Meet Parker McMullen Bushman of Butterfly Pavilion and Ecoinclusive

Today we’d like to introduce you to Parker McMullen Bushman.

Parker, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’ve been in the environmental education and conservation community for over 22 years. I am currently the Vice president of Community Engagement, Education, and Inclusion for Butterfly Pavilion. I have the awesome opportunity to work in the Conversation field not only in my day-job but also in my passion project. I am also the Founder and CEO of Ecoinclusive Strategies. Butterfly Pavilion is an Invertebrate Zoo and Research center Located in Westminster CO. Ecoinclusive works to make sure all communities are connected to the conservation message and empowered to make a change in their world. Both organizations are conservation-minded organizations that believe in the power of people and communities to solve the complex environmental issues that we face as a society.

People often ask me where my love of nature and the outdoors developed and how I came to my profession. Answering the question of where my love of nature and the outdoors developed is much easier to answer than how I came to my profession. My love of nature came from my mother and while I can’t point to a specific instance where a conservation ethic was taught to me as a childhood value, she is definitely the person who set me on my path. My mother thought it was very important to expose me and my two younger sisters to nature. So even though she was raising us in the middle of the city (Bronx, NY), she went out of her way to make sure we were connected to the outdoors. She would take us on picnics, hiking, fishing, anything she could figure out access for.

So I grew up with a deep love of being outdoors. But even though we spend a lot of time outside. I never really thought of myself as outdoorsy. And I never saw myself in a career like a park ranger or environmental educator. To be honest, growing up when I pictured people in those types of positions, I didn’t picture people that look like me. There weren’t a lot of people who looked like me represented in the field. So, figuring out that conservation was the career of my dreams took me a little bit longer than most. But that journey has led to my work today. You see people of color are underrepresented in conversation about conservation and the outdoors. My work and my passion is about connecting all people to nature no matter their background. My work is also about empowering all communities to create healthy habitats for themselves and for wildlife.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I love my job and I love teaching people about the environment. However, as a black woman, I am often the only person of color in these spaces. This can be lonely and hard. According to the groundbreaking report The State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations, sponsored by Green 2.0, there exists a “green ceiling” for minorities: despite increasing racial diversity elsewhere, minority employment in environmental organizations has held steady around 16% for decades. A more diverse and equitable workforce and community in the conservation and environmental movement is crucial to achieving conservation goals. Complex issues always require diverse perspectives to resolve.

Additionally, the conservation of our shared natural resources depends on the support of a wide diversity of community members. After years of facing the unequal representation of people of color in nonprofit and environmental organizations myself, I began to wonder why. Ecoinclusive was born out of one question. “How do we create a more diverse and inclusive conservation movement?” I wanted to know more, and I wanted provide tools others that are doing their own searching. A basic principle of ecology is that diversity in an ecosystem fosters strength and resilience. The same is true in our organizations. Ecoinclusive provides resources for leadership at non-profits and environmental organizations to aid them in building a culturally diverse and culturally competent staff that reflects and connects with the populations that they serve.

I also bring this focus on inclusion to my work at Butterfly Pavilion, spearheading BP’s program Welcome All. Welcome, All is Butterfly Pavilion’s comprehensive, organization-wide program to becoming a more accessible and inclusive organization for our guests, our staff and volunteers, and our community. When we talk about environmental issues like the decline of pollinators or invertebrates being an integral part of our ecosystems, we know that these are issues that touch everyone. It’s our job to make sure we get these messages out to everyone in our community. We know that connection to outdoor spaces is essential for habitat conservation because people protect the places they love.

This why this is an important initiative for Butterfly Pavilion. Thorough Welcome All we embrace a kind, compassionate and engaging approach, welcoming all people in the work we do. We seek a competency of cultural understanding and social responsibility to make it as easy as possible for others to join us in conserving our natural world.

We’d love to hear more about your organization.
I believe business and conservation strategies are enriched and made stronger by the contribution of the experiences, perspectives, and values of diverse individuals and communities. For the past 22+ years, I’ve had the opportunity to work for science education and non-profits organizations that have woven into their missions a commitment to raising environmental awareness in their local communities.

Personally, I’m passionate about finding new and meaningful ways to communicate science and conservation-related issues to diverse audiences through interdisciplinary learning, hands-on education, and stewardship. I am also eager to help organizations develop inclusive internal cultures to create organizational environments that are welcoming to all. Ecoinclusive Strategies was born out of these two passions.

I founded Ecoinclusive Strategies in 2014. Ecoinclusive Strategies supports the creation of healthy and diverse organizational and community ecosystems. A basic principle of ecology is that diversity in an ecosystem fosters strength and resilience. I am a diversity trainer and leader of several initiatives to increase diversity in environmental and STEM fields. I firmly believe that social, economic and environmental issues are interconnected and that it is necessary to promote and embrace diversity to create the social change needed to protect the environment and all who depend on it.

Ecoinclusive Strategies has four pillars inspiring social change. Read below and click on the links to learn more.
Pillar 1 – Awareness. Ecoinclusive– Ecoinclusive was created in response to a growing recognition that the environmental movement as a whole suffers from a lack of cultural and socioeconomic diversity. With increasing urgency, scholars and activists have called for the environmental and conservation movement to directly reflect and engage with the great diversity of people who are affected by environmental issues. Many leaders are now faced with the challenge of developing more diverse, inclusive, and equitable organizations. Ecoinclusive provides resources and a platform to raise awareness and talk about these vital issues.

Website: https://www.ecoinclusive.org/  Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ecoinclusive/

Pillar 2- Consulting and Training. Ecoinclusive Strategies, LLC – Ecoinclusive Strategies provides training and resources for leadership at non-profits, cultural and environmental organizations to aid them in building a culturally diverse and culturally competent staff that reflects the populations that they serve.

Pillar 3- Community Building. Summit for Action is a two-day event for thought-provoking discussions and solutions-based recommendations for Justice, Equity, Diversity, Accessibility and Inclusion. The Summit for Action model brings together a variety of community leaders and key stakeholders to develop shared understanding around the steps needed to inspire and drive social change around Equity, Accessibility and Inclusion issues. The vision of Summit for Action is to be a catalyst for action that creates a more equitable world. This is done through facilitating dialogue and creating cross-sector partnerships to tackle these complex social problems.

Website: https://www.summitforaction.org/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/summitforaction/

Pillar 4- Disrupting Narratives and Activism. Earth KWEEN – Earth KWEEN is dedicated to disrupting the narrative that only white, able-bodied people care about the environment and participate in outdoor recreation activities. KWEEN stands for Keep Widening Environmental Engagement Narratives. At Earth KWEEN, we are challenging traditional representations of what it means to be outdoorsy by showing a variety of bodies engaged in outdoor spaces. Bodies of size, BIPOC bodies, Gender non-conforming bodies, Bodies with disabilities, etc. all deserve equal representation in the narratives we communicate about outdoor engagement.

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/the_earth_kween_project/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/theearthkweenproject/

What were you like growing up? Personality wise, interest wise, etc.
Growing up, I was really spunky. I always had a question for everything. I was really interested in the world around me and how things worked. I was very talkative. LOL! Number one critique from grade school teachers was that I wouldn’t stop talking. Also, at that young age, I still had a drive for wanting to make the world a better place. As a matter of fact, I wrote a letter to the New York times when I was nine.

Dear people, we are polluting our Earth. We are throwing trash into the oceans, beaches, and more. I am just nine I hate to think what it will be like when I am 25. We should put trash into the letter can and burn the trash that could be burned. Because we are preparing the environment for our children and our children’s children and so on. So please keep our environment clean. Love, Charnell McMullen. So even at that time in my life, I was a conservation warrior!

Future Plans: What are your plans for the future? What are you looking forward to or planning for – any big changes?
As the Butterfly Pavilion celebrates its 25th anniversary, we are reflecting on the past and planning for the future, which includes moving to Broomfield. We are in the middle of a huge expansion to increase our community impact. The new facility will sit on an 8-acre campus adjacent to a K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, or STEM, school that will be built by Adams 12 Five Star School District. We are so excited for students to use Butterfly Pavilion as a living laboratory each and every day, exploring our facility and using our scientists to grow and flourish as conservation scientists themselves. This new facility will also give us an opportunity to take ground-breaking research we’re doing all over the world to a new level!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ecoinclusive.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_earth_kween_project/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ecoinclusive/
• Other: https://butterflies.org/

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