Join Trust for Public Land and SAL for a free community event with the Full Circle Everest Team, the first all-Black team to summit the highest mountain on earth.
Full Circle lead Philip Henderson and mountaineers Demond “Dom” Mullins and Adina Scott will join TPL’s Northwest Director, Mitsu Iwasaki, to amplify a national conversation about inclusion and equity in outdoor recreation.
Philip Henderson is a native of California whose passion for outdoor recreation, education, skiing, and climbing has provided him with opportunities to travel around the world. He currently serves as the Executive Director of Full Circle Expeditions. He has been on several major expeditions including Everest, Denali, Kilimanjaro, and Mt Kenya. As an educator, he has assisted in training guides, rangers, and porters on several expeditions. In addition, Philip has been an active volunteer in youth and adult programs in the US, where he has worked tirelessly to promote outdoor activities among underrepresented communities. In 2012, Philip was a member and team leader of the North Face/National Geographic Everest Education Expedition, became one of the few African Americans to summit Denali in 2013, and led an all-African American ascent of Mt Kilimanjaro in 2018. He is the recipient of the Outdoor Afro 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Demond “Dom” Mullins is a sociologist, combat veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and pioneering adventurer whose remarkable feats of grit and endurance against all odds are inspiring the next generation of diverse adventurers. He is a member of Full Circle Everest Team, which made history by becoming the first all-Black expedition to summit Mount Everest in the spring of 2022. Mullins is among the most influential voices in the outdoor adventure community known for his endeavoring spirit and unyielding tenacity, as well as his ability to impart these traits into his teams on the journey to unlocking peak performance to achieve a shared purpose.
Adina Scott is an adventurer, nerd, and artist. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest she could usually be found digging in the dirt under the porch, playing music, reading a book, or hanging out up in the plum tree snacking. Adina went on to study electrical engineering and earned a PhD while continuing to unwind by playing music and exploring nature. She has made a career of supporting science and discovery in the US, Antarctica, and India. When not engaging with her day job she is usually running, climbing, or skiing her way around the central Cascades or playing music with her band. She has volunteered as an outdoor educator with the YMCA BOLD/GOLD mountain school in Seattle. She participated in NOLS Expedition Denali and has hiked, climbed and skied in many inspiring areas, including being a part of the Full Circle Everest Team.
Mitsu Iwasaki, our moderator for the evening, is the Associate Vice President and Northwest Director of Trust for Public Land. Born in Japan, Iwasaki’s family immigrated to Seattle, WA soon after he turned six years old. Growing up in the relative comfort of the suburbs, his parents felt it would be best to ‘build his character’ by sending him to work on a commercial fishing boat throughout his teenage summers in Chignik, Alaska. Those experiences sparked an enduring love for wild places, inspiring a life-long journey of adventure and exploration of both natural landscapes and his capacity as a person. He has been climbing, skiing, and running across our beloved northwest mountains and around the world for over three decades.
Trust for Public Land is a national nonprofit that works to connect everyone to the benefits and joys of the outdoors. As a leader in equitable access to the outdoors, TPL works with communities to create parks and protect public land where they are needed most.
