Mitsu Iwasaki
CEO, American Alpine Club
The Basics
Non-Profit Name: American Alpine Club
Location: Golden, CO
Founded: 1902
Full-Time Employees: 28
Products: We’re a united community of competent climbers and healthy climbing landscapes, sharing our passion for climbing and respect for the places we climb.
Social: Facebook Instagram Twitter
Claim to Fame: We’ve been around since 1902.
The Culture
The best thing about working here is:
We all care deeply about our work. Whether we’re collaborating on new AAC initiatives, swapping beta for after-work climbing sessions or sharing important reading suggestions on our Slack channels, we inspire each other.
When we’re not working, we’re:
Climbing! We’re also skiers, artists, bikers, hikers, dancers and runners.
What we’re reading:
The Adventure Gap (James Edward Mills), old guidebooks and mountain literature from our library (think Krakauer and Bernadette McDonald), and our American Alpine Journal and Accidents publications.
What we’re listening to:
Our podcasts (the Cutting Edge and the Sharp End)
If they made a movie about our workplace, it would be called:
United We Climb
Inclusion in the outdoors matters because:
Our community is strongest when all climbers are included and feel a sense of belonging and responsibility. United, our voices are a powerful force in advocating for public lands and moving climbing and outdoor recreation forward.
Five years down the line, it’s our hope that:
our membership, programs, events, board, and staff more fully reflect and represent the extraordinary diversity of climbers in the United States.
We recognize as an organization that we have been exclusive in the past. We know that our community is stronger when everyone is actively welcomed. In five years The AAC will clearly benefit from the thought leadership and innovation that comes from including everyone who might love climbing. We’re committed to removing barriers to entry for those who have been battling them thus far.