Values and Commitments. This new resource is available to all attendees, staff, presenters, exhibitors, and anyone participating in our Partners in the Outdoors Conference. For more information, see www.mwi.org/cpw-ombuds.