Bio
Parker McMullen Bushman is the Vice President for Community Engagement, Education and Inclusion at Butterfly Pavilion. Parker’s background in conservation, outdoor recreation and environmental education fields spans over 22+ years. She has a Master of Natural Resources from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, with a focus in Environmental Education and Interpretation.
At Butterfly Pavilion Parker provides leadership for the vision, creative direction and oversight of a diverse array of innovative and engaging programs and exhibits for zoo guests, adult and family audiences, and the Denver Metro community. She also oversees Zoo community engagement and builds upon local and national partnerships that advance the Butterfly Pavilion’s mission to foster an appreciation of invertebrates by educating the public about the need to protect and care for threatened habitats globally.
Parker has a passion for equity and inclusion in conservation and the outdoors. Her interest in justice, accessibility, and equity issues developed from her personal experiences facing the unequal representation of people of color in nonprofit and environmental organizations. Parker tackles these complex issues by addressing them through head on activism and education. In Colorado she works with environmental organizations to aid them in building a culturally diverse and culturally competent organizations that are representative of the populations that they hope to reach and serve. Parker brings this focus on inclusion to her work at Butterfly Pavilion, spearheading BP’s program Welcome All. Welcome All is Butterfly Pavilion’s comprehensive, organization-wide program to becoming a more accessible and inclusive organization for our guests, our staff and volunteers, and our community. “We know that connection to outdoor spaces is essential for habitat conservation because people protect the places they love. This why this is an important initiative for Butterfly Pavilion.” states McMullen Bushman. “Thorough Welcome All we embrace a kind, compassionate and engaging approach, welcoming all people in the work we do. We seek a competency of cultural understanding and social responsibility to make it as easy as possible for others to join us in conserving our natural world.”
Parker is a member of several committees that focus on diversity in environmental fields as well as a presenter and trainer on diversity issues. She sits on the board of Wildlands Restoration Volunteers, Metro Denver Nature Alliance, the Next 100 Coalition and the National Association for Interpretation. Parker is a Certified Interpretive Guide and Certified Interpretive Trainer.
In addition to Parker’s role at Butterfly Pavilion she is also the Founder of an online diversity resource forum called Ecoinclusive and the creator of Earth KWEEN. Ecoinclusive was born out of a desire to make sure everyone has a connection to the outdoors. Especially communities of color that traditional have been underrepresented in these spaces. . Ecoinclusive provides resources for leadership at non-profits and environmental organizations to aid them in building a culturally diverse and culturally competent staff that reflects and connects with the populations that they serve. Earth KWEEN is Parker’s other endeavor. KWEEN stands for Keep Widening Environmental Engagement Narratives. Earth KWEEN challenges traditional representations of what it means to be outdoorsy by showing a variety of bodies engaged in outdoor spaces.
At Butterfly Pavilion Parker provides leadership for the vision, creative direction and oversight of a diverse array of innovative and engaging programs and exhibits for zoo guests, adult and family audiences, and the Denver Metro community. She also oversees Zoo community engagement and builds upon local and national partnerships that advance the Butterfly Pavilion’s mission to foster an appreciation of invertebrates by educating the public about the need to protect and care for threatened habitats globally.
Parker has a passion for equity and inclusion in conservation and the outdoors. Her interest in justice, accessibility, and equity issues developed from her personal experiences facing the unequal representation of people of color in nonprofit and environmental organizations. Parker tackles these complex issues by addressing them through head on activism and education. In Colorado she works with environmental organizations to aid them in building a culturally diverse and culturally competent organizations that are representative of the populations that they hope to reach and serve. Parker brings this focus on inclusion to her work at Butterfly Pavilion, spearheading BP’s program Welcome All. Welcome All is Butterfly Pavilion’s comprehensive, organization-wide program to becoming a more accessible and inclusive organization for our guests, our staff and volunteers, and our community. “We know that connection to outdoor spaces is essential for habitat conservation because people protect the places they love. This why this is an important initiative for Butterfly Pavilion.” states McMullen Bushman. “Thorough Welcome All we embrace a kind, compassionate and engaging approach, welcoming all people in the work we do. We seek a competency of cultural understanding and social responsibility to make it as easy as possible for others to join us in conserving our natural world.”
Parker is a member of several committees that focus on diversity in environmental fields as well as a presenter and trainer on diversity issues. She sits on the board of Wildlands Restoration Volunteers, Metro Denver Nature Alliance, the Next 100 Coalition and the National Association for Interpretation. Parker is a Certified Interpretive Guide and Certified Interpretive Trainer.
In addition to Parker’s role at Butterfly Pavilion she is also the Founder of an online diversity resource forum called Ecoinclusive and the creator of Earth KWEEN. Ecoinclusive was born out of a desire to make sure everyone has a connection to the outdoors. Especially communities of color that traditional have been underrepresented in these spaces. . Ecoinclusive provides resources for leadership at non-profits and environmental organizations to aid them in building a culturally diverse and culturally competent staff that reflects and connects with the populations that they serve. Earth KWEEN is Parker’s other endeavor. KWEEN stands for Keep Widening Environmental Engagement Narratives. Earth KWEEN challenges traditional representations of what it means to be outdoorsy by showing a variety of bodies engaged in outdoor spaces.