Become a Challenge Partner Today
The Wright Challenge is a semester-long program presented in partnership with the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office (OREC), helping to prepare Colorado higher-education students to enter the workforce by providing first-hand experience working alongside small businesses and nonprofit organizations to develop actionable solutions to current-day challenges within the outdoor recreation industry sector.
The key to a successful experience is the selection of challenges. Each year, The Wright selects from a pool of applicants a set of challenges reflecting real-time projects and initiatives that the organization is prepared to undertake with a student team. Interested businesses, nonprofits and/or civic and government entities are required to submit a proposed challenge-statement, summarizing a specific project on which a team of students would focus their work over the course of 10-12 weeks.
We are excited to announce that our call for challenge partners for the Spring 2025 program is now open! We are looking for partners with meaningful, actionable challenges across our themes of Product, People, and Place who are excited to work closely with highly-engaged student teams.
Over the course of this spring semester challenge (late-January to late-April), student teams will be paired with businesses, nonprofits, and partner organizations, where they are introduced to a range of pivotal issues facing Colorado's wide-ranging outdoor sector. Over the course of the challenge, students are tasked with developing actionable solutions to real-time challenges facing businesses, non-profit organizations and civic/government entities.
The Spring 2025 Wright Challenge will be open to students enrolled full-time in select programs at the following academic institutions:
- Colorado Mesa University - Outdoor Industry Studies Program
- Colorado Mountain College Leadville - Outdoor Education and Business Administration Programs
- University of Colorado Boulder - Masters of the Environment Graduate Program
- Western Colorado University (Graduate) - Outdoor Industry MBA Program
- Western Colorado University (Undergraduate) - Outdoor Industry Business
Frequently Asked Questions
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Strong challenge statements typically address current-day issues, opportunities for innovation, or new ideas that need shaping and direction. Keep in mind that your proposed challenge statement may involve broad industry issues, students taking on the challenge should feel there is a viable opportunity, and expectation, for an actionable outcome, within the 10-12 week period. A Phase I pilot, for example.
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Challenge Partners can expect a minimum of 20-hours total in support of student teams; including but not limited to email communications, virtual meetings, and workshops. The total hours take place over the duration of the Spring 2024 Challenge. Most hours take place during February and March. Site visits, while not required, are strongly encouraged where possible. Factor in an additional 1-2 hours to account for additional staff time and planning.
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People Track challenges boil down, you guessed it, people. If connection, belonging, educating and empowering is essential to the challenge you are out to address, the People Track is the place for you.
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From the physical to the digital, product challenges are about the things that help move us into and through the outdoors. Explore innovative product & technology designs, build early stage prototypes, disrupt your supply chain thinking, jumpstart that sustainability program, put fresh eyes on a marketing initiative, take a deeper dive into partnerships and collaborations. If the essence of your challenge is about your product, you’re in the right spot with the Product Track.
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From rails to trails, advocacy to artistry, equity to employment, stewardship to apprenticeship, climate to community — your Place Track challenge is about bettering the places Coloradoans call home.
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Highly engaged Challenge Partner & Student Team relationship. This is a primary factor in providing a win-win experience for students and Challenge Partners alike is active engagement on behalf of both groups.
Present challenge statement at the online kick-off event in late January
Be prepared to commit 15-20 hours in support of student teams
Actively engage in student communications. Replying to emails. Making introductions where appropriate. Providing constructive feedback.
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No. Challenge Partners work alongside their assigned student team in a collaborative role, providing leadership & guidance. Posing questions and opening doors. Offering encouragement. Encouraging trial & error. Challenge Partners and students together are a team.
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Each Challenge Partner will work with a single team consisting of 3-5 students from one of our partner academic programs.
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No. Together with faculty and advisors from each program, The Wright team will form student teams and assigns each team to Challenges based, as best we are able, on student preferences.
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Yes
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Beacon Guidebooks – Gunnison, CO (Product)
Publishing responsible and reliable guidebooks, maps and apps for backcountry skiers and riders. Beacon displays and sells our products in 90+ stores nationwide with rapid expansion into new regions. We currently use plastic display fixtures in these retail stores for nearly all of our products. As we expand, we would like our display fixtures to be plastic-free.
Our challenge is to research, design, and move towards the production of a series of cost-effective, environmentally-friendly display fixtures that will maximize our merchandising and brand awareness while also meeting retailer requirements for sizing and storage.
Specifically, we are looking to transition from plastic display fixtures to fixtures made of wood and metal for all of our retail shops in Colorado and Washington as well as the 21 REI locations that distribute our products. The project will move from design and budgeting to sourcing and production and will require out-of-the-box thinking and creativity to overcome obstacles.
San Luis Valley Great Outdoors (SLV GO!) - Alamosa, CO (Place)
SLV GO! helps organize, support, and guide community efforts to implement outdoor recreation resources and break down barriers between communities and the outdoors.
SLV GO! is embarking on a community process to explore and promote a “rails with trails” program that will extend across 5 counties and 154 miles of rail line. We need to build broad community support from adjacent property owners, county commissioners, and state agencies. We are estimating an economic impact of $10 million a year to the region once the trail is complete.
mountainFLOW eco-wax – Carbondale, CO (Product)
Our challenge is to create a Buyback Program for Fluorinated Ski Wax. Fluorocarbons (aka -PFAS, PTFE, Teflon) have been a staple ingredient in ski wax for decades. However, recent studies have shown that this "forever chemical" (the opposite of biodegradable, it lasts forever in the environment) is carcinogenic and has bioaccumulated in environments near ski areas. Fortunately, use of fluorocarbons has been prohibited in most major race circuits. However, thousands of pounds of this toxic ski wax are still available for sale and legal for recreational (non-race) use. We would like to develop a program to buy back wax from ski shops and dispose of it properly so it doesn't end up in our Colorado watershed.
