Bethany Lebewitz

To Bethany Lebewitz, CEO of Brown Girls Climb, climbing is much more than a sport, it is an opportunity to strengthen both one's sense of self and sense of community. Lebewitz won the Climbing Advocate Award in 2018 for her leadership in creating a more inclusive climbing-advocacy and conservation community. She is a biracial Mexican American who started climbing over six years ago and has experienced a wide range of styles including traditional, sport, and bouldering. Coming from a rural town, her relationship with the outdoors was fostered through regular chores, family vacations to state parks, and playing and exploring local creeks and forests with her brother.

In 2017, she founded BGC and, in collaboration with other women around the country, leads in advocating for inclusive climbing opportunities and positive representation of women of color in mountaineering and rock climbing. BGC regularly organizes meet-ups in the Denver and the Washington Metropolitan area, has expanded to eight chapters across the country, and continues to build community online. BGC and the organization Brothers of Climbing co-host Color the Crag, the first climbing festival dedicated to celebrating culture and diversity in the outdoors. Lebewitz is also on the Board of Directors at Access Fund, an organization dedicated to preserving the climbing environment in the face of development, over regulation, and degradation of the environment.

Before BGC, Lebewitz received her undergraduate education at the University of Texas at Dallas where she studied neuroscience and child development. Through her experience in child advocacy and research, she realized the need for more leaders who represented communities that often go ignored and under-served. She believes the opportunity to climb can act as a shared tool to empower others. She hopes BGC can connect and encourage women and girls of color to climb, lead, and live fearlessly. Lebewitz is actively addressing environmental policy and racist and discriminatory climbing route names, and breaking down the structural inequalities women of color face when accessing outdoor recreation.