The James P. Beckwourth Mountain Club

Founded in 1993, the James P. Beckwourth Mountain Club (the “JPBMC”) is a nationally-recognized Colorado non-profit. Our mission is to preserve the legacy of James P. Beckwourth by providing outdoor experiential programs to diverse youth and families, and to educate the public about people-of-color in the West.

The JPBMC membership is open to the public, culturally/ethnically diverse, and comprised of families, singles and seniors. Membership activities are held almost every weekend throughout the year, and include community service projects, leadership training, first-aid and adult/child CPR training, and visits to historical and scientific facilities. JPBMC members hike, camp, backpack, climb 14ers, fish, whitewater raft, canoe, kayak, bike, cross-country ski, downhill ski, snowboard, and snowshoe.

More than just a “Mountain Club,” the JPBMC offers an award-winning mentoring/leadership development program for Metro Denver urban youth, and history programs which educate the public about the contributions made by people-of-color in the West.

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About James P. Beckwourth

James Pierson (“Jim”) Beckwourth, born in 1798, was a bi-racial African-American mountain man, fur trapper, explorer, frontiersman, army scout, War Chief of the Crow Indians, trading post owner and manager, co-founder of the city of Pueblo, Colorado, discoverer of Beckwourth Pass in California’s Sierra Nevada Range, and all-around “Legend of the West.” For additional information and resources on James P. Beckwourth, click here.

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Board & Staff

Board of Directors

Board Chair—Stephen Shepard
Treasurer—Val Roberts
Secretary—Joyce Schlueter
Members—Leona Anderson, Gary M. Jackson, Esq., Marcus Jimenez,
Richard Ott, Esq., Martin D. Robbins, Sid Wilson

Outdoor Education Center Advisory Board

Gerhard Holtzendorf, Chair
Susan Baird, Ph.D.
Ellen Kingman Fisher, Ph.D.
Thomas Gougeon, Ph.D.
Raymond Huff
Carol Miyagishima
Charles Robertson
Martin D. Robbins
Kenneth D. Taylor, Ph.D.

Winks Lodge Advisory Board

Gary M. Jackson, Esq., Chair
Susan Burks
Niccolo Casewit, A.I.A.
Ida S. Daniel
Lee Kathryn Gash-Maxey
Regina Jackson
Mary Frances Nevans, Esq.
Ruth Shepard
Stephen Shepard
Grace Stiles
Barbara E. Williams
Sid Wilson

JPBMC Staff

President & CEO—Cheryl Armstrong
Program Director—Michael Richardson
Marketing Manager—Franny Santiago
Program Assistants—Kassius Anderson, Jasmine Armstrong, Toni Gaunty,
Eric Jackson, Jahsi Nkululeko, Robin Robinson, Gretchen Schlueter, Greg Smith

JPBMC Key Volunteers

Membership Activities—Winston Walker
Newsletter Editors—Andrea Juarez, Esq. and Kirby Moss, Ph.D.
History Programs—Gwendolyn Scott, M.A.,

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Local & National Awards

Local Awards:

2000 Citizen/Community Partnership Award, Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education;
2001 Silver Medal—South Platte River Greenway-Rudy Bruner Award for Excellence in the Urban Environment;
2001 Martin Luther King, Jr. Business Social Responsibility Award;
2003 Denver Parks & Recreation, Hands-On Denver Outstanding Volunteer Group Award;
2004 Denver Council District 8 Community Award;
2004 9 Kids Who Care Award—OEC program Youth Leader, Robert Mercer, an American Indian;
2005 El Pomar Foundation Merit Award; and
2006 Denver Business Journal Outstanding Women in Business-Jean Yancey Small Business Award - President & CEO Cheryl Armstrong;
2007 Denver Urban Spectrum African-Americans Who Make a Difference Award – Michael Richardson, Program Director.

National Awards:

2001 National Park Service Shoulder to Shoulder Award for connecting minority communities to parks;
2003 Environmental Protection Agency Friend of EPA award, in recognition of work done by OEC teens on the Youth Prairie Stream Restoration Project on White Horse Creek, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota;
2005 President & CEO Cheryl Armstrong’s Photo on Faces of Conservation wall at the Washington, D.C. headquarters of The Wilderness Society, in recognition of her dedicated work to introduce urban children to the natural world; and
2005 JPBMC founding member Winston Walker was the recipient of an REI Steward for the Environment Award.

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