Camber Outdoors executive director Deanne Buck has announced that she will step down听effective immediately.听The resignation came after backlash Camber received over its .听听
At Outdoor Retailer last month, Camber launched its new initiative for increased diversity, equity, and inclusion in the outdoor industry, calling on brand executives and CEOs to make concerted efforts to support people of diverse backgrounds in听leadership roles. The only problem: in wording on its website, and in Buck鈥檚 oral remarks at the trade-show announcement, Camber called听the program the first of its kind.听As , that鈥檚 not true.听
Camber, formerly known as the Outdoor Industry听Women鈥檚 Coalition, was the first organization to ask brands to make increased gender diversity a priority with its 2015 CEO pledge, an initiative that called on executives to get more women working at all levels of their companies. But this past summer, at the 2018 Summer Outdoor Retailer,听听founder Teresa Baker听started an Outdoor CEO Diversity Pledge听focused specifically on calling for increased racial equity in the outdoor industry. Camber鈥檚 update last month of its original 2015 CEO pledge,听with its new focus on racial diversity and bearing the 鈥渇irst of its kind鈥澨齦anguage, came roughly seven months after Baker鈥檚.
More frustrating to Baker and her colleagues was the fact that Camber had turned down requests to join their initiative, as had several brands that ultimately signed Camber鈥檚 pledge in January. 鈥淲ith great fanfare, they created the optic of a large group of white-led outdoor brands signaling a preference to follow a white-led organization on diversity instead of an alliance of organizations of color organized by a black woman,鈥 Glenn Nelson, a founding member of Baker鈥檚 pledge committee, wrote in an op-ed for 国产吃瓜黑料. The outcry led Camber to amend the language on its website and issue a . The Camber board of directors also issued its .听
But that didn鈥檛 stem the , which came from all corners of the internet听. 鈥淚t鈥檚 clear that I鈥檝e become a lightning rod, and the work is too important for me to become a distraction,鈥 Buck said in on Friday. 鈥淭he change in leadership at Camber Outdoors is a significant milestone in听听in the workplace in the outdoor industry.鈥 Buck says her resignation had been in progress since June听but that the controversy over the equity pledge fast-tracked听it.听
The announcement of Buck鈥檚 resignation comes one week after听Jerry Stritzke听announced that he was stepping down from his position as CEO of REI after an investigation into a 鈥減ersonal and consensual relationship between the REI CEO and the leader of another organization in the outdoor industry,鈥 according to a sent out by REI on Tuesday.听As , REI has been one of Camber鈥檚 top supporters, over the past five years, and the close timing of the two executives鈥櫶齞epartures was not lost on readers, who reportedly brought up the topic with SNews.听This led the publication鈥檚 reporter to ask whether Buck was the听鈥渓eader of another organization鈥澨齧entioned in REI鈥檚 press release. Buck steered clear of an answer. 鈥淚 think any question about REI and Jerry鈥檚 personal relationship or personal life should be directed to REI,鈥 she told SNews.听鈥淭his conversation is about Camber Outdoors. So, I鈥檇 prefer that we stay on that topic.鈥 Camber did not respond to 翱耻迟蝉颈诲别鈥s听requests for further comment on the topic.
Camber board member Diana Seung听will take Buck鈥檚听place as executive director effective immediately. Seung听has a retail background听and most recently was the executive vice president of merchandising at Backcountry. As SNews听reported, Seung, who is Korean American,听is already taking action to increase in-house diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.听