Altitude Ultimate (AU) seeks to create a welcoming environment where participants of all backgrounds and identities feel comfortable bringing their full selves to all of our events. We recognize the importance of having our Ultimate community reflect all members of our Colorado community, and to prioritize breaking down barriers for marginalized groups for whom access has not historically been equitable.
AU acknowledges that this will not be an easy task, and that we may make mistakes. Nevertheless, we commit to pushing ourselves to put diversity, equity, and inclusion at the core of our operations, while being a progressive force in society to promote these values.
AU’S EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION MISSION
To realize our vision of an Ultimate community that represents and welcomes all people, AU is dedicated to committing significant time, people and funding. Our goal is to provide more access to our sport within racially and ethnically diverse communities, and to raise awareness of DEI issues among members of our existing community.
Toward that end, we will establish, measure and evaluate annual goals within the following broad areas:
Education. We will educate ourselves and provide opportunities for our community to be educated about issues around equity, diversity and inclusion. We will foster opportunities and conditions to learn and grow together. We will be open to dialogue and feedback from the community.
Support. Our Board will center equity, diversity and inclusion in our decisions and conversations. We will work to support all members of our community by seeking out diverse voices and actively including people from historically marginalized backgrounds. As a part of this, we will dedicate significant money and resources to providing scholarships and affordable pricing for players for whom cost is a barrier.
Programs. We will create new or expanded programs in and for traditionally underrepresented communities, based on the needs and wishes of the community. To do this, we will develop and foster partnerships within the communities so that they can inform our practices.
Transparency. We will be transparent and accountable to all members of our community and to all our member communities. This means that we will solicit feedback, empower our EDI Task Force to highlight inequities and blindspots, build community partnerships, and show how we are spending our funding.
AU DEI UPDATES
An partial list of completed goals to date includes:
- Created cultural competency trainings (we’ve trained both local and national ultimate leaders)
- Developing relationships with local community advisors – we have someone in the NE Denver area who is a Black community organizer, we have someone in the Pueblo area who is on the school board and will support us working with Pueblo kids of color
- We have a paid EDI Community Engagement Specialist who is working to build relationships (recently this person transitioned out of this role, we will be seeking to replace them soon)
- Publicly condemned racist police violence with Aurora city organizations, met with Visit Aurora, other city leaders and community members, and convened a panel of BIPOC members of the Ultimate community to coordinate on a productive path forward
- AU Board did a training with an DEI consultant and integrated DEI objectives into our strategic planning