It wasn’t an idea but rather multiple shared experiences and noticeable room for improvement that sparked the start of the Women’s Outdoor Leadership Initiative. 

While co-presidents Chloe Madden and Abby Taylor started WOLI at Colorado State University a month and a half ago, the club originally began in 2021 at the University of Utah. Having taken a course through the National Outdoor Leadership School, Taylor’s sister was frustrated by the sexism she experienced during her time in the NOLS. As a result, she created WOLI at CSU.

“She felt like she was constantly being second-guessed or second-guessing herself, and people were not listening to her even though she knew what she was talking about,” Taylor said. 

“WOLI’s goal is to build these technical skills for young women and these leadership and confidence skills to be able to feel self-sufficient outside. So I think that this club is a serious movement instead of more of a social club.” –Emma Simpson, Women’s Outdoor Leadership Initiative outreach coordinator

Taylor said sexism and underrepresentation in the outdoors inspired her to be co-president of WOLI at CSU. She recalled one day during her NOLS course when the women and men were separated, causing a significant difference in peer interaction as well as learning comprehension.

“Having that day of a women-only affinity space was so different and so wonderful,” Taylor said. “It just felt like a really supportive, safe environment, and I felt like I learned significantly more in that environment because I felt like I was comfortable speaking up.”

Taylor also touched on the difference in the explanation of concepts between a woman and a man in leadership. For instance, she said her cisgender male leaders were not very good at explaining how to have a period in the wilderness.

“It’s not really the same when you haven’t experienced it and you haven’t actually played that scenario out,” Taylor said. 

Madden, WOLI’s other co-president and a guide through CSU Outdoor Programs, also emphasized the importance of spreading awareness of sexism in the outdoors. 

“Not to say that there’s necessarily sexism in guiding, like the people who I work with, but it’s definitely present in the broader scale of the workforce of guiding,” Madden said.

Together, having each done outdoor courses either through NOLS or Outward Bound, Taylor and Madden decided to bring WOLI to CSU. 

“It was pretty intimidating to bring such a successful club from one university to another,” Taylor said. “It’s a very large, very well-developed club there, so we wanted to bring it here so everyone else could have the same safe space.”

For those looking to get involved, WOLI’s Instagram is where it’s at. Through there, members can join the GroupMe and find other information, such as event dates.

Emma Simpson, WOLI’s outreach coordinator, explains that while WOLI meets about once a month, whenever the club does get together, its goal is to provide an educational experience rather than being a club strictly for social aspects.

“WOLI’s goal is to build these technical skills for young women and these leadership and confidence skills to be able to feel self-sufficient outside,” Simpson said. “So I think that this club is a serious movement instead of more of a social club.”

WOLI’s goal as an organization on campus is to create a safe space for like-minded women and nonbinary people to support one another. 

“What we’ve been striving for is just like building a squad of people who are super stoked to talk about getting outside, to eventually go outside and learn technical skills along the way and then also put themselves in positions of leadership,” Madden said. 

Madden and Taylor emphasized that anyone is welcome to join WOLI, no matter what kind of experience they have or what kind of outdoor environment they come from. 

“Even if you have never, ever gone on a hike before, we really want you here, and we will support you (in getting) to where you want to go,” Taylor said. “One of our big goals is to make sure that we include people from all backgrounds.”

Simpson spoke about her love for helping those who might not be familiar with the outdoors to build their confidence and find a space to thrive.

“My favorite part of WOLI is meeting a bunch of people from all sorts of backgrounds and perspectives and getting them out of their comfort zone to do things that they don’t think they would have ever done,” Simpson said.

Reach McKenna Van Voris at life@collegian.com or on Twitter @mckenna_vv.