Outdoor Afro, a national non-profit whose mission is to create and inspire black leadership in nature, just announced its newest board member, Ashley Williams, senior director, global marketing Keen Inc. Keen and Williams have been long-standing supporters of Outdoor Afro.
Williams has spent the last two decades in the sports and outdoor industries for brands like adidas, Yakima and Amer Sports. At Keen, Williams helps to connect the brand with more fans and tell its values-led stories. He is a passionate outdoors person and never happier than when on the trail with his family. Williams has served as Senior Global Marketing Director of Keen since October 2014.
“We are overjoyed to have Ashley join the board,” said CEO of Outdoor Afro, Rue Mapp. “His depth of industry knowledge and marketing experience will help us continue to stay innovative and will be extremely valuable as we continue to expand our reach into more industries.”
Keen has been a long-time supporter and partner of Outdoor Afro. In 2012, founder Rue Mapp received a call from David Munk of Keen who was interested in learning how more people could connect with Keen, and to the outdoors overall. Since then, the relationship has developed between Outdoor Afro and Keen where both organizations are passionately working to get more folks outdoors.
“I’ve been inspired by the work of Outdoor Afro for many years and am proud to join their family,” said Williams. “The mission of celebrating and inspiring African American connections and leadership in nature is one that I fully support. To watch how they have grown and continue to stay on the cutting edge of this work is inspirational. I am thrilled to join the board and look forward to using my experience in helping guide the team in the next phase of their growth.”
