Gender Equity Task Force Upgraded to Standing Equity and Diversity Working Group
Posted: March 1, 2016 10:47 AM
Colorado Springs, Colo. (March 1, 2016)—The agenda for last month’s USA Ultimate board of directors meeting included several important topics of discussion and resulted in various exciting decisions and newsworthy action items. Throughout the week, several updates will be provided to the ultimate community describing some of these developments.
The first of these updates describes some of the progress USA Ultimate has made with regards to equity and diversity
following its fall retreat with one of the world’s leading experts on equity in sports, Janet Judge.
The report, presented to the board by elite athlete representative Ness Fajardo, summarized the retreat, which was attended by members of USA Ultimate’s equity task force and senior leadership team. It also featured the second open forum for the ultimate community via teleconference.
Following a period of open discussion, the board voted unanimously to elevate the status of the task force to a standing working group and broaden its scope. The working group is now called the equity and diversity working group and is chaired by board president DeAnna Ball. Other members include Val Belmonte, Ness Fajardo, Brian Garcia, and Josh Seamon.
Additional takeaways from the retreat included the need for USA Ultimate to enhance its communications on equity and diversity, starting with a newly created
Frequently Asked Questions section of its website dedicated to the topic. That FAQ is now live and can be found at
www.usaultimate.org/equity.
The retreat also helped to identify USA Ultimate’s strengths with regards to equity, what improvements could be made, the challenges that exist and logical next steps.
In addition to the formation of a standing working group and creation of an FAQ, the board also expressed its commitment to updating its existing policy to become more inclusive by addressing equity and diversity from not just the standpoint of gender, but also, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, income and other categories.
Discussion also included the idea of divisional equity across men’s, mixed and women’s divisions.
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ABOUT USA ULTIMATE
USA Ultimate is the national governing body for the sport of ultimate (Frisbee) in the United States and proud member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).
Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo., USA Ultimate is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and is the largest flying disc organization in the world with more than 53,000 members, including athletes, coaches and observers.
Governed by a core principle called Spirit of the Game, ultimate remains proud of its historical and continuing practice of being a self-officiated sport – even at the highest levels of competition – which places a unique emphasis on sportsmanship, respect for one’s opponent, conflict resolution, self-confidence, communication and integrity.
USA Ultimate currently administers the full spectrum of ultimate in the United States and owns and operates 11 major championship events across all ages and abilities, including youth, high school, college, elite and masters divisions, as well as the Triple Crown Tour – ultimate’s premier elite competitive league for men’s, women’s and mixed gender divisions. USA Ultimate is a member of the IOC-recognized World Flying Disc Federation and also selects, trains and supports U.S. National Teams for international events.
Recently cited as one of the fastest-growing team sports in America by the Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) with more than 7 million players worldwide, ultimate was invented in 1968 by students at Columbia High School in Maplewood, N.J.
For more information, contact USA Ultimate Director of Marketing & Communications, Andy Lee at 719-219-8323 or andy@hq.usaultimate.org.
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