Orvis is reaching out to women with its 50/50 by 2020 initiative to draw more women into the sport of fly fishing.
Orvis has made inroads with women by partnering with organizations like Casting for Recovery, which provides fly-fishing retreats specifically tailored for women who have or have had breast cancer. But perhaps their most radical push is “50/50 by 2020,” a program to greatly increase the number of women in the sport of fly fishing. Spearheaded by Jackie Kutzer, Outdoor Designer at Orvis, the project benefitted from a five hour free flowing think tank session at the Rendezvous. “It’s an ‘I Dare You’ from Orvis,” she says, “and it’s bigger than Orvis.”
It’s about making fly fishing easier for women and involves everything from teaching women to cast to forming fly fishing clubs and designing equipment that really works for women — such as waders that are made to fit women — and not just men. The program has become part of the company’s core mission.
