Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

Photo of Junior campers for DEI page

What We're Doing

In late September 2020, Pemi’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee sent surveys designed specifically for each constituency within our camp family. The DEI Committee completed its compilation and analysis of its survey and passed it along to the Board of Directors. The data provided by the 239 respondents—alumni, staff, parents, and campers—was overwhelmingly positive, confirming Pemi’s longstanding success in creating a warm and supportive community. The value of the survey, however, was to look beyond the straight statistics summarizing the views of a largely homogenous and satisfied population and try to hear the perspectives of the Pemi community as a whole, including those outside that homogenous group. Mixed in with the praise and gratitude were numerous suggestions for making Pemi a more diverse and inclusive camp.

In pursuit of that goal, the DEI Committee made a series of recommendations for the Board to consider. At its March 2, 2021 meeting, the Board instituted four action groups to review the recommendations, prioritize them, and move towards their implementation as appropriate and practicable. For more details on the ongoing process, we refer you to an interim report:

— DEI Committee Interim Report, April 2021 —

It is clear that the joint work of the DEI Committee, the Board of Directors, and the leadership team at Pemi is and will continue to be integral to our community’s efforts towards fulfilling our mission, both on Lower Baker Pond and in the larger world. We embrace opportunities to ask ourselves and the larger Pemi family if we really are the camp we want and need to be, and to plan and implement improvements as we endeavor to be a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive place for all.

We look forward to this journey, to the feedback and suggestions our constituency offers, and to the opportunity to continue to grow, thrive, and improve as an educational organization and as a camp family. We will provide regular updates as the process evolves. Meanwhile, many thanks to all those who responded to the survey and to the members of the DEI Committee. This work will help our estimable institution grow with the times, in line with the vision of Pemi’s founders.

Read the statement that Pemi issued in June, 2020.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee Members

Created in June 2020, Pemi’s DEI Committee—with representatives of Pemi parents, alumni, managing directors, and the Board of Directors—meets regularly to formalize plans for improvements and initiatives as we embrace the opportunity to grow as a camp community.

Conlon Bonner

Conlon Bonner

Co-Chair
Scout Brink

Scout Brink

Lilian Castillo de Hutchinson

Lilian Castillo de Hutchinson

Pat Clare

Pat Clare

Assistant Director
Jon Fauver

Jon Fauver

Nick Gordon

Nick Gordon

Burgwell

Burgwell "Burgie" Howard

Co-Chair
Abby Reed

Abby Reed

Dan Reed

Dan Reed

Ludmila Zamah

Ludmila Zamah

Land Acknowledgement

As we delve into learning more about the Indigenous Peoples who lived on and cared for the lands we now occupy, and in consultation with the New Hampshire Indigenous Collaborative Collective, Camp Pemigewassett will incorporate a land acknowledgement into our campfire tradition:

This campfire takes place on N’dakinna, which is the traditional ancestral homeland of the Abenaki, Pennacook, and Wabanaki Peoples past and present. We acknowledge and honor with gratitude the land and waterways and the people who have stewarded N’dakinna throughout the generations.

Provide input or ask a question

Pemi’s DEI committee invites members of our camp community to share their experiences, provide feedback, or ask a question, either directly or anonymously.

Please contact us directly at: [email protected]

Or, complete this anonymous form.

Suggested Reading

Please consider purchasing from a Black-owned bookstore.

Ages 8-12

A Single Shard —Linda Sue Park (10 and up)
Rez Dogs—Joseph Bruchac
When You Trap a Tiger—Tae Keller
Simon B. Rhymin’ —Dwayne Reed
Black Boy Joy—Kwame Mbalia
They Call Me Güero—David Bowles
The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora —Pablo Cartaya (10-12)
New Kid —Jerry Kraft

 

 

DEI reading list for ages 8-12

Teens

The Crossover—Kwame Alexander
The Marrow Thieves—Cherie Dimaline
Firekeeper’s Daughter—Angeline Boulley
Darius The Great Is Not Okay—Adib Khorram
Dante and Aristotle Discover the Secrets of the Universe—Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Long Way Down—Jason Reynolds
Elatsoe—Darcie Little Badger
American Born Chinese—Gene Luen Yang

 

 

DEI reading list for teens

Adults

Crying in H Mart—Michelle Zauner
Four Hundred Souls—Ibram X. Kendi & Keisha N. Blain
Blindspot—Mahzarin R. Banaji & Anthony G. Greenwald
The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois—Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
Solito—Javier Zamora
Pachinko—Min Jin Lee
Homegoing—Yaa Gyasi
There, There—Tommy Orange

 

 

DEI reading list for adults