Quick Facts

Location
Bellingham, WA

Background
15+ years in nonprofit leadership, community building, and equity strategy

Current Role
National Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Outward Bound USA

Past Experience

  • Founder, OUT There Adventures & LGBTQ Outdoor Summit

  • DEI Lead, Quality Bicycle Products (QBP)

  • Consultant to brands and orgs like Merrell, TPL, NYC, and more!

Speaker & Facilitator
Available for keynotes, panels, and trainings on systems change, belonging, and queer leadership

Board Service

  • American Hiking Society

  • Big City Mountaineers

  • OUT There Adventures/LGBTQ Outdoor Summit

  • Wilderness Risk Management Conference

Personal Passions

  • Sea kayaking, gravel biking, and hiking with my family

  • Building play structures and stories with my toddler

  • Exploring identity, nature, and transformation through storytelling

Currently Dreaming About
A sea kayak expedition from Skagway to Seattle followed by a gravel ride from Seattle to San Diego

About Elyse

Strategist • Systems Builder • Community Steward

I’m a systems thinker, relationship builder, and justice-driven leader who helps organizations turn bold values into practical, durable change.

For over 15 years, I’ve worked across the nonprofit, outdoor, and social impact sectors—building national programs, guiding cross-functional teams, and designing inclusive infrastructure from the inside out. My work focuses on equity, belonging, and how we care for each other through systems, policy, and culture.

Currently, I serve as the National Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Outward Bound USA, where I lead strategy across a network of 10 autonomous Schools serving over 40,000 students annually. I'm also the founder of OUT There Adventures and the LGBTQ Outdoor Summit, and a former employee at Quality Bicycle Products, where I helped embed equity practices into manufacturing and distribution teams across the U.S. and Taiwan.

Beyond my staff roles, I’ve consulted with mission-driven organizations like Merrell, Trust for Public Land, and Conservation Legacy, supporting everything from ERG programs and equity audits to participatory grantmaking and internal training design.

Whether I’m facilitating conflict transformation with a team, designing an equity-informed hiring toolkit, or helping shape a national summit, I bring clarity, compassion, and joyful rigor to the work.

When I'm not collaborating with changemakers, you'll find me paddling cold coastlines, gravel biking remote backroads, or playing outside with my family in the Pacific Northwest.