Elevate Ultimate | Pride Reflections

Since its launch in 2016, Elevate has worked to create an inclusive culture. In 2020, when the team ballooned from just two employees to eight, Elevate defined its values – FRAPI, or as they lovingly call it, the Elevate FRAPI-ccino. These stand for Fun, Respect, Accountability, Purpose-Driven, and Inclusive.

FRAPI = Fun, Respect, Accountability, Purpose-Driven, Inclusive

"Inclusive" is stated to indicate their support, in words and in action, to the BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ communities.

Elevate co-founder Danie Proby proudly wearing the new Together We Elevate jersey; available now with 15% of proceeds going to the Get REAL Movement.

From hiring with intention to welcoming people as they are, the team celebrates the LGBTQ2S+ community in various ways, including:

• Starting each camp with Pronouns to help kids feel more welcome; demonstrating the importance of recognizing and accepting identity.
• Purposefully hire and recruit people who bring a unique flavour to the team.
• Engaging in an open-minded approach to continually educate internally and share knowledge using our platform.
• Paying close attention to the language used in meetings – such as replacing the use of "guys" with other gender-neutral words such as folks, everyone, team, etc.
• Listening to podcasts, reading blogs, and creating an open space to answer questions.

Coaching the Next Generation of Coaches

While the crew looks to educate outside parties, they continuously seek to educate themselves. Recently, they invited Kellan Gibboney, a trans, non-binary, and queer ultimate athlete/coach to share with the coaches the importance of pronouns.

Kellan Gibboney is also the co-creator of the VC Pronouns collection.

Over 40 coaches from the Vancouver, Victoria, and Ottawa offices attended the conference. The best part about this? The average age of these coaches was 19, thus getting one step closer to starting the education on the topic of inclusion and identity from a young age.

Currently, Elevate is working on the following to continue supporting the community:

• An anti-bullying statement;
• Promoting VC's Pride Gear, especially the fact that 15% of the revenue goes to different Pride support organizations;
• Sharing resources on their Instagram and Twitter to promote discourse. 

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This post was contributed by Shreya Sharma from Elevate Ultimate. VC is proud to partner with Elevate; the next generation of ultimate leaders is in good hands!

You can read four Elevate coaches reflect on proper pronoun use in our Elevate Ultimate | Pronoun Reflections post.