Campfire Session #2 - Access & Equity in the Outdoors
Tuesday, November 19
Camp Eddy
347 Eddy Dr.
Grand Junction, CO 81501
6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Join us for GVORC’s second campfire session! Engage with a panel of industry experts as they discuss some of the most significant barriers that marginalized communities face when trying to access outdoor spaces, what organizations and businesses can do to ensure that their programs and messaging resonates with diverse communities, and how to measure progress in achieving equity in the outdoors.
Panelists Include:
Ana Hinojosa, Conservation Colorado
Ana has been a West Slope Field Organizer with Conservation Colorado since 2022 and works with local communities to pass conservation centered policies in the state that elevate equity. She’s a CMU alumni and has previously interned with the U.S. Forest Service.
Ash Zolton, Roam Events
Ash (she/they) is the co-founder of Roam Events, the production company behind Roam Fest, the world’s first and largest femme mountain bike festival currently held every fall in Fruita, Colorado. Ash has worked in the outdoor industry for over twenty years, putting on events and guiding in seven countries and much of the United States. Building community and inclusive outdoor spaces is at the heart of Roam and Zolton’s personal mission.
Jack Curry, Riverside Education Centers
Jack is a dad, spouse to a D51 teacher, and currently serves as the Executive Director of Riverside Education Centers (REC) that provided free after-school tutoring and enrichment programs to 1,400 Mesa County students across 16 schools in 2023-24. Prior to his tenure with REC, Jack worked as a case manager, and youth development specialist at a social services non-profit in addition to two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in rural, agrarian Panama.
Jasmine Oeinck, The Cycle Effect
Born and raised in Colorado, Jasmine has always gravitated toward outdoor adventure and sport. After retiring from racing triathlon at an elite level, Jasmine moved to the Western Slope and fell in love with the lifestyle AND the access to world class mountain biking. Jasmine is thrilled to be a part of the Cycle Effect Team and work with young riders who share the same passion of mountain biking. She loves supporting riders as they grow as athletes and individuals. Jasmine loves music, potato chips, her husband Kris, her dog Frye and is currently trying to expand her collection of ‘dad jokes.’
Sarah Johnson, CMU & Formerly Mesa County Public Health
Sarah Johnson, MSW, is currently an Assistant Professor of Social Work and Director of BSW Practice Education at Colorado Mesa University after spending 7 years with Mesa County Public Health, most recently as the Senior Community Health Planner. Johnson sees the outdoors as a powerful influence on individual and community wellbeing and incorporates those concepts into her teaching, including a joint Outdoor Recreation Industry Studies/Bachelor of Social Work class at CMU. Johnson has worked in a variety of health and human services settings in Mesa County since 1999, including child welfare, health care, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and public health. She focuses on building resilient and thriving communities through equitable and interconnected systems that involve community members as essential planning and decision-making partners. Her favorite things to do are mountain biking, telemark skiing, reading, cooking and traveling.
