Photo Credit: Re Wikstrom
For this week’s profile, we want to bring attention to an amazing organization that is inspiring women to take a “jump” into the outdoors, not just here in the States, but all over the world. SheJumps is a non-profit that was conceived by pro-skier Lynsey Dyer, with the help of her friends Vanessa Pierce and Claire Smallwood. In just a few months, they’ve jumped on the new media bandwagon by utilizing a free online social network called NING. In a little over 3 months, the community has over 270 active members from all over the world including Bulgaria, France, Japan, Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom… and it’s growing every day.
We got a chance to catch up with SheJumps Executive Director, Claire Smallwood while she was driving back from yet another ski adventure. Here’s what she had to say:
What inspired you to create an organization that inspires women to get outdoors?
When I was growing up in Santa Fe, I was always the token girl on any adventure in the mountains. It got to the point when I started to take my skiing more seriously at 16 that I found myself searching through every ski magazine to see a picture of a girl to feel inspired. I got reassurance from seeing women pushing themselves and I said to myself “If she can do it, then so can I.” After meeting Lynsey Dyer at my first freeskiing comp we became friends quickly and I met Vanessa Pierce shortly after. They already had ideas for SheJumps in the works, but it didn’t exactly resemble what SheJumps is today. It has been a long road (and we continue to develop) to understand exactly what role SheJumps will end up with for women. Ultimately though, we all realized that getting more women outside would mean an easier road for all of us to accomplish our passions. It is easier to garner support from companies and snag attention from media if we can prove that it’s more than just one out of 100 ladies out there on the trails.
How has SheJumps used new media to capture the attention of women who want to get involved?
Our website has long since been the backbone of our organization. Given that importance, the addition of new social media has expanded our ability to maintain great SheJumps content but with the guarantee that our content can reach new people without sitting around with our fingers crossed that people will check up on our blog. I think that UnderSolen coming forward to work with us on avenues like Facebook and Twitter has been a huge blessing to streamline the essence of our programs. It’s been great to let people get a quick glimpse about SheJumps (the tip of the iceburg) and then let them take the next step to get involved with our community through the creation of our NING site. It is that specific website alone that has helped us to gain more tangible support in the form of a network between women who are interested in the outdoors from all over the world.
Do you feel that the NING site is an effective strategy for connecting women to their passions?
NING is a great way to get all the communicative benefits that Facebook offers, but without any distractions. The desire for someone to join our NING site automatically helps them to understand what SheJumps by deciding what to share. We have already seen the organic beginnings of this network on the NING site through the creation of discussion topics, area-specific groups, and blog posts. It effectively connects women to their passions through the direct communication that it offers between members. Have a question for a pro skier? Want to know if anyone else is fed up with women’s specific gear? How about trail running? The possibilities are endless. We currently have a NING community member who is training for a triathlon and blogs her success to keep herself (and now, apparently, others as well) motivated and inspired.
SheJumps is a lot about telling stories to inspire others to take “A Jump”. What is your favorite story of someone taking a jump?
I think it changes all the time. If I had to choose one of my all-time favorites, I think it would have to be the video of Zoya Lynch’s mother. She quit her corporate job in eastern Canada to move to Whistler and ski everyday at the age of 54. There is something about the simple dialog, “Mom, what is your favorite thing to do?” and the footage brings tears to my eyes. Check it out here.
OK, I have to do a runner up–9 year old Sophie Howell. She wrote to us last year telling us she wanted to ski Tuckerman’s Ravine, but her dad said she could only do it if she could hike it. So this summer she hoofed it up there, passing grown men left and right, and is ready to ski it this spring. I had the pleasure of skiing with Sophie at Alta in January. It was really great to make the connection to a little girl who I could relate with in terms of tenacity and goals. She was such a great skier and looks up to SheJumps so much (stickers all over her helmet). It felt really good to feel like I was a part of her story.
What are some plans/programs for the organization that you’ve got going on in 2010? What are you excited about most?
Wow! Where to start? We are going to continue our (S)heJumps into the Canyon program where we take local teens from the Boys & Girls club skiing at Alta with professional skiers. It takes place over the course of 4 Sundays in March. This year we are also going to organize the Backcountry Tour for the Cure. It is a very fun event open to intermediate and advanced female backcountry skiers. Participants try to raise money for breast cancer research and then complete an overnight ski tour/winter camping trip in solidarity of women with breast cancer. We try to put ourselves in a challenging environment and still have fun the whole time!
This summer will bring a lot of action to local community groups. SheJumps is currently focusing on trying to provide as much infrastructure as possible to organize and document efforts in different areas to accomplish our mission. This means that anyone can write to us and organize a SheJumps event, such as a day hike, mountain bike ride, backpacking trip, etc. that will help solidify the outdoor community in that region. Additional options include creating goals for the event. Some examples of that would include setting a goal for vertical feet hiked, trying to accomplish as many peaks in your area, wildflower identification, hula-hooping at the end of each objective, picking up trash, or maybe just trying to make it a consistent activity! The possibilities are endless. For more information, check out shejumps.org/jumpin.
What else would you like our readers to know about SheJumps and/or SheJumps social media strategies?
There is so much information on the web today, it can be easy to feel inundated with too much information. While our mission is fairly complex, the gist of it–to inspire and increase participation of women in outdoor activities–remains pure. We welcome support from anyone and everyone who needs a little inspiration in their lives (or wants to share it!). We look forward to continue working with UnderSolen and the many different avenues of social media today in order to help more people become inspired to reach their potential.
Learn more about SheJumps at: www.shejumps.org
Join the growing online community at: http://shejumps.ning.com
Keep up on Claire’s adventures as a pro-skier and non-profit Executive Director at: www.clairesmallwood.com
Photo Credit: Re Wikstrom
Want to see some more? Check this awesome video that Claire stars in! Produced and filmed by our friend Brandon Gust:
john besmer on 
James Edward Mills on 
SFindle on 