Bio
Parker McMullen Bushman
Parker is a dynamic speaker that engages audiences in new thinking around what it means to be a diversity change agent, an inclusive leader and building capacity for transformational change. Parker is currently the Colorado State University Extension Director for the City and County of Denver. Her background in the education, conservation, outdoor recreation, and interpretive fields spans over 23 years. Parker is also the creator of an DEI training firm called Ecoinclusive. Ecoinclusive provides training and resources for leadership at non-profits, cultural and environmental organizations to aid them in building a culturally diverse and culturally competent staff that reflects the populations that they serve. Parker’s interest in diversity, equity and inclusion issues developed from her personal experiences facing the unequal representation of people of color in nonprofit and environmental organizations. Parker tackles these complex issues through head on activism and education. In Colorado she works with organizations to aid them in building culturally competent organizations that are representative of their communities. Additional, she sits on the board of Wildlands Restoration Volunteers, Metro Denver Nature Alliance and the National Association for Interpretation.
You can find out more about Parker at ecoinclusive.com, and you can email her at [email protected]
You can find out more about Parker at ecoinclusive.com, and you can email her at [email protected]
Crystal Egli
Having grown up in rural Vermont, Crystal Egli has always been an avid outdoor recreator. She grew up hiking, biking, camping, boating, and both water & snow skiing. After attending film school at Emerson College, she pursued a career in the film industry in Los Angeles. It only took Crystal 2 weeks to realize Los Angeles wasn’t the place for her, but 10 years to leave. In that time she found her partner Andre, and in 2015 they decided to move to Colorado to pursue a work-life balance that included a much higher percentage of backpacking and fishing. They both ended up working for Colorado Parks and Wildlife (Crystal as a videographer), and a few years ago coworkers convinced Crystal to take up hunting. Not only is she now an enthusiastic hunter-- Crystal has also become a Hunter Education instructor, as well as a mentor to a novice young woman.
In 2019, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) awarded Crystal the Stephen Kellert award for “outstanding service in advancing connections between humans and the natural world to all peoples in a diverse and inclusive manner”. That same year she also received Colorado Parks and Wildlife's award for "Best Creative Idea" for the youtube series "My First Big Game Hunt". In this series Crystal filmed herself, a female minority millennial who is afraid of firearms, learning how to hunt big game over the course of a year.
In 2020, Crystal left Colorado Parks and Wildlife to pursue working on Inclusive Journeys full time, as well as embark on a tandem career as a Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity consultant.
You can find out more about Crystal at CrystalEgli.com, and you can email her at [email protected].
In 2019, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) awarded Crystal the Stephen Kellert award for “outstanding service in advancing connections between humans and the natural world to all peoples in a diverse and inclusive manner”. That same year she also received Colorado Parks and Wildlife's award for "Best Creative Idea" for the youtube series "My First Big Game Hunt". In this series Crystal filmed herself, a female minority millennial who is afraid of firearms, learning how to hunt big game over the course of a year.
In 2020, Crystal left Colorado Parks and Wildlife to pursue working on Inclusive Journeys full time, as well as embark on a tandem career as a Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity consultant.
You can find out more about Crystal at CrystalEgli.com, and you can email her at [email protected].
Leander R. Lacy
Leander Lacy founded Lacy Consulting Services to provide a combination of social science, strategic planning, and diversity, equity, and inclusion thinking to conservation organizations to help them stay relevant and reach their human wellbeing targets. He began his career with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission as an Urban Interface Wildlife Biologist with a focus on Florida Black Bears. He worked to change behaviors of communities that had a perception of what they called “nuisance bears” that rummaged through unsecured garbage and generally frightened people with their presence. This provided Leander the opportunity to sharpen his conflict management skills and highlighted the need for effective communication. With a focus on the people side of conservation he obtained a M.S. in Human Dimensions of Natural Resources at Colorado State University. His thesis looked at how to improve the quality of life of the urban poor through environmental action in Chiapas, MX
Leander went on to work 8 years with The Nature Conservancy. His final role before starting his own business was as the Global Methodology Learning Coordinator where he assisted teams throughout the world with strategic planning on large-scale conservation issues and ensuring that social science principles were incorporated. Now he takes his extensive experience and is helping environmental organizations accomplish their goals in innovative and people-focused ways. He recently facilitated a strategic planning process for a 5-state collaborative to save the Southern U.S. shortgrass prairie, he is helping an organization understand their need for diversity, equity, and inclusion in their North America agriculture approach, and recently his company became international as he was sought out by a conservation group in the Bahamas to conduct focus groups to understand and begin mending the breakdown in trust between fishers, law enforcement, and conservation groups.
You can find out more about Leander at lacyconsultingservices.com
Leander went on to work 8 years with The Nature Conservancy. His final role before starting his own business was as the Global Methodology Learning Coordinator where he assisted teams throughout the world with strategic planning on large-scale conservation issues and ensuring that social science principles were incorporated. Now he takes his extensive experience and is helping environmental organizations accomplish their goals in innovative and people-focused ways. He recently facilitated a strategic planning process for a 5-state collaborative to save the Southern U.S. shortgrass prairie, he is helping an organization understand their need for diversity, equity, and inclusion in their North America agriculture approach, and recently his company became international as he was sought out by a conservation group in the Bahamas to conduct focus groups to understand and begin mending the breakdown in trust between fishers, law enforcement, and conservation groups.
You can find out more about Leander at lacyconsultingservices.com
Lance Ts’ósí
Born and raised on the Navajo Nation, Lance grew up immersed in his ancestral tradition, culture, and with a deep connection to nature. He grew up herding his grandmother’s goats, riding horses, and exploring the canyonlands surrounding his home – it was here where his sense of wonder grew. Lance received a B.A. from the University of Denver in Political Science and a minor in International Studies, he is an active member of the Denver Native American community, and a strong advocate for social justice. He has professional experience with college access and success programs for underserved communities and is currently the Colorado Program Manager at Big City Mountaineers. His approach to Risk Management does not solely focus on physical safety, but on the emotional and social well being of students. With that, Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion are heavily applied to his theory of risk management and is at the forefront of field based decisions. He believes so passionately in the power of the outdoors and how it can widen the scope of possibilities for youth. On his personal time, Lance enjoys bouldering, trail running, summiting 14ers, backpacking, fitness challenges, camping, and everything Colorado.