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KUNC's Colorado Edition

Colorado Edition: Colorado women lead tech startup for people to rate safety, accessibility of businesses

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Crystal Egli (left) and Parker McMullen Bushman (right), co-founders of Inclusive Journeys, a tech startup that created the Inclusive Guide.

There is a long history of people creating guides to help others find inclusive spaces. In the 19th century, safe houses along the Underground Railroad displayed quilts with coded messages to help people who escaped slavery find safe passage. In the 20th century, Black travelers used the Green Book to navigate the U.S. safely.

Now, two Colorado women have created a website that aims to do something similar. The website, called Inclusive Guide, allows users to rate their experiences at businesses and other spaces. Those ratings give insight to users about how others with a similar identity have been treated, and whether they will be welcomed at a given business.

Crystal Egli and Parker McMullen Bushman are the co-founders of Inclusive Journeys, a tech startup that created Inclusive Guide. They join us to talk about the guide.

A quilt that belongs to Crystal Egli, co-founder of the Inclusive Journeys tech startup. The quilt includes a "flying east" pattern. This pattern was displayed by safe houses along the Underground Railroad in the early 19th century as a secret code meaning "safe, food, water, shelter" for people who escaped slavery. The logo for Inclusive Journeys is a modernized version of this pattern.

Colorado Edition is hosted by Erin O'Toole (@ErinOtoole1) and edited by Henry Zimmerman (@kombuchacowboy). Our production team includes Tess Novotny (@tess_novotny). KUNC news director Brian Larson is our executive producer. Web was edited by digital editor Jackie Hai.

The mission of Colorado Edition is to deepen understanding of life in Northern Colorado through authentic conversation and storytelling. It's available as a podcast on iTunesSpotifyGoogle PlayStitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can hear the show on KUNC, Monday through Friday at 2:30 and at 6:30 p.m.
 
Colorado Edition is made possible with support from our KUNC members. Thank you!

Our theme music was composed by Colorado musicians Briana Harris and Johnny Burroughs. Other music in the show by Blue Dot Sessions.

As a producer for Colorado Edition, I pitch segment ideas, pre-interview guests, craft scripts and cut audio. I also write tweets, build web posts and occasionally host.
As the host of KUNC’s new program and podcast In the NoCo, I work closely with our producers and reporters to bring context and diverse perspectives to the important issues of the day. Northern Colorado is such a diverse and growing region, brimming with history, culture, music, education, civic engagement, and amazing outdoor recreation. I love finding the stories and voices that reflect what makes NoCo such an extraordinary place to live.
KUNC's Colorado Edition is a daily look at the stories, news, people and issues important to you. It's a window to the communities along the Colorado Rocky Mountains.