Dec. 14, 2021

There was a time when Kristen Berkeley didn’t know if she belonged in the outdoors.

“When it came to canoeing, camping, hiking or just getting into nature, that wasn’t part of my life,” said the Seneca Journalism graduate. “As a Black woman, I didn’t see a lot of people that looked like me engaging in outdoor activities.”

That’s about to change.

Ms. Berkeley recently launched Amplify Outdoors to promote diversity and inclusion in outdoor spaces.

“There isn’t enough representation of Black, Indigenous and people of colour in outdoor spaces or in marketing campaigns about outdoor lifestyle,” she said. “People are experiencing racism, sexism or other systemic barriers, and that prevents them from accessing the outdoors.”

While Seneca has many international students, and Ms. Berkeley’s Journalism program was very diverse, she says she didn’t see the same representation reflected on air when watching the news.

“I realized we weren’t actually the ones getting these journalism jobs,” she said.

Nearly four years ago, Ms. Berkeley left Toronto for Yellowknife to pursue a journalism career. She has since transitioned to doing research and policy work, but she has stayed in the North and had several first-time outdoor experiences.

Hiking was one of them.

“The first couple of months I was here, I didn’t do anything outdoorsy,” Ms. Berkeley recalled. “After I went on a hike and really enjoyed it, I decided to do more things outdoors — camping, bonfires, road trips. That really sparked my passion, and it’s now a big part of my life.”

To help create more awareness about the benefits of being outdoors, Ms. Berkeley worked with graphic designers from diverse backgrounds to create merchandise, such as T-shirts, hoodies and mugs, for Amplify Outdoors. She is donating 10 per cent of the proceeds to sports and recreation programming for marginalized and refugee youth.

Ms. Berkeley has also been documenting her outdoor adventures on Instagram as a way to show others that outdoor spaces are available for everyone to enjoy.

“A lot of us have had the same experience of not having done anything like this,” Ms. Berkeley said, adding that she hopes to try mountain climbing and kayaking soon.

“Now that I’ve been living in the North for a few years, I’ve been exposed to the outdoors in different ways,” she said. “I never had this growing up. But now I can show someone how to camp or start a bonfire, and that’s great because it’s a wonderful thing to experience.”