A note from our founder…
One of the things that drew me to the sport of standup paddle boarding from day one was the amazing SUP community that I found here in Maryland. I remember the early days of SUP racing with the SUP Annapolis crew and how welcoming they were at that very first race I competed in, in Ocean City, MD at Fagers Island (I still miss those epic races put on by Dawn and the OC crew!). For the past 8 years I have continued to be amazed at how inclusive this community is and when I opened B’More SUP in 2015 I made a commitment to continue to welcome and introduce the sport of SUP to people from all backgrounds and all walks of life. At B’More SUP we have a diverse community of paddlers and continue to introduce new people to stand up paddling every single day.
B’More SUP is committed to taking a stand against racism and bigotry. As a company, we believe it is our responsibility to help move this industry towards equitability by promoting and supporting ALL members of our community. We acknowledge that our clients come from all walks of life and so do we. We welcome people from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes our paddling community stronger.
In our spaces and in the paddling community in general we have no tolerance for racism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, or ideologies that are against our belief that all human beings deserve equal rights. We recognize that actions speak louder than any statement we could make here in this blog post; below is a list of current action items we are working to achieve in our daily operations as a business.
- We pledge to take every precaution to ensure our B’More SUP spaces — including social media pages, online communities, paddle headquarters, and event spaces — are as safe and welcoming as possible for ALL people.
- We will not allow behavior or words that compromise the safety of any members of our community and will take responsibility for maintaining our own vigilance against intolerance and taking appropriate action.
- As we navigate our own privilege and socialization, we recognize that we are not immune to making mistakes or committing harmful actions. We will hold ourselves accountable and are open to feedback and critique about how we can do better, and accept such critique with gratitude and humility.
At B’More we are on a mission to help more people in Baltimore experience the joy of stand up paddle boarding. We will continue to work every single day to cultivate and preserve a culture of inclusion and connection.
As always, please feel welcome to contact us with suggestions, feedback, or to hold us accountable to the pledges we have made to you here.
I, personally, cannot wait to paddle with you this summer!
-Jessie