Focus on Diversity Conference 2017

The Fledging Birders Institute kindly asks for your support of the next Focus on Diversity: Changing the Face of American Birding Conference being planned for Spring 2017 in the MidAtlantic region.

The Fledging Birders Institute, a 501c3 non-profit environmental education organization, is developing novel programs and initiatives to bring the joy and benefits of birding to everyone. 

Watching birds in the wild brings joy to the lives of millions of people in the United States. Birding also delivers profound benefits for those who actively participate in the "hobby", including decreased stress, socialization opportunities, healthy development for children, and cognitive engagement for seniors.

Yet, based on USFWS estimates, over 270 million Americans are missing out on the pure joy and profound benefits of birding! This also indicates that more than 80% of our citizens  are not invested in either bird conservation issues or action.

These numbers highlight growing challenges for the future of the birding community and, more importantly, the birds themselves.  We need to find new ways to generate broader public interest and knowledge of our native birds.

The Focus on Diversity Conferences examine a serious issue within the birding community itself.  While approximately 38% of Americans are categorized as either Latino/Hispanic, African-American, Asian, or Native American, these same groups account for considerably less than 10% of the birding community.

Why is this such a concern?  Most immediately, it means that just a very few folks within those communities are afforded the opportunity to experience the pure joy and profound benefits of birding. 

However, such a significantly disproportionate representation also holds serious implications for the future of both the birding community and bird conservation efforts.

How do we Change the Face of American Birding?! The prior three Focus on Diversity Conferences featured Diversity in Birding workshops in which participants develop feasible action plans to more effectively engage new audiences with birding activities opportunities and bird conservation actions. This 4th Focus on Diversity Conference would again provide participants with:
    1. general considerations for bird outreach
     2. success stories from effective programs
     3. assistance in developing their own action plans

We warmly invite  you to join the mission to Change the Face of American Birding by supporting the next Focus on Diversity Conference as well as our other on-the-ground bird outreach efforts.  Together, we can broaden the birding community, introduce others to wonderful world of birdwatching, and promote bird conservation to new folks.

Thank you for your support!