Adventure, Activism and Allyship with Dr. Len Necefer: Episode 7

The Caroline Gleich Show

Dr. Len Necefer is one of my favorite people and I’m so excited he could join us on the show! Len is a climber, mountaineer, skier and scholar and the founder of Natives Outdoors – a business with the mission of empowering indigenous communities through their products and storytelling for a sustainable world. He has a Ph. D. and is a professor with the American Indian Studies program at the University of Arizona. He holds a bachelor’s of science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kansas & a doctorate from Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Engineering and Public Policy. Previously, he worked at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio on supersonic vehicle research and most recently worked for the Department of Energy’s Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs supporting tribes realizing their energy futures through research and grant making. His research focuses at the intersection of indigenous people and natural resource management policy. He serves on the board of the Honnold Foundation and the American Alpine Club.

In his free time, he’s outside – rock or ice climbing, ski mountaineering and bikepacking to tell stories about environmental activism and Indigenous history. These stories have been documenting through his writing and photography and he’s been featured in Alpinist, Outside, Besides Magazine, Patagonia’s Cleanest Line and various film festivals.

In this episode, we talk about Len's adventures with skiing, mountaineering and climbing and he shares lessons he's learned from adventures in the mountains that can help us during challenging times. We hear about the accomplishments he's most proud of, as well as some failures he's made along the way. He shares Navajo wisdom. We discuss his love of memes! Then we go in to more difficult topics: we talk about cultural appreciation vs. cultural appropriation and he gives us his take on what authentic allyship looks like.

Follow Len on Instagram.

Follow Natives Outdoors on Instagram.

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