You might never have heard that CSAR had a DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) Program, let alone an OD program. The DEI program began in 2023 and was formed under the leadership of then-CSAR director Ryan White, from Western Mountain Rescue Team. The program’s four additional members are passionate about making sure teams have access to best practices and resources for creating an inclusive and resilient culture for their teams.
The group’s first project, back in 2023, was a SARCon presentation aimed at sharing resources from some of its members’ teams. Lake County SAR’s then-president, Becky Young, shared a Culture Toolkit from her team with ideas on how to make joining a team accessible to potential members of differing income levels, genders, cultural backgrounds and physical abilities. Ryan White shared a collection of documents from Western that were the outcome of addressing a Title IX complaint, an event that led to a more inclusive culture for the university-based team.
In 2024, the DEI Program once again presented at SARCon, this time teaming up with CSAR executive director Jeff Sparhawk to lead a roundtable discussion about the need for documented processes, policies and procedures for BSAR teams in order to ensure solid risk management, inclusivity and effective leadership.
In 2024, the program’s members began to discuss the connection between empowered leadership and DEI. The program took on a larger role by helping to create and roll out CSAR’s very first leadership development training series, which debuted at SARCon that year. Ryan and one of the DEI program members became part of a leadership advisory group in 2025, a group that spent several months identifying BSAR leadership competencies and working through the selection criteria and logistics for this year-long series. The curriculum was developed and facilitated by Adventures in Leading, a Denver-based consulting firm with expertise in experiential learning for leadership development and a passion for backcountry adventures. The first cohort of 20 participants from 14 different teams is now mid-way through the series.
In light of this larger role, we began to look at the need for a program that provided developmental resources to teams in many different areas of organization management. Eventually, we hope the program will begin to provide some of the team consulting services that are currently provided by CSAR’s executive director, Jeff Sparhawk. Team leaders regularly reach out to CSAR for advice on nonprofit governance, financial management, volunteer education, human resource management, effective administrative structures for teams, public information and education, and many other related topics. Our goal is to have a more formal resource available to them down the road.
Does any of this sound interesting to you? The OD Program is looking for new members! Membership is open to any interested person from the Colorado BSAR community, and we especially seek to diversify the teams represented in the program (we currently have members from Douglas County SAR, Summit County Rescue Group, and Western Mountain Rescue, plus two former BSAR team members). To learn more or express your interest, please reach out to [email protected].
Does any of this sound interesting to you? The OD Program is looking for new members! Membership is open to any interested person from the Colorado BSAR community, and we especially seek to diversify the teams represented in the program (we currently have members from Douglas County SAR, Summit County Rescue Group, and Western Mountain Rescue, plus two former BSAR team members). To learn more or express your interest, please reach out to [email protected].