Association of Fish and Wildlife - 2019
Purpose of Award:
To recognize a distinguished individual or group effort for outstanding service in advancing connections between humans and the natural world to all peoples in a diverse and inclusive manner.
Nomination text by Tracy Gripp:
It is with much enthusiasm that I nominate Crystal Egli in our Creative Services/Marketing section of Colorado Parks and Wildlife to recognize her hard work over the past year in promoting inclusive marketing/public info and education efforts at CPW. Her example has led to improved representation from diverse communities not only in her work in creating agency videos, but also our social media, brochures, images, newsletters, public information press releases, website, etc.
Crystal is also key leader on our Employee Recruitment and Retention committee providing invaluable contributions that have allowed us to advance our goals in creating an equitable and inclusive workforce. She has a gift for making newcomers feel welcome and valued that inspires a greater sense of connection among all people she meets, and has become an excellent mentor for our youth interns and other staff.
Some of her more recent work in creating equitable and welcoming environments internally, and with our public, include:
1. Improved Inclusion and Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities
When learning of a temporary staff member who is deaf, she immediately went to welcome her in American Sign Language, socializes with her at staff events to encourage her inclusion, and solicits her feedback in creating more accessible events and media for the public. The outcome of this relationship has resulted in park events that provide ASL interpretation and video invites that actively promote these events to the deaf and hard of hearing community.
See video here.
2. Developed career marketing campaign focusing on diverse representation and inclusion.
Includes a short teaser video "This Job Isn’t for Everyone, It’s for YOU!" an overview of the diverse work and diverse employees at CPW. Crystal went into the field to photograph diverse employees to provide better representation for our Careers website redesign. She also assisted with the creation of a diversity, equity and inclusion statement added to the main careers page.
See video here.
3. Created inclusive fishing event for families of Mercy Housing (low income housing) by connecting them Fishing for Hip Hop founder Malik Wilder from Atlanta, GA.
Crystal recognizes the impact of people of color leading events, especially in educational outreach with children from racially/ethnically diverse communities. She reached out to Malik about her idea of creating this fishing clinic, coordinated his travel to Colorado to assist with the event, arranged the event with Mercy Housing staff and coordinated with staff and volunteers to make the event a success. Our new CPW director and commission members also attended the clinic to support her efforts. Media coverage of the event.
4. Environmental Learning for Kids (ELK)/ Urban Rangers Pilot
Partnership with ELK/ Urban Rangers connects underserved, diverse populations to the outdoors and careers within natural resources. This pilot program employs diverse youth ages 16-21 as Urban Rangers at four Denver Metro area state parks. Annual CPW Career Day provides awareness of our agency and career pathways by connecting Urban Rangers to CPW staff through small group interviews. Crystal participates on the board for ELK and is a strong supporter of this career event, offering her mentorship to Urban Ranger students and providing her own experience as a woman of color working in the natural resources field. Though this partnership with ELK, hiring barriers have been identified and one Urban Ranger has been hired as a temporary/intern, with more expected to follow after they’ve graduated high school.
Crystal with an ELK Urban Ranger discussing her video production recording system at 2018 CPW Career Day.
2019 Career Day participants and Cash the K9.
Video Crystal created for ELK.
Description of outcomes as a result of nominees work:
Her creativity, passion, and determination to make CPW an inclusive space for all pushes our agency toward positive change each day. I admire her determination to pursue goals many might consider near impossible and her strength in bringing people together to share in her vision of success. Internally, her passion and work has now prompted other staff within the agency to examine their own media representation practices, attend DEI trainings, and push for stronger accessibility, equity and inclusion in their work. Externally, her work has helped to attract media attention as referenced above in Denver and across the state as we work toward stronger relevancy with our changing populations. Her contributions on our Employee Recruitment/Retention team have helped push for unconscious bias in hiring training and resources to offer our hiring managers. Her ability to connect to others and her infectious enthusiasm helps inspire youth to join our mission.
Crystal’s influence can also be seen in our sessions at our recent Partners in the Outdoors Conference, as she participated on a panel entitled, "Changing the Conversation: How Diversifying the Field can Save our Sporting Heritage."
Our 2019 Partners in the Outdoors Conference hosted multiple sessions centered on diversity, equity and inclusion in outdoor recreation and natural resources management, including a keynote address by Dr. Carolyn Finney, author of White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors.
Beyond her role at work, Crystal also participates in volunteer based events as a member of Colorado Outdoor Afro and other groups focused on creating stronger inclusion in the outdoors. She is an active hunter that frequently encourages women, women of color, and persons with disabilities to attend Hunter Education classes and Hunter Outreach opportunities to support those new to hunting. She even attended a Hunter Education course with one of our deaf employees to make her feel more comfortable even though an ASL interpreter was also going to be present. These are just some examples of Crystal’s passion for inclusion and their impacts on a personal and professional level. If you have any questions please let me know. I would be happy to talk with you further about Crystal’s integrity and influential work advancing equity and inclusion at CPW.
Purpose of Award:
To recognize a distinguished individual or group effort for outstanding service in advancing connections between humans and the natural world to all peoples in a diverse and inclusive manner.
Nomination text by Tracy Gripp:
It is with much enthusiasm that I nominate Crystal Egli in our Creative Services/Marketing section of Colorado Parks and Wildlife to recognize her hard work over the past year in promoting inclusive marketing/public info and education efforts at CPW. Her example has led to improved representation from diverse communities not only in her work in creating agency videos, but also our social media, brochures, images, newsletters, public information press releases, website, etc.
Crystal is also key leader on our Employee Recruitment and Retention committee providing invaluable contributions that have allowed us to advance our goals in creating an equitable and inclusive workforce. She has a gift for making newcomers feel welcome and valued that inspires a greater sense of connection among all people she meets, and has become an excellent mentor for our youth interns and other staff.
Some of her more recent work in creating equitable and welcoming environments internally, and with our public, include:
1. Improved Inclusion and Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities
When learning of a temporary staff member who is deaf, she immediately went to welcome her in American Sign Language, socializes with her at staff events to encourage her inclusion, and solicits her feedback in creating more accessible events and media for the public. The outcome of this relationship has resulted in park events that provide ASL interpretation and video invites that actively promote these events to the deaf and hard of hearing community.
See video here.
2. Developed career marketing campaign focusing on diverse representation and inclusion.
Includes a short teaser video "This Job Isn’t for Everyone, It’s for YOU!" an overview of the diverse work and diverse employees at CPW. Crystal went into the field to photograph diverse employees to provide better representation for our Careers website redesign. She also assisted with the creation of a diversity, equity and inclusion statement added to the main careers page.
See video here.
3. Created inclusive fishing event for families of Mercy Housing (low income housing) by connecting them Fishing for Hip Hop founder Malik Wilder from Atlanta, GA.
Crystal recognizes the impact of people of color leading events, especially in educational outreach with children from racially/ethnically diverse communities. She reached out to Malik about her idea of creating this fishing clinic, coordinated his travel to Colorado to assist with the event, arranged the event with Mercy Housing staff and coordinated with staff and volunteers to make the event a success. Our new CPW director and commission members also attended the clinic to support her efforts. Media coverage of the event.
4. Environmental Learning for Kids (ELK)/ Urban Rangers Pilot
Partnership with ELK/ Urban Rangers connects underserved, diverse populations to the outdoors and careers within natural resources. This pilot program employs diverse youth ages 16-21 as Urban Rangers at four Denver Metro area state parks. Annual CPW Career Day provides awareness of our agency and career pathways by connecting Urban Rangers to CPW staff through small group interviews. Crystal participates on the board for ELK and is a strong supporter of this career event, offering her mentorship to Urban Ranger students and providing her own experience as a woman of color working in the natural resources field. Though this partnership with ELK, hiring barriers have been identified and one Urban Ranger has been hired as a temporary/intern, with more expected to follow after they’ve graduated high school.
Crystal with an ELK Urban Ranger discussing her video production recording system at 2018 CPW Career Day.
2019 Career Day participants and Cash the K9.
Video Crystal created for ELK.
Description of outcomes as a result of nominees work:
Her creativity, passion, and determination to make CPW an inclusive space for all pushes our agency toward positive change each day. I admire her determination to pursue goals many might consider near impossible and her strength in bringing people together to share in her vision of success. Internally, her passion and work has now prompted other staff within the agency to examine their own media representation practices, attend DEI trainings, and push for stronger accessibility, equity and inclusion in their work. Externally, her work has helped to attract media attention as referenced above in Denver and across the state as we work toward stronger relevancy with our changing populations. Her contributions on our Employee Recruitment/Retention team have helped push for unconscious bias in hiring training and resources to offer our hiring managers. Her ability to connect to others and her infectious enthusiasm helps inspire youth to join our mission.
Crystal’s influence can also be seen in our sessions at our recent Partners in the Outdoors Conference, as she participated on a panel entitled, "Changing the Conversation: How Diversifying the Field can Save our Sporting Heritage."
Our 2019 Partners in the Outdoors Conference hosted multiple sessions centered on diversity, equity and inclusion in outdoor recreation and natural resources management, including a keynote address by Dr. Carolyn Finney, author of White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors.
Beyond her role at work, Crystal also participates in volunteer based events as a member of Colorado Outdoor Afro and other groups focused on creating stronger inclusion in the outdoors. She is an active hunter that frequently encourages women, women of color, and persons with disabilities to attend Hunter Education classes and Hunter Outreach opportunities to support those new to hunting. She even attended a Hunter Education course with one of our deaf employees to make her feel more comfortable even though an ASL interpreter was also going to be present. These are just some examples of Crystal’s passion for inclusion and their impacts on a personal and professional level. If you have any questions please let me know. I would be happy to talk with you further about Crystal’s integrity and influential work advancing equity and inclusion at CPW.
Tracy Gripp
Workforce Development/ADA Accommodations Coordinator
Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Workforce Development/ADA Accommodations Coordinator
Colorado Parks and Wildlife