About Hoofer Ambassadors

Mission

Hoofer Ambassadors strive to make the outdoors accessible and welcoming to all. The outdoors allows us to heal and empower ourselves and each other: we are committed to providing everyone, with their many backgrounds and experiences, an opportunity to develop their own unique relationship with the outdoors. By connecting and celebrating our differences, we vow to promote allyship to each other and the Earth.

What is Hoofers Ambassadors?

Hoofer Ambassadors is a Hoofer program dedicated to equity in the outdoors. The initiative started in September 2018, when a few Hoofers created a Diversity and Inclusion committee to begin a conversation about the barriers to the outdoors in Hoofers and the community. From this committee, with the goal of developing a more welcoming Hoofer culture and community, the Hoofer Ambassador program was created. Starting in the Spring of 2019, multiple Hoofers and Union members volunteered to help grow the program to what it is today. Hoofer Ambassadors is now a grassroots program open to the campus community, where anyone can join and help make a difference in the pursuit of our mission.

We vow to continually question constructions of “the outdoors,” while creating a community that is representative and inclusive. We aim to promote allyship to each other and the Earth, while centering marginalized identities in our efforts to establish a more equitable environment. Ambassador meetings are a place to talk about social justice and develop ideas for all of Hoofer clubs. Hoofer Ambassadors (HA) is committed to providing clubs with specific and concrete recommendations in order to promote inclusivity and equity within Hoofers. This resource can be used as a tool to advocate for diversifying our club spaces, conversations, and outreach initiatives (link to recommendation sheet here!). As ambassadors we attend different social justice events on campus as well as take part in our own trainings with the Multicultural Student Center. These trainings will help give us the language and tools to challenge our club members to become more culturally competent and critique the structures we have in place. We are just getting started and are ready to put in the work to increase access to the outdoors! We are a grassroots program that is run and developed by volunteers that are passionate about our cause. To learn more about becoming a Hoofer Ambassador, see the “Get Involved” tab!

WW Ambassadors

Organization Chart

HA Org Chart

Executive Board

Officers of Diversity and Inclusion: Leaders of Hoofer Ambassadors and reports to Hoofer Council

Committee Chairs: Lead the 5 committees and inclusivity initiatives

Club Liaisons: Take recommendations back to their club executive board and represent their club at Hoofer Ambassadors

HA general meeting 2019

Ambassador Participants


Committee Members: Actively serve on one of the committees to pursue initiatives

  • Active HA leaders
  • Service on a committee/assist Club Liaisons and Chairs
  • 2+ hours/week

General Members: Anyone in the campus and Madison community can become a member at no cost by attending events and getting involved, with no time requirements.

  • Attend meetings, events, trainings
  • No requirements and open to campus community

Start by attending a meeting, emailing ambassadors@hoofers.org, or clicking on the “Get Involved” tab!

Special Thanks

We just want to also extend our gratitude to the people that have helped make this program possible! We would not have been able to do this work without you all and we greatly appreciate your wisdom, energy, time, and resources!

Thank you to Iffat Bhuiyan, Joseph Webb, Gabe Javier, James Edward Mills, Lori Reeser, Tanvi Tilloo, Caleb Reiter, Mo Kappes, Mark Guthier, Heidi Lang, and everyone who has made this effort a possibility!