Episode #25- Veronica Baker & Dani Dobrot

The Climbing Advocate

This month’s guests are Veronica Baker and Dani Dobrot. Veronica and Dani are, respectively, the executive director and director of community engagement of The Climbing Initiative. Both Veronica and Dani are passionate climbers who have traveled to the far reaches of the globe in pursuit of climbing. It was through their world travels that they both noticed an opportunity to engage with the global climbing community to create a more sustainable and equitable world through rock climbing. The Climbing Initiative is on a mission to support climbing communities worldwide by conducting research, engaging with local communities, and fostering partnerships. What they have found is that climbing is a powerful tool to drive positive change and a force for good, whether that is economically, environmentally, or socially. As the culture around the sport is ever changing and becoming more popular, The Climbing Initiative is filling a very important role in climbing advocacy, using global perspectives to create best practices for local solutions. As the organization continues to grow, be on the lookout for ways to get involved and learn more about their work. Enjoy! 7:39- Veronica’s intro 8:38- Dani’s intro 15:37-TCI’s mission: Research 20:56- Future case studies 22:21- TCI’s mission: Community engagement 25:08- Ability to advocate 29:57- TCI’s mission: Partnerships 32:23- Partnership: Escalando Fronteras 37:31- Turning research into action 43:28- 2020 Climbing Advocacy Conference 47:29- Climbing as an economic force 50:42- Maintaining culture qualitatively 56:39- Favorite workshops from the conference 1:00:48- The big 3 takeaways 1:10:15- What’s next for TCI? The Climbing Initiative: https://climbinginitiative.org/ The Climbing Initiative’s Instagram: @theclimbinginitiative Sign up & view the 2020 Climbing Advocacy Conference Workshops: https://accessfund-workshops.secure-platform.com/a/organizations/main/home “An FA for Access Fund” - Rock & Ice: https://rockandice.com/climbing-news/an-fa-for-access-fund-the-first-ever-international-climbing-advocacy-conference/ Climbing Advocacy Conference Recap - Rock & Ice article: https://rockandice.com/climbing-news/climbing-advocacy-conference-a-global-perspective-on-local-solutions-recap/ Acceso PanAm: http://accesopanam.org/ Escalando Fronteras: https://escalandofronteras.org/en/ Fundacion Acceso Andino: http://fondoaccesoandino.org/