Kareemah Batts

Kareemah Batts is the founder of the Adaptive Climbing Group, the largest climbing program for people with disabilities in the country. As a cancer survivor, paraclimber, an outdoor enthusiast, and a diversity, equity, and inclusion professional, she pulls from her lived experience and education to co-create a world where diversity is intersectional and accessible. She is a climbing industry disruptor who helped transform the industry approach towards climbers with disabilities away from photo-ops and inconsistent engagement and towards weekly meet ups, skill progression and community building. After her single leg below-the-knee amputee, Batts found personal resilience and meaning in the outdoors. She and her athletes have broadened our understanding of what is possible on a climbing wall.

After being diagnosed with Synovial Sarcoma in 2009, leading to her partial leg amputation, Batts attended the Colorado Mountain School in 2011 where she fell in love with climbing. She became the first female paraclimber in a USA Climbing Competition. She was inspired to found the Adaptive Climbing Group, and she remains its Program Director. Additionally, she currently serves on committees across the outdoor industry for diversity initiatives such as Access Fund, Brooklyn Boulders Foundation, American Alpine Club, USA Climbing, NYC Department of Transportation, and others.

Batts is a native New Yorker who grew up in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn. Batts was raised by her maternal aunt and uncle who took guardianship of her at 19 months from foster care as her mother had behavioral disabilities. She grew up in a 7th-Day Adventist household where she learned about different natural health practices, and being a steward to the community.