Although I grew up hiking, camping, and backpacking with my father, and began working as a camp counselor at a women-run backpacking camp by the age of sixteen, when I first entered the outdoor education field as my area of study in university and career, I faced a lot of doubt from my fellow, typically white, male, co-workers and bosses. This was extremely difficult for me, as my skills and competence had never been doubted before by my father or bosses who had been women. Feelings of not being good enough and foolish, hopeless even, began to bring me down as the negative external forces slowly crept their way into my mind.
Over time, although I was gaining experience, leading outdoor groups became more nerve wracking instead of less because of the pressure that was now present. I felt that a slip up not only reflected poorly upon myself and made me seem like a ‘silly woman’ who didn’t deserve to be working alongside my male colleagues, but also made all women attempting to gain esteem in the outdoor industry look silly. I didn’t want to misrepresent my entire gender.
Of course, I also had to face the fact that I didn’t quite blend into the whiteness of the industry. Because my heritage is split, half Latinx and half a mix of white, Jewish European, that until someone realizes my curly hair is not a ‘Jew fro’ but indeed a signal of my Latinx genetics, I am ‘white enough’ for them to say racist statements or offensive jokes in front of me. As a method of self preservation, I developed a desensitivity to problematic microaggressions about race and awful pronunciations of words in Spanish by the people around me. I felt I couldn’t speak out, correct their behavior or mispronunciations. I felt shrunken down, invisible, robbed of the empowerment my outdoors skills and knowledge had always provided for me, and undeserving of my leadership position.
“My job became more fulfilling than before, and my mental health and self-confidence recovered”.
Sonya Pendrey
So what did I do? I accepted a job at an outdoor education afterschool program run by a woman who, although she was white, spoke fluent Spanish. She also provided enough financial aid to anyone who applied to her program for them to attend, to the best of her ability. This made her program the most racially diverse in the area. My job became more fulfilling than before, and my mental health and self-confidence recovered.
I will leave you with this: if you see a problem in the industry in which you are working, do not remain compliant! Look for job opportunities that uphold the same values as yourself and dedicate your time and effort to helping them succeed.
Working for Latino Outdoors, Ruby Rodriguez wants to ensure that others can more easily follow in her footsteps.
“Today, I’m the person I knew I could be—if given the opportunity,” says Ruby Rodriguez.
That includes connecting her community in Fresno, California, to Yosemite National Park. The project is funded by the National Park Trust, and it’s part of her work as the director of programs and operations for Latino Outdoors, an organization that connects and engages Latino communities in the outdoors.
“I’ve come full circle,” Rodriguez says.
Ruby visits Yosemite National Park in community with future-LO Fresno leader, Lucia.
She first visited Yosemite in 2009 while going through intense personal and marital issues. To cope, she would drive in an area that she considered to be “the country,” because it felt calm and soothing. She liked to look at the scenery because it brought back memories from her childhood of playing outside in a ditch—what she would later recognize as riparian habitat. Those comfort-seeking drives eventually brought her to the majestic park. On her third such trip in 2010, she brought water and workout clothes. She parked at Nevada Falls and embarked on her first-ever hike.
She parked at Nevada Falls and embarked on her first-ever hike.
It was the most physically challenging thing Rodriguez had ever done. It was also tough emotionally. “I didn’t know what I was doing,” she says. “I saw other people in gear and happy, and I was way out of my comfort zone.” Part of that discomfort came from not seeing anyone who looked like her, nobody from her nearby community.
At the same time, Rodriguez experienced the benefits of being outdoors in a beautiful and awe-inspiring place. She felt the presence of a higher power and the sense of being part of a larger story. She remembers thinking, “Damn, I have potential.”
Finding Purpose
In that moment, it all came flooding back: the happy times Rodriguez had spent outside as a child and the growing disconnect from nature she experienced as she aged. But her return to the outdoors wasn’t instantaneous.
But her return to the outdoors wasn’t instantaneous.
Rodriguez became a mother when she was only 16. Finding her identity as a parent would have been challenging at any time of life, but she had the additional struggle of trying to resolve her own trauma of being told she wasn’t good enough and yet knowing she could do better for herself and her child.
When she wanted to transfer from community college to a university and was scrolling majors at the California State University at Fresno website, she saw Recreation Administration. “That’s something I could stick with,” she thought.
Her moment of resolve came a couple years after that as she was going through a divorce and expecting her third child with no degree and no job. She thought, “This isn’t the life I want.”
Ruby and LO Founder José González at the 2019 LO Leadership Campout.
Determined to earn her degree, she discovered that Humboldt State was the only school still accepting applications. She’d never heard of it before. She looked more closely at the school and its recreation program and thought, “This place is amazing.” But when she submitted her application, she received an error message. She nearly gave up, but a couple weeks later tried again. It went through, and soon her acceptance letter arrived.
As she prepared for this new path and after a trip to Hetch Hetchy with her newborn, she decided something must be done about the lack of Latinx people at Yosemite. Craving connection, she found Latino Outdoors on Instagram.
Skill Building
At Humboldt, as an older student and single mom, Rodriguez wasn’t the typical recreation major. As she did her best as a mom and student, she grew more confident in her sense of self. She learned more about the benefits of being outdoors and thought, “I’ve experienced this.” Rodriguez also used outdoor recreation to promote wellness and strength in her children. Her youngest learned to walk while hiking.
As she did her best as a mom and student, she grew more confident in her sense of self.
In 2016, the year she would graduate, Rodriguez became an ambassador with Latino Outdoors and participated in her first-ever leadership campout. With support and encouragement from her academic advisor, Dr. Marchand, Rodriguez pursued her interest in diversity, equity, and inclusion within the outdoor recreation field. She knew what it felt like to be uncomfortable on trips with her young, white classmates and then making the same trip with Latino Outdoors and feeling like she was home.
Ruby and her children on graduation day.
“I learned so much,” she says.
The summer after she graduated, she became a student intern for the Outdoor Foundation’s Outdoor Nation challenge, designed to help with diversity and inclusion in outdoor spaces. The competition included 87 universities competing for the title of Most Outdoorsy College in the nation. As the student coordinator, she helped plan the messaging, outreach, and events with students logging their activities on an app. “I learned so much,” she says. “And we won the competition.”
Coming Home
When she first graduated, Rodriguez thought she would become a park ranger. “But I quickly realized that those positions weren’t created with single women with children in mind.” Instead, Latino Outdoors hired her. She continued to grow in her roles and responsibilities, balancing the challenges of work and parenting.
Ruby’s eldest daughter, Eva, at the LO Femme, Trans, Women’s Leadership Campout.
In 2020, the pandemic offered more opportunities to reflect and grow, and included taking on the role of teacher for her children. That experience made Rodriguez think about home. “I was born and raised in Fresno. I have a small but mighty circle of caring family and friends there. All the healing and growing that I’ve done has contributed to improving my relationships. Having a better relationship with my mom was another motivating factor,” she says.
Now, Rodriguez is back at the place that started it all, leading others to the same kinds of awe-inspiring experiences, connections and opportunities.
Now, Rodriguez is back at the place that started it all, leading others to the same kinds of awe-inspiring experiences, connections and opportunities. She’s especially proud of how she’s grown as a mother and a leader. “It’s hard to be a woman of color in a leadership position. It’s an ongoing challenge that requires you to heal those parts that have been sent messages that you aren’t enough,” she says. But now she’s showing her children and others what’s possible.
“I’m doing all the things I imagined I would,” she says. “And nobody can take that away from me.”
This article was produced in partnership with the Outdoors Alliance for Kids, a national strategic partnership of 100+ organizations from diverse sectors with a common interest in connecting children, youth and families with the outdoors.
The mission of the National Park Service is perhaps one of the most noble statements memorialized in law “to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations”.
For over thirty years I have supported this mission and devoted my career to ensuring that these words translated into real action. Working in the Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services (LESES) program the focus was on public safety; Law Enforcement, Fire, Emergency Medical Services, Search and Rescue. My career took me to various stunning locations from the Santa Monica Mountains, the granite walls of Yosemite, the shores of Point Reyes National Seashore, the border lands of Big Bend and the barrier Islands of Padre Island. Eventually (at the urging of my wife Sylvia) we made it to Alaska at Glacier Bay. We returned to Yosemite for my final assignment as the Deputy Chief Ranger of LESES, were I reached the mandatory retirement age for emergency services. Now, I have since returned to Glacier Bay as the Safety, Health and Wellness officer for Southeast Alaska.
Gus and YLP Cohort. Photo by Sylvia Martínez
I was fortunate that there were teachers, mentors and counselors that helped me on my path. My high school biology teacher sparked my interest in ecology and camping. I studied with Dr. Roderick Nash at the University of California, Santa Barbara who helped me see my place in wilderness and how I can protect it. The Religious Studies courses with Dr. Inés Talamantez introduced me to the spiritual ways that Native American people revere the land and created in my young mind a new appreciation for open spaces and a sense of belonging. My career counselors guided me on my first opportunity to work with the National Park Service at the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
Outer Coast Grizzly. Photo by Sylvia Martínez
The National Park Service (NPS), then and now, struggles with becoming a true reflection of the demographics of this country. I was part of a cohort of students of color that were recruited in attempt to diversify the NPS. This led to what I now know as “micro-aggressions” directed at me from other NPS employees that saw me as competition for a coveted position which I was “taking” from them. Yet, there were other employees that supported the idea of diversity in the workplace and supported and mentored me early in my career. They understood that my success was an asset to the National Park Service. I was a hard worker and an eager learner, having grown up working in the fields of the San Joaquin Valley, I had a strong work ethic.
Gus y Sylvia at Yosemite National Park. Photo by Sylvia Martínez
“They understood that my success was an asset to the National Park Service. I was a hard worker and an eager learner, having grown up working in the fields of the San Joaquin Valley, I had a strong work ethic”.
Gus Martínez
Now, change is happening to the National Park Service. I would like to think that I have had a small part in this. I made the effort to outreach and share the mission of the National Park Service with people underserved communities. My efforts were mostly focused on bringing school groups and Police Explorer posts to the public lands I worked at. As I took on leadership roles in the agency, I challenged the supervisors that worked with me to be creative and use different hiring authorities to bring in more people of color to diversify our workforce. I started groups and events to create a sense of community and belonging. At Yosemite National Park I became actively involved in mentoring the students that participated in the U.C. Merced Yosemite Leadership Program. There has been some success, but the key is getting people of color to feel they are also a part of this mission of conservation and preservation.
I see groups like Latino Outdoors and Outdoor Afro as the link that was missing in my efforts. Recently, during Latino Conservation week I was gratified to see so many fellow Latino NPS staff post their pictures, proudly wearing the “grey and green” of the National Park Service. Thirty years ago, I couldn’t imagine seeing so many diverse, young, excited people working to advance the mission of the National Park Service. As my adopted Native brethren, the Huna Tlingit of Alaska, say “Haa Yatxee Jeeyis Aya, For our Children Forever”.
