Smartwool Community –

Last month, the world witnessed the senseless killing of George Floyd, a Black man whose life was taken by a Minneapolis police officer.

This was not the only racially motivated tragedy that has taken place. In recent months, Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, and countless other Americans have been targeted because of the color of their skin.

These crimes have not only served as a reminder of the Black community’s fight for justice and equality, but they have amplified the movement against racial injustice. 

We believe Black lives matter.

Racism is not and never will be tolerated at Smartwool. We stand against it. While we are making progress in our journey to bring diversity to our team and the outdoors, I acknowledge that we must take a bolder stance. In order to truly live our value of inclusivity, we have a tremendous amount of listening, learning and work to do to become a stronger and more actionable ally to all marginalized communities. We will update you all as we continue to define what the road ahead looks like.

Our immediate actions include:

Smartwool will be donating $50,000 in the form of two $25,000 donations to Outdoor Afro and Environmental Learning for Kids. 

Outdoor Afro is a national organization that specifically supports Black communities in the outdoors by inspiring connections and leadership in nature. 

Environmental Learning for Kids is a Colorado-based organization that gives underserved urban youth the opportunity to engage with the natural world through education and adventure.  

With established communities within Colorado, our team will be able to further the impact of both organizations. As a team, our employees have chosen these organizations due to our on-going engagement through outdoor industry partnerships and events.

We are proud to work with these new partners and our long-standing partners who have already made monumental strides in creating equity in the outdoors. We have a lot to do to help make the outdoors a place for everyone and we’re honored to partner with organizations like these to bring about change.

- We are educating our staff on how they can donate both their time and money, to support Black-owned businesses and Black-led organizations.

- We are taking real action through our long-standing advocacy partnerships and seeking new ones to bring more diverse populations of people to the outdoors. 

- We are committed to building a more diverse community inside and out through the candidates we interview and hire, through the athletes and artists we partner with, and through the stories we tell.

- We are committed to sharing resources with our staff and our audience to become a stronger and more educated ally. 

- We are providing a safe space for our employees to better understand the topics of diversity, equality and inclusivity to combat racism. 

- We are committed to being a positive force for change in the outdoor industry. The outdoors does not belong to anyone and everyone should feel welcome here.

- We must be better. We must drive change. We must stand against racism.

- It is a big goal for a little brand like ours, but we are committed to becoming leaders driving meaningful change.

In solidarity,

Jen McLaren

President, Smartwool