Empowering Access: Inclusivity in the Outdoors with Disability Leaders. Have you ever wondered: What barriers prevent folk with disabilities from accessing the outdoors? How can I be an ally for the disability community? How can I directly work to create more accessible and inclusive spaces? Join Disability Leaders & The Outdoorist Oath for a motivating, thought-provoking and educating presentation + conversation hosted by elite para-triathlete, LGBTQ+ advocate, and disability rights activist Kyle Stepp, where we’ll learn how to create more accessible and inclusive outdoor experiences for the disabled community. Education session will be followed by (optional) community climbing and connections
About your facilitator:
Kyle Stepp is a community leader, elite para triathlete, and activist for equitable healthcare, inclusive outdoor access, disability rights, and LGBTQIA+ communities.
Kyle is the product of compassionate communities that saved his life when he needed it most and raised him to love unconditionally, serve others, and use his gift of life for good. After growing up in foster care, surviving stage four bone cancer at 14, and overcoming the challenges of being an above-knee amputee after a downhill mountain bike accident, Kyle has committed to using his pain for a bigger purpose.
As a nonprofit leader and community activist whose deep passion and experience have allowed him to help political leaders and national & international nonprofit organizations with their missions of creating a more accessible and equitable world for all.
As a cancer survivor and member of the limb loss and LGBTQ+ communities, he commits his life to advocacy through his work with international and U.S. nonprofits, including the Range of Motion Project, Outdoor F.U.T.U.R.E., Sunshine Kids Foundation, Truth 365, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Pelotonia, Amputee Coalition, the American Orthotics and Prosthetics Association, and many more grassroots & national organizations.
Kyle has also partnered with and supported brands such as Cotopaxi, Lululemon, On, W.N.D.R. Alpine, and The North Face to advocate for disability representation and inclusion throughout their business and community ventures.
Kyle most recently led one of the nation’s most comprehensive legislative reforms for the disability community through N.M. House Bill 131, which prohibited insurance companies from discriminating based on disability and created equitable and life-changing access to orthotic and prosthetic care necessary for physical activity for individuals with limb loss and limb difference. After the legislative victory in New Mexico, Kyle has helped expand and grow the national So Every BODY Can Move initiative to disrupt healthcare inequity for the limb loss and limb difference community by empowering state-by-state legislative action and expanding access to medically necessary care for physical activity.
In Kyle’s free time, you will often find him training and racing as an internationally ranked elite para-triathlete for Team USA on the World Triathlon circuit, cycling with friends, rock climbing new routes, or shredding the slopes in the Rockies!
Understanding The Problem: Disability impacts us all, and during this session, experts will dive into a high-level overview of the disability community and the current barriers that prevent individuals with disabilities from fully accessing the outdoors.
Interactive Thought Leader Panel: Disability advocates are now more than ever working to break barriers and build Access. Engage with experts discussing architectural barriers, stigma, and innovative solutions that foster inclusivity in the outdoors.