Act and Advocate

Last week, the PSIA-AASI national board of directors created a new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force.  At the same time, the Board issued a message entitled Act and Advocate, which highlighted PSIA-AASI’s commitment to a vision of “creating lifelong adventures through education” and its goal statement, “Members benefit from participating in a diverse professional community.”

A major initiative toward this vision and goal is the partnership PSIA-AASI entered into last year with the Share Winter Foundation, a non-profit organization striving to make winter sports accessible to a broader, more diverse community.  PSIA-AASI has been working with Share Winter to implement Junior Instructor programs, giving Share Winter youth opportunities to expand their skills beyond simply learning to ski or ride.  We want to continue and to expand our efforts with Share Winter.  But we at the Western Division, along with much of the country, want to do more.  But what?

A couple of weeks ago we asked you to share inspiring stories of your experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic of the last few months.  You came through with some good stories.  Now we’re asking for your thoughts and ideas on what we, the snowsports educators of the Western Division, can do to further the National PSIA-AASI’s efforts to bring to life an education culture and a community that is more supportive of, and connected with, our goals for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

We know you’ve got thoughts on this.