Our Team
*Scroll thru slideshow to view all.
Patricia Ann Cameron
Executive Director and Founder
Having been born and raised in Prince George's County, Maryland, Patricia moved to Colorado Springs in 1994. Colorado ( and specifically southeastern Colorado Springs) has a special place in her heart and she has devoted all of her energy into making the nationwide hub for the outdoor industry an equal and equitable place for all.
Ms. Cameron spent the 11 years prior to founding Blackpackers in healthcare as an EMT and then as the Practice Manager of multiple clinics in the Colorado Springs and Denver metro area. Further, Ms. Cameron has worked as a volunteer firefighter and in the ICU at Memorial Central--all in positions serving her community. A student of philosophy from UCCS she also has a degree from PPCC for Emergency Medical Services.
Patricia founded Blackpackers in 2019 to address the gap in representation in the outdoors. As a single mother she struggled with the means and knowledge to take her young son on outdoor adventures. Patricia saved up money working weeks of overtime as an EMT to buy her initial set of backpacking/gear and took herself on her first overnight backpacking trip--alone, and in a snowstorm.
Mostly self-taught, she hopes to make it easier for families to access the outdoors by making the initial investment for them. She is a freelance writer and photographer, her work appearing in Backpacker Magazine, The Denver Post, Elevation Outdoors, The Colorado Sun, Sensi Magazine, The Voice, and others. A single homeschooling mother of an amazing teenage boy, Patricia balances home life with leading the Blackpackers Board of Directors.
Patricia is a 2020 fellow and on the board of the New Leaders Council, a nationwide nonprofit that trains and supports progressive leadership and millennial entrepreneurs (newleaderscouncil.org).
In the summer of 2020, Patricia successfully hiked the entire 486 mile Colorado Trail while writing a trail diary for Backpacker Magazine.
​
Catch Patricia leading any one of Blackpackers events or reach out to her at Patricia@coblackpackers.com.
​