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Featured Outdoor Diversity Organization: Love Is King
During the month of March, we’re continuing to work alongside several other outdoor industry and national park-related content creators, to feature a new non-profit organization. Love Is King performs vital work to help diversify our public lands and make nature a safe space for all people.
Below, you’ll find information about Love Is King and how you can support their work and get involved in their mission.
We hope you find inspiration in their incredible efforts towards a more equitable and just world where “the freedom to roam in nature is a basic human right.”
About Love Is King
A non-profit founded in 2021 by Chad Brown, Love Is King started by recognizing the systemic racism and oppression people of color have faced generation after generation, including outdoor spaces.
While recreating and spending time outdoors has incredible health benefits, both physically and mentally, history shows that people of color have not had equal opportunity and access to these spaces.
Love Is King views access to the outdoors as a human right, knowing that all people deserve to benefit from what nature has to offer. Their mission is to create a humanitarian movement, through love, empathy and respect, where all children, families and communities of color can have equitable and safe access to the outdoors.
Watch the Love Is King movement and mission statement here.
Love Is King Squashes The Fear In The Outdoors And Provides Equitable Access And Resolute Safety To Ensure An Enriching And Exhilarating Experience In Nature.
Actions & Programs
LIK Guardians
After completion of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training, government entities, corporations, non-profits and individuals who are looking to be a part of building equitable and safe space in the outdoors for BIPOC can become LIK Guardians. LIK serves as an action platform to give white allies a chance to support and foster safe spaces outdoors for BIPOC communities.
As a collective collaboration between community members, partners, organizations and allies, the LIK movement works towards equitable and safe access to the outdoors for everyone.
LIK Guardians are community leaders, veterans, CEOs, ministers, etc. who have the resources to help support the BIPOC community by offering education, training, logistics and more to support the LIK movement.
Diversity Declaration
By signing the Diversity Declaration, both individuals and organizations state the importance of access to and safety in the great outdoors for BIPOC communities.
Heritage Events
Heritage Events are outdoor experiences that capture the history, culture and storytelling of people from the past, who have broken barriers for others in celebration of people of different cultures.
These events create a space and bias-free space for BIPOC communities to feel comfortable and welcome in the outdoors. The ultimate goal of these events is to ensure individuals, families and communities have the freedom to roam further without fear in the outdoors.
LIK Champions
Love Is King also serves as a platform for young leaders with the belief that tomorrow’s voice is built upon the compassion, energy and determination of today’s youth. The LIK Champion Program fosters education and inspiration to empower the new generation who champion environmental stewardship, racial equality, social justice and empathetic leadership.
LIK Champions facilitate and support LIK programs and events ‘on the ground’ at local, state and national levels. Through their work with LIK, they gain social skills, environmental education, interpersonal and leadership skills, outdoor experiences and the opportunity for conservation jobs.
Founder
Love Is King founder Chad Brown is a U.S. Navy veteran, photographer, creative director, conservationist, adventurer, and founder of his first non-profit organization, Soul River Inc. His work has taken him around the globe and his adventure photography often focuses on documenting vulnerable wild spaces and their inhabitants.
He advocates for social and environmental justice, with a passion for working with indigenous people and promoting equal access to public lands for everyone.
As an outdoorsman, Chad has experienced firsthand how nature can help heal, as he suffers from PTSD from his service overseas during the Gulf War’s Operation Desert and Operation Restore Hope.
His struggles with PTSD lead him to the founding of his first non-profit, Soul River Inc., an organization that connects inner city youth and military veterans to outdoor experiences. The driving force behind that organization is the belief that these connections in nature will inspire and establish a new generation of outdoor leaders and conservation advocates.
Brown currently resides in Portland, Oregon and is a board member of the National Wildlife Refuge Association. He has been featured in national publications and broadcasts such as the BBC and Outside Magazine. In 2015, he was the first recipient of the Breaking Barriers Award presented by Orvis.
Support and Donate
Please consider supporting this organization directly. Donations can be made in the following ways:
Donate
As a new organization, donations at any level help greatly to further and grow the movement of Love Is King. Donations will support staff members and help them expand to allow the organization to manage the demand from the public, partners and funders.
Merchandise
100% of proceeds from merchandise sales go back into Love Is King to further the movement. Profits support the ongoing operation as well as funding Heritage Events. By purchasing and wearing the Love Is King merchandise you become an ambassador and a visible supporter of Love Is King.
Similarly to military members saluting each other to acknowledge and respect each other, when you wear Love Is King merchandise, you are showcasing your love and respect for all individuals.
Follow Love Is King
You can support Love Is King by following them on social media and sharing the movement on your social media platforms.
By recognizing the need for equal access and safety for everyone in the outdoors, sharing about the movement or showing up to a Heritage Event, you are greatly supporting the movement of Love Is King.
- Website: https://loveisking.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lik_free2roam/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/letfreedomroam/
You Can Help Bridge the Race Gap in the Outdoor Industry
An overview of organizations we have supported can be found here. This document contains information about what these organizations are doing and how you can donate to them directly.
We also set up a submission form you can use if you know an organization that’s working to make the outdoors more diverse and inclusive. If you want to see them supported, please submit via this form.