Ann Krcik, Outdoor Industry Pioneer, Recognized for Commitment to Women in the Workplace
BOULDER, CO. (August 21, 2019) – Camber Outdoors honors the life and legacy of its co-founder, Ann Amelia Krcik, through the newly named Ann Krcik Professional Mentoring Program. Women participating in this initiative develop workplace, community and career connections that shape the future of the outdoors as demonstrated by the “Speed Mentoring” networking session during this year’s Outdoor Retailer Summer Market.
The Ann Krcik Professional Mentoring Program is a cross-company, cross-industry mentoring initiative in the active-outdoor industries that facilitates one-on-one learning and leadership development between director/manager-level and executive-level women.
“The relationships developed between our mentors and mentees are extremely valuable,” explains Sasha McGhee, Program Manager for Camber Outdoors. “Research shows that professional mentor relationships improve employee inclusion, engagement, retention and overall career outcomes and ultimately results in more diversified leadership teams. Ann believed in the power of mentoring and how it elevates women in their careers. I’m so glad her legacy lives on through the success of the program. Since 2014, 150 women have participated as mentees in theis program. And in a typical year, 25-35% received promotions within a year of completing the program. More than 33% are now at Director level and above.”
Mentorship was at the core Ann’s contribution to so many men and women in the industry, a topic she continuously championed. Starting in the customer service department of The North Face in the 1980’s, Ann was herself mentored by then-Director of Equipment Sally McCoy as she moved up to become Director of Marketing Operations. After more than six years at The North Face, Ann and her friend Carolyn Cooke launched the Outdoor Industries Women’s Coalition (OIWC), now known as Camber Outdoors. Close to 23 years later, Camber continues to help achieve equality for all women in the outdoors workplace through innovative and thought-leading programming and initiatives, including an industry-wide job board, community events, industry keynotes, leadership webinars, and mentoring.
Throughout her career, Ann asked, “Who is missing from the leadership table? Whose voice would help us make better decisions?” She believed the broad inclusion of individuals and industry leaders drove smart and effective business decisions. Through her mentoring, she helped new and diverse voices to the heard.
“The learnings I took away from The Ann Krcik Professional Mentoring Program have had a tremendous impact on my career and personal growth,” said Morgan Makowski, Marketing Director at Hydrapak. “It has not only given me the tools but clear solutions on how I can add more value to my organization and be a leader within the industry. I’ve learned to own my outcomes and relationships by being more assertively clear about who I am and what I value. By being authentic, I’ve been able to have real conversations, create more outcomes, and move some pretty big boulders!”
All donations to the Ann Krcik Advocacy Fund help support and expand the Ann Krcik Professional Mentoring Program.
About Camber Outdoors
Founded in 1996, Camber Outdoors is the hub for advancing career opportunities, leadership and entrepreneurship to inspire an outdoors, truly for everyone. Envisioning a future of “Everyone’s Outdoors”, it is a national organization dedicated to achieving equity for all women and underrepresented communities in the workplace of the active-outdoors industries, through innovative and thought-leading programming and initiatives, including industry keynotes, the CEO Outdoor Equity Pledge, Pitchfest, Camber Exchanges, and a cross-industry/company Mentoring Program. Over 200 corporate and 7,500 individual members support equity through Camber Outdoors.
To learn more about Camber Outdoors please visit camberoutdoors.org and follow them on social media.
