The Inclusive Journeys Alliance: Moving Forward and Looking Back

Parker McMullen Bushman, co-founder of Inclusive Journeys and the Inclusive Guide here, with an update on The Inclusive Journeys Alliance: ​

​Looking Back

As some of you probably know, I met Crystal Egli, my now co-founder and friend, at the 2018 Partners in the Outdoors Conference. Who could have known such a beautiful partnership would develop over the next almost six years? 

Crystal and I came together with the vision and drive of making the outdoors safer for all and the world a more inclusive space. In 2019, Crystal called me up with her idea of creating a blog listing safe spaces she had visited in the outdoors. At the time, Crystal was working for Colorado Parks and Wildlife and was a new hunter; she loved being outside and wanted others like her to be able to claim time safely in the outdoors. Crystal was so determined to do this that she was teaching herself to code! She asked me if I would join her in creating the website she was tentatively calling Idlewild. Crystal had a vision for creating a digital Green Book for Black users of the outdoors.

I was so ecstatic to join this project, which blossomed into a business, called Inclusive Journeys. After joining, I brought some important ideas to the table, like creating a user review platform and a business engagement strategy that encouraged business owners to work towards getting inclusive scores. We eventually settled on the name Inclusive Guide for our first tech solution for solving issues of oppression.

After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, we knew, more than ever, we had to get this into the hands of the public. In 2020, we started a GoFundMe and were able to raise $25,000 to start web development for the guide. We were working our butts off, going to interview after interview, trying to get the word out about the work we were doing. That hard work paid off! We got an interview on Colorado Public Radio, which caught the ear of an amazingly generous donor. That donor decided to donate over $1 million to our dream! 
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With that money, we were able to hire a web team, an executive assistant, and eventually a copyright team to speed up the development of the guide. We intentionally filled our web team with people at the intersections of several types of marginalization. This team toiled together to create and build something amazing. The work that we did received multiple awards and recognition. We received the Blue Spruce Award from Jeffco Open Space and a Denver Business Journal DEI Award. During this time, Amazon also recognized us for their Impact Accelerator for Women Founders! We received numerous awards for our work.

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This long journey has been challenging. Crystal and I are very different people in all the best ways, and life continued to happen. Over the years, Crystal has grown to be a friend, a confidant, and essentially like a sister to me. Throughout the development of the Inclusive Guide, we supported and lifted each other up. Our deep care for each other manifested in many ways, including comforting and supporting each other through life-changing events, helping each other better understand our identities, and building up our community, together. 
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We often joke that when we started, our public personas were cis, straight, Black women. But over the years, this work has given us space to be honest about ourselves and our sexual orientations and gender identities that we had kept hidden from the public. 

We leaned on each other in times of turmoil. We fought and argued over the best ways to move forward and bring something we both felt could be life-changing to the world—world-changing! 
We challenged each other, loved each other, and talked through all of our challenges with the knowledge that we were stronger together. We made vows that seeing the Guide come to life and benefit our community was the most important thing for us. Whatever needed to happen however it needed to happen.

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Where We Are Today
It's been an incredibly hard road trying to find funding for this endeavor. A million dollars doesn't last as long as you’d think—especially when trying to create a product and a work culture that values and supports the people who work for you. Paying livable wages, honoring our contractors’ mental and physical health, and moving slower and with more intention takes time, money, and commitment. We had the time and the commitment, but the money eventually ran out. So, we went about reconfiguring our organization once again. 

I ramped up my outside work, stopped taking money from the organization, while maintaining 7-10 hours a week in Inclusive Guide. We continued to pay Crystal to work within the organization. Because of that, she was able to do wonderful things, such as representing the Inclusive Guide in the Access Mode Accelerator program. Crystal worked hard to bring in revenue for the Guide, creating things like the Inclusive Guide Resource Page low-cost DEI training subscription platform. Crystal also continued looking for funding opportunities and reaching out to investors. But as time went on, we realized that even though many people said they believed in the good that the Guide could do, coming across investors willing to pay to support that good work was very, very difficult. 

As Crystal continued to work and toil within the business with dwindling resources to be able to pay her to do so, I continued to grow my work outside of Inclusive Guide. My consulting business, Ecoinclusive Strategies—a project dedicated to helping nonprofits and conservation-based organizations with their justice, equity, and inclusion efforts—and my social media platform, KWEEN WERK, continued to grow and thrive. Summit for Action, the yearly summit I have hosted for the past six years, continued to grow, cutting down on my time to work actively within the guide. 
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My household also grew from six members in 2020 to a multi-generational household of nine members in 2024. As the primary breadwinner for my home, I had to mind the business that paid me, literally. Crystal and I had many long and challenging talks about the time and commitment needed to make the Guide happen and my dwindling time resources. 
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I would joke that I was not a young tech bro living in his parent’s basement with the ability to give all my time to the development of the Guide. My parents lived in my basement, I supported them, and I needed to continue to expand the work that was paying my bills. Throughout it all, even as we argued and struggled, we still held deep love and knew that in our hearts, we couldn't give up on the Guide. 

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Moving Forward
In the last six months, we have thought long and hard about the path forward. We have decided to change how the Guide operates as a business. If you subscribe to our newsletter, you may have seen Crystal’s announcement about shifting to a nonprofit organizational style, which will allow us to take in grant money to help the Guide succeed. 

​Even though we firmly believe that the Inclusive Guide is a valuable and viable corporate business, we realize that for it to serve the best public good, we couldn't keep waiting for the 0.5% or less that investors give to Black-owned businesses every year. We had to go a different direction. 

We decided the best thing to do is to close down the Guide as a for-profit business (and lose the possibility of ever being able to exit the company with a payoff for our hard work) and become a nonprofit organization. 
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Through the shift and talks about what is best for moving forward, Crystal and I have decided that Crystal will continue to lead Inclusive Journeys and grow and build the Inclusive Guide. I will be stepping down from my role in the business to focus on Ecoinclusive Strategies, KWEEN WERK, and Summit for Action—the companies I founded that are doing important work at the intersections of social justice and environmental justice. 

Crystal and I both believe this work is vital. We set out to shift our economy towards inclusion—to prove that we can create financial incentives for companies to do better and realize that inclusion is a viable business strategy. In order to do this effectively, we can no longer split the resources of Inclusive Journeys and the Inclusive Guide between two founders. 

I will always be the co-founder of Inclusive Journeys and the Inclusive Guide. With Crystal at the helm and her incredible wealth of creativity and drive, I know that the Inclusive Journeys Alliance will grow and continue to develop tech solutions to change our world. The Inclusive Guide will be one of many inclusive tech solutions created by the nonprofit The Inclusive Journeys Initiative. 

I am so grateful for the five years I got to work in Inclusive Journeys. I am thankful for the friendship and sisterhood I found with Crystal along the way. I am thankful for the donor who believed so much in our work that they gave us a million dollars and allowed us to direct the vision of the work being done, wanting nothing in return. That gesture restored a lot of faith for me that there were people in the world who really believe and support justice initiatives, not just with their mouths but with their resources. And Don't worry. Even though Crystal and I are no longer The Inclusive Guide Dynamic Duo, you will still see us around and collaborating with one another.
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Please know I have a deep and abiding love for all of you as members of my global community.  We need each other more now than ever. We have to come together in love and support one another through the times ahead. We have always believed that our work at Inclusive Journeys and the Inclusive Guide has the power to make a significant impact on our world. As we transition into a nonprofit, I am confident that Crystal will continue to lead this initiative with the same passion and dedication we've always shared.

Your support has been instrumental in getting us this far, and now, as we embark on this new chapter, I ask you to stand with Crystal and the Inclusive Journeys Alliance. There are several ways you can help:

1. Donate: Your financial contributions can make a huge difference. Every dollar goes directly towards creating a more inclusive world through tech solutions and initiatives.
2. Spread the Word: Share the Inclusive Journeys Alliance’s story and mission with your network. Help us reach more people who believe in the importance of inclusion and equity.
3. Volunteer: If you have skills or time to offer, reach out to see how you can get involved. Your expertise and enthusiasm are invaluable.
4. Stay Engaged: Follow the Inclusive Journeys Alliance’s progress, join events, and participate in community discussions. Your ongoing engagement is crucial to the Inclusive Journeys Alliance’s success.

Together, we can continue to build safe and inclusive spaces for all. Let's keep the momentum going and support Crystal in this important work. Thank you for your unwavering belief in our mission and for being part of our journey.

I'm going to sign off in the way Crystal and I often sign off our meetings: 

“Let's go change the world.”

With gratitude,
Parker

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