The Global Leadership Adventures Team
Headquarters Staff and Founders
Rodrigo Arruda
Program Enrollment Specialist
Rodrigo is a passionate geographer, educator and traveler with experiences in over 40 countries. Born and raised in Brazil, when he is not working and traveling around the world, he enjoys spending his time in his self-built ecological house in the magical island of Florianopolis. During his graduation in Education and Geography, he also studied Human Sciences at the Université de la Rochelle, in France, and Environmental Sciences at the University of Western Australia. Passionate about languages, besides Portuguese and English, he is also fluent in French and Spanish and always trying to learn other ones. In his free time Rodrigo loves cooking with friends, playing music, taking photographs, exploring the outdoors and trying to improve his way into surfing and yoga. He has been a Mentor with GLA in Ghana, Costa Rica, Spain and Galapagos and has lots of nice stories and tips about those and many other places to share.
Chris Bradford
GLA Founder
Chris is a co-founder of Global Leadership Adventures and former CEO of the African Leadership Academy. He brings a hybrid background in business and education to his work designing and building educational institutions of excellence. He previously worked with the Procter and Gamble Company, the Boston Consulting Group, The Broad Foundation, and at Oundle School. He holds a BA degree summa cum laude in Economics from Yale University and an MBA and MA in Education from Stanford University. As a graduate student at Stanford University, Chris and fellow GLA co-founder, Fred Swaniker, began to build African Leadership Academy, an institution that seeks to transform Africa by identifying, developing, and connecting future generations of leaders from across the continent.
Rachel Bistodeau
Admissions Manager
Rachel first went abroad with her University in 2006 and fell in love with travel and international education. Since graduating in 2011, Rachel has worked within different areas of International Education. She started as an admissions counselor for CEA- Global Education before setting off to teach English in South Korea. After four years in South Korea she moved to Spain to get her Masters in International Education. In 2018, she joined Global Leadership Adventures as a Travel Coordinator and is currently managing the admissions team. Rachel loves working with students and seeing the excitement that travel, especially in high school, brings to each student.
Hayley Brown
Program Enrollment Specialist
Luis Miguel Castro
Program Manager
Patricia Escalante
Peru Field Coordinator
Patricia is a native of the Peruvian Andes. Her bachelor’s degree in tourism has got her to develop her professional career from volunteering to support Peruvian archaeological research and Amazon scientific projects to leading internationally responsible travel groups throughout Peru and other South American countries. She has extensive experience in the tourism industry in Peru and has visited some European countries several times. She is passionate about Amazon Conservation and is grateful to be the connector of educational, innovative, regenerative, and reciprocal experiences among international travelers and local communities. Patricia first joined GLA in 2017 as the Homebase Manager, providing extensive logistics assistance for all Peru programs, and has served as the Peru Field Coordinator since 2023.
Lisa Galloway
People Operations Manager
Lisa worked with Terra Education from 2010-2015 as part of the Global Leadership Adventures team and is thrilled to be back on the team after taking several years off to stay home with her two children. She’s happy to provide support for all five Terra segments and enjoys working for a company that lives their values and creates travel and educational opportunities for teens and adults. She moved to San Diego to attend SDSU and hasn’t left since! In her free time you can find her spending time with her husband, two boys, and two rowdy kittens, hiking, reading, or spending time outdoors.
Ilana Gordon
Program Manager
Ilana was raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and attended University there where she received her titles of Teacher and Licentiate in Environmental Sciences. In 2021 she got another degree in NGOs Management and a Diplomacy in Gender, Race, and Injustice. At the age of 17, she went for a gap year program in the Middle East, described as a life-changing experience. Since 2015, she has lived in several countries and traveled around the world. In the last few years, Ilana has been working on women’s projects in rural communities, as well as in Experiential Education and International Travel in different countries across the continents. In 2018 she joined GLA and since then, Ilana has had the honor of directing programs all over the world. Ilana is passionate about life underwater and loves diving. In her free time, she enjoys hiking in the mountains, doing yoga, being in nature, and traveling!
Anna Graham-Meyer
Accounting Manager
Anna grew up in San Diego and obtained her Bachelors in Accounting at the University of Lynchburg in Virginia. She enjoys working for Terra Education because it aligns her love of numbers with her focus of being a global citizen. Anna’s travels and service learning began close to home volunteering at a school in Tijuana, Mexico as a teen. She has since traveled to many places and hopes to visit Antarctica one day.
Heather Hargas
Program Manager
Heather discovered her passion for experiential education and meaningful travel while working as an English teacher in international programs for nearly a decade. Born and raised in San Diego, California, she earned a Master’s in Education and spent her summers immersed in outdoor education programs across the globe. In 2018, Heather joined Global Leadership Adventures and made the move to Costa Rica full time. For her first three years with GLA, Heather worked on the Admissions Team, helping students select and prepare for life-changing programs around the world. In 2022, she transitioned to the role of Program Manager, where she combines her expertise in experiential education and travel to design impactful itineraries and foster connections with local service organizations. Heather feels privileged to create experiences that inspire students and empower communities. She enjoys surfing, freediving, hiking, and exploring all the adventures Costa Rica has to offer, always embracing the thrill of trying something new.
Daniel Herrera
Costa Rica Country Field Manager
Daniel has lived all his life in Costa Rica. He has extensive experience in travel operations, tourism and different topics from his country of origin. After finishing school, Daniel worked for several companies dedicated to different travel topics, such as volunteering, social travel, and more. During Spring 2008, he joined the Global Leadership Adventures Team and has been with the organization ever since. Daniel manages our many different programs throughout Costa Rica and gives support in the field when needed. Daniel’s university studies were in Business Administration, English as a Second Language and Accounting.
Lauren Holliday
Program Admissions & Group Coordinator
Originally from Texas, Lauren’s first big trip abroad was the summer after high school and it really got the travel bug going. She studied a semester in Luxembourg and earned a BS in Accounting from Miami University (OH). She lived and worked in Chicago and Dallas/Fort Worth for 7 years before leaving the corporate life behind to travel and live abroad; what started as an 18-month plan turned into many years. Rather than just ticking places off a list, Lauren enjoys spending more time in one place to really get to know the culture and people.
Lauren Kessler
Marketing Project Specialist
Lauren discovered her love for international travel after studying abroad in Granada, Spain in college. She earned her B.A. in International Studies from the University of California at Irvine, and her Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of California at San Diego. She started her career working for The Leatherback Trust and Upwell Turtles in Costa Rica as an Education Coordinator. Then, in an effort to learn more about the field of Marketing, she moved back to the US and eventually became a Marketing Communications Manager at Dytran. Lauren loves working at Terra because she loves knowing that her work is contributing to teens’ transformational travel experiences. When she isn’t working on Terra’s latest marketing campaign, she loves spending her free time doing yoga and traveling.
Eden Lantz
Admissions Coordinator
Eden began her quest for adventure at a young age. She grew up in southern Illinois and attended Loyola University Chicago were she received her B.S. in Anthropology. In 2014 she moved to Costa Rica and fell in love with the nature and people. She has many years of experience teaching English, working in tourism, and traveling. Her passions include learning about different cultures, history, and all things relating to science and technology. Her favorite sport is rugby and in her free time she enjoys hiking, biking, and crafting. Eden speaks Spanish and excited about learning Portuguese and German.
Steph Lee
Medical Screening Officer & Admissions Coordinator
Steph was born in England but has lived in multiple countries around the globe. Through her experience, she has developed a deep love for people, food and exploration. After working in the non-profit sector for five years in South Africa, Steph delved further into community development while researching non-profits in Sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on education, sports and fair trade standards. After running multiple successful programs with TED and TED Education, she went on to publish two books and multiple research papers. Her passion for youth enrichment and development lead her to focus her studies, within the Psychotherapy sector, on early childhood trauma. Steph loves the outdoors, exploring new places and finding the local beach hot spots. From seeing the incredible influence travel can have, she loves to share that passion while connecting students and families with the perfect programs for them.
Brooke Loving Bagwell
Regional Director
of International Programs
South America & the Caribbean
In 2018, Global Leadership Adventures sent Brooke to Peru as a Program Mentor for the summer season. Captivated by the mountains, culture, and artisanal heritage of the Andes, she decided to make Cuzco her new home. Today, she serves as the Regional Director of International Programs for South America and the Caribbean. Brooke holds an MBA from IE Business School and a BA in International Studies from American University. She enjoys hiking, visiting artisanal communities, and savoring the delicious cuisine of Peru in her free time.
Jessica Rose Miller
Executive Director
Jessica (Jess) has always been passionate about leadership development and driving personal growth, a commitment rooted in her pride as a first-generation college graduate. Her enthusiasm for international education and social entrepreneurship blossomed through her experiences studying, living, and working abroad. In 2007, Jess joined Terra Education and its flagship program, Global Leadership Adventures (GLA), inspired by its mission and connection to the African Leadership Academy.
Since then, Jess has been an integral part of GLA, supporting and overseeing its programs worldwide, as well as supporting the other Terra programs globally. She has had the privilege of facilitating transformative experiences for students across the globe, fostering authentic connections and personal growth. A graduate of Oregon State University, Jess studied history, anthropology, and Spanish, further fueling her passion for cross-cultural understanding and education.
Jess believes in the power of international learning experiences to inspire and transform the next generation of leaders. She currently resides in sunny San Diego with her husband, Ryan, two sons—Adryan and Kieryan—and their beloved leopard geckos, Luna and Sunny!
Matt Miller
Marketing Coordinator
Matt has loved photo and video from a very young age, when he and his father moved to Costa Rica for a year during his freshman year of high school. This experience not only taught him the benefits of experiencing new cultures and the love of capturing footage and photos from unique destinations, but created a passion to help pass that learning on to the next generation. After graduating with a Cinema Studies degree from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Matt moved out to San Diego to pursue his career in media and marketing. Joining the team at GLA in 2018, Matt has captured the life-changing experiences of students from across the globe on GLA programs.
Peter Mombaur
GLA Founder
Peter is a co-founder of Global Leadership Adventures, as well as its Terra Education sister organizations Discover Corps, Teen Travel Network and Summer Springboard. He spent 15 years working across Africa before joining the company full-time in 2016, where he now serves as Executive Director of Terra Education. Peter was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company in Duesseldorf before transferring to Johannesburg. He later co-founded and co-ran Tana Africa Capital; now a leading Africa-focused investment company. Peter is a German citizen; he holds a Master’s degree with honors in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Aachen, an honors degree in Law from the University of Hagen, and a degree in Economics from the University of Bayreuth. In his limited spare time (Peter and his wife Busi have three children, which are a great joy), Peter likes to meet friends and play chess.
Madison Moore
Regional Director
of International Programs (Costa Rica & North America)
& Program Hiring Manager
Costa Rica & North America
A South Carolina native, Madison had her first international experience at the age of 17, which sparked her interest in international education and inspired her subsequent world travels. After graduating from the University of South Carolina (the real USC!) with a degree in Journalism & Mass Communications, Madison lived and worked in Australia, South Korea and Chile before serving as GLA Program Mentor in the Dominican Republic and becoming inspired by GLA’s mission and values. She’s since worked as the Programs Hiring Manager for GLA and managed programs in the DR, Thailand and Bali before moving to manage Central & North American programs. Madison brings her enthusiasm for international education and communication to GLA, and loves being a part of helping teens discover the world and become the next generation of global leaders and ambassadors.
Andrew Motiwalla
GLA Founder
Andrew is a founder of Terra Education and has helped to launch Global Leadership Adventures, Discover Corps and Summer Springboard. His latest venture is the Good Life Abroad, which offers upscale living for 1-3 months in beautiful cities across Europe for those ages 55+. He has extensive experience operating international educational programs around the world, including serving two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras. His overseas volunteer experience ignited a passion to share that experience with others, and he became vice president at a non-profit international volunteer organization. There, he helped build programs from scratch into a network of 14 countries and 2,500 volunteers, before going on to co-found Terra Education. Andrew is a graduate of Lawrence University and speaks Spanish and Portuguese. In addition to international education, he enjoys studying languages, anthropology and technology, and loves spending time with his two daughters at their home in San Diego.
Stacey Nguyen
Marketing Project Specialist
Like many, Stacey fell in love with travel while studying abroad in France during college. She earned her B.A. in the Social Sciences with an emphasis in International Economics and Anthropology from San Diego State University. Her career started early, and she carved out a path of her own. She began to cultivate her business experience right out of high school by managing her local martial arts school while training to become a World Champion in Tae Kwon Do. Her years building a thriving martial arts business helped her fall in love with marketing, which led to her obtaining her Master’s in Business Administration from the University of California, San Diego. Her MBA helped her to build her marketing skills and tap into her creative side. Stacey loves working with Terra because she believes that travel offers the perspective and experience essential to creating future leaders. When she’s not working at Terra, her hobbies include immersing herself in different cultures and cuisines through her travels, training for her next black belt, or diving in the nearest ocean.
Yente Oosthuysen
Regional Director
Africa, Asia, Europe & the Pacific
Yente is proudly South African! Growing up on the sunny east coast of the ”Rainbow Nation” of the world, she developed a deep passion for changing the world through community development, travel and adventure from a young age. Following getting her masters degree in creating safe spaces for youth, Yente gained experience through working with locally based NPOs across Africa & Asia. She was deeply moved by the transformative experiences of travel as a teen and student and hopes to inspire other young people to be educated about the world around them through the programs in her region and become energized to become changemakers in their communities once back home.
Amelia Parker
Program Admissions Coordinator
Amelia is from Aurora, Oregon and now lives in Cahuita, Costa Rica. She has been working as an Admissions Coordinator for two years with GLA! Amelia loves to learn and is passionate about regenerative farming, functional health, human development and how to create connections. She worked in Early Childhood Development for 23 years and finished her bachelor’s degree in that same field ,before going on to study Human Resources as a master’s degree – “It’s like adult development in group settings!” – at least that was the part about it that was most interesting for her. She has always loved to travel and believes that seeing new places, experiencing new cultures, and stepping away from her everyday routine/expectations is what sparked and continues to nurture the most growth and development in her life. She wants to inspire other people especially teens to do the same, and that is why she loves Global Leadership Adventures!
Jenica Pistone-Donahue
Marketing Administrator
Jenica discovered her own passion for international travel while studying abroad in central Mexico during college. Upon her graduation from the University of Oregon with a degree in English Literature, she was determined to enable other young people in their own life-changing experiences abroad, which she has been doing through GLA since 2014. From staffing programs to working with GLA Student Ambassadors and Fellows, Jenica has seen all sides of the organization.
Anna Caroline Rowland
Program Admissions Coordinator
Anna Caroline grew up all over the southern states of the US before spending the last semester of high school living in Mozambique, which changed her life’s trajectory by instilling a love of travel and of learning about different cultures. AC then returned to the US and settled in Nashville, TN for university and grad school, earning a Bachelor’s in Theology with Minors in Koine Greek and Psychology, and a Masters of Divinity. She then spent the next four years working as a Youth Minister with teenagers 11-18, where she immediately realized how much she loves being able to walk alongside teens and their parents, helping students grow more confident in themselves, in their skills, and in their places in our world. In 2022, AC and her husband finally made their life-long dream of living abroad together a reality, and they’ve spent the last 2.5 years living in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She’s also been able to travel to Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and Peru as a mentor on 3 GLA programs! When she’s not working or exploring, AC loves cooking, cross-stitching, and playing with her cats, Seb and Murph.
Analisa Sandique
Data Processor & Client Support
Lisa hails from the Philippines. Her degree in Management and Entrepreneurship has served her well, providing the foundation for her foray into the exciting world of small-scale home-based businesses. Her true passion, however, is in meeting people and experiencing the beauty of their land and culture. Her love for travel and adventure reignited in 2016 as she started working for GLA. She calls this a match made in heaven as she gets to serve in a company that believes as she does that travel and education infinitely expands one’s horizon and can serve as a catalyst of change in the world.
Victor Sandique
Systems & Administrative Specialist
Victor is passionate about learning, and this has brought him to a few different places including Singapore where he finished his masters and currently South Korea for his PhD in Religion and Culture. He has also completed coursework in Master of Management, the learnings of which he has put to good use in his previous jobs managing teams in the areas of training and customer service. In 2014, Victor started working with GLA and he has not looked back since, embracing GLA’s vision to be an agent of transformation as something that resonates with his passion for economic and social justice.
Lauren Schloss
Program Manager & Medical Screening Coordinator
Raised in Pennsylvania, it didn’t take long before Lauren hit the road in search of cultural adventure by means of service work. After earning her B.A. in anthropology, sociology and art at Guilford College, Lauren started her career in international education — teaching in schools in Thailand, Costa Rica, and Mexico. Sustainable community development has guided her global path. On that trail, she has worked variously to aid asylum seekers, to organize and empower women, to strengthen free libraries, and to promote art and music. Lauren treasures her five years of experience with GLA as an International Director on programs around the world and is thrilled to work as a Program Manager & Medical Screening Coordinator supporting students and staff on program. In her free time, Lauren can be found enjoying Mexico City parks or dancing Cumbia with friends.
Lisamarie Schroer
Program Admissions & Medical Screening Coordinator
Lisamarie is a New Yorker residing in Germany. Her passions of connecting with people, learning about cultures and traditions, and traveling has guided her through many experiences such as, serving in the Peace Corps in Ghana, completing two GLA programs, as a mentor, held in Ghana and multi-county Europe, and traveling solo around South East Asia. Lisamarie is excited to be supporting families in the journey towards and through an amazing summer experience!
Brett Scuiletti
Executive Director of Marketing
Brett describes his job as connecting people from digital spaces to real-life places. He graduated as a Journalism and Communications Fellow from Elon University and has been incredibly fortunate to travel to five continents so far – Europe, Africa and Asia, as well as North and South America – on his journey to visit them all. Brett began at Global Leadership Adventures in the spring of 2014, and his very first day on the job was during the annual Program Directors Training session in San Diego that year, an incredible start that combined meeting all the GLA HQ staff as well as all summer program team members getting ready to staff sites around the world.
Hannah Shepherd
Marketing Coordinator
A native Brit now living in San Diego, Hannah’s curiosity for exploring other cultures and world wide travel was established at a young age. Having embarked on a service learning program to Costa Rica as teen and then traveling independently throughout Latin America, South Africa, Australia and many European countries Hannah is a strong believer in the personal growth and priceless global perspective obtained from educational, international travel. With a background in sales and marketing from both the UK and the US Hannah brings expertise and passion to Terra Education.
Zak Simon
Program Enrollment Specialist
Zak is from a small town in Michigan, and he stayed local to attend Siena Heights University. During his time there he was lucky to have a professor push him to leave the United States for the first time in his life and spend a semester in Costa Rica, where Zak discovered a love for travel. After graduating with degrees in Business and Spanish, he decided to return to Costa Rica as part of the Global Leadership Adventures team. Zak now resides in Toledo, Ohio and is excited to continue sharing his passion for growth through traveling with GLA students and their families. Outside of work Zak loves reading, playing board games, and trying new restaurants.
Maria Skinner
Processor & Mailing Manager
Maria is a San Diego native who originally joined Global Leadership Adventures in 2016. A San Diego State University graduate with degrees in IT Management and Philosophy, she is passionate about the impact of both higher education and international travel. Maria has visited GLA programs throughout Latin America and the Caribbean and is proud to work for a company that not only empowers the students who attend their programs, but also the many amazing communities and local organizations that they partner with. Outside of work Maria enjoys music, art, going to the gym, and traveling with her family.
Elizabeth Sohmer (she/hers)
Program Admissions Coordinator
Elizabeth was born and raised in New Jersey. She studied Leadership, Ethics and Organizational Sustainability at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia with minors in Spanish and Latin-American Studies. She studied abroad for a semester in Chile in 2014 and fell in love with living abroad in Latin America, making Chile a home for the past ten years. She is passionate about social and environmental sustainability, having worked in the non-profit sector as well as in Fair Trade certification. She has worked as an International Director and mentor for GLA in Costa Rica and loves the experience of seeing students having a meaningful impact on their service-learning journey. She now lives in a small beach town in Chile called Pichilemu where she dedicates her free time to her favorite passions, dancing and surfing.
Carly Sullivan
Director of Program Operations
& Risk Management
With a degree in Natural Resource Management and a deep admiration for the outdoors, Carly believes the world is our classroom and the most effective type of education is through experience. Carly started working with GLA in 2010 and spent 4 consecutive summers abroad directing GLA programs throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Carly has been deeply moved by the transformation that occurs when one extends themselves beyond their borders and she works every day to ignite that passion while increasing empathy for every student and staff member who passes on through our programs each year.
Fred Swaniker
GLA Founder
Fred is a co-founder of Global Leadership Adventures and was honored to be named to the Time 100 list of the Most Influential People of 2019. Originally from Ghana, West Africa, Fred has lived and worked in South Africa for several years, and spent his formative years in four other African countries before attending university and graduate school in the United States. These international experiences taught Fred that having a worldview is especially important in today’s increasingly interdependent world, and provided him with the inspiration to create Global Leadership Adventures. Fred is a graduate of Macalester College in St. Paul, MN, USA, and helped to manage one of the top-performing schools in Botswana before attending the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Today, Fred runs a high school in South Africa called the African Leadership Academy.
Brayan Torres
Programs Hiring Coordinator & Program Manager
Brayan, a proud native of Nicaragua, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and is a certified life coach. With extensive experience in leadership development and service-learning programs across Latin America, Brayan brings a wealth of expertise and enthusiasm to his work. He first joined GLA in 2019 as a Program Mentor in the Dominican Republic and returned in 2022 to mentor in Costa Rica. Currently serving as the Hiring Coordinator, Brayan is dedicated to recruiting passionate, adventurous, and driven program leaders to inspire and guide the next generation. A pioneer in his field, Brayan is the first male instructor in Nicaragua certified in both Barre and Yoga. His passions for travel, mindfulness, and gastronomy have taken him to live in six different countries, including Ecuador, and Guatemala, enriching his global perspective and professional approach.
James Townsend
Copywriter
Born and raised in a small town in Maryland, James’s first introduction to a larger world came to him by way of the dozens of foreign-exchange students his parents hosted in their home. With exposure to a world of stories, cuisines and languages at the family dinner table, it was at a young age that he knew that his life would be dedicated to meaningful international experiences.
After graduating from Salisbury University with degrees in International Studies and Journalism, James spent nearly a decade working as an experiential educator, leading and directing teen-oriented outdoor adventure and travel programs around the world, sharing his love of cultures, wildlife, and transformative hands-on learning. Outside of leading programs, James channels that love into inspiring others to step out of their comfort zone and explore, as GLA and Terra Education’s Marketing Copywriter.
James is also an avid photographer, having had his photography published in a variety of media outlets, including The New York Times, as well as a long-distance hiker, and in 2021, thru-hiked from Mexico to Canada on the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail.
Jose Hernandez-Ugalde
Costa Rica Field Coordinator
Jose is from Costa Rica. He has worked with international service organizations since 2001. He recently graduated from a Master´s program in International Relations and Diplomacy and obtained his undergraduate degree in English Literature from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. He also taught US History in Civic Education in Washington D.C. for high school students and has taught English as a second language in Costa Rica. He is passionate about International Education, conservation, history, and languages. He has worked extensively with foreign students and international volunteers in Costa Rica and has traveled to India, Morocco, Brazil, Guatemala, Perú to offer service with volunteer organizations. He lives in San Jose and enjoys weekends in the mountains, beaches or hiking to waterfalls.
Pacifique Uwimbabazi
Accounting Specialist
Pacifique grew up in Rwanda and is currently living in Kigali City. She studied international business and trade at African Leadership University. During and after her university years, Pacifique worked for different companies in her home country before joining Terra Education in 2022. She also devotes time to a startup that her and her friends started that provides consulting and finance services. She is so thankful and proud of this work. Working with Terra Education is something she never dreamed of. She is learning, appreciating, and enjoying every moment with the accounting department and the Terra team. In her free time, she loves listening to her favorite podcasts, YouTubers, and music, or spending time with her family.
Ashley Welter
Marketing Operations Strategist
Ash was born and raised in San Diego and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Behavioral Psychology from UCSD. She has visited GLA programs in Guatemala and Costa Rica, and she believes in the power of experiential education and the valuable life experience teens can gain from volunteering abroad, embracing new cultures, and experiencing life from a new perspective.
Airon Whitt
Program Manager
Originally from southern Mississippi, Airon grew up in a family of artists, sparking her passion for creativity and exploration. She earned a degree in Sustainable Tourism and Development Management from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where she spent seven years working in hotel and restaurant management at Waikiki Beach’s top hotels—and learning that surfing is harder than it looks.
After serving in the Peace Corps in Costa Rica, Airon joined Global Leadership Adventures in 2017 and worked that summer on the Beachside Service Adventure program. She later earned a dual Master’s in Business Administration and International Policy and Development from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.
With over a decade of experience in international education and tourism, Airon has led more than 500 students across Hawaii, Central America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. She now runs a small art and yoga retreat center in Mississippi, blending her love of wellness, creativity, and sustainability to inspire responsible travelers.
Lisa Wormley (she/hers)
Program Manager & Medical Screening Coordinator
Lisa first discovered Global Leadership Adventures in 2014, when she was looking for a way to combine her overriding passions for experiential education, travel, and community engagement. After graduating from Colorado State University with a B.S. in Human Development and Family Sciences, Lisa spent several years working experiential education programs and traveling in New Zealand, Southeast Asia and Australia. She has been a GLA Mentor and International Director in Tanzania, Costa Rica and Fiji, and is thrilled to continue supporting programs around the world.
With a Master’s of Education in College Student Services Administration, Lisa brings a holistic lens in creating curriculum that fosters inclusive spaces for students to develop and express themselves. She feels fortunate to witness the discovery that takes place for both students and staff in understanding their strengths, interests and potential. Lisa loves jumping on her bicycle, swimming in lakes and is always up for a new adventure!
Korissa Zanrosso (she/her/hers)
Director of Admissions
& Systems
As a Green Bay, Wisconsin native, Korissa is a proud All-American Cheesehead! However, she found her home as a global citizen and uncovered a deep passion and curiosity for the new cultures and experiences found though education abroad while studying abroad in Mexico and Spain. She has since worked tirelessly towards helping others grow through international education and travel. She has worked with travel, tourism and university study abroad programs in both the US and Ecuador. She has been working with the GLA Admissions team since 2011 at both the San Diego Headquarters and in Costa Rica. She has had the pleasure of visiting many of the GLA programs and loves to see the process and transformation from a student requesting a catalog to then coming home with a new-found perspective and curiosity for the world.
Global Leadership Adventures Consultants
Dave Dennis
Risk Management Consultant
Dave is co-founder and Executive Director of Cornerstone Safety Group. He is also the founder and President of Resilient Solutions, a risk management and emergency response consulting firm serving travel and experiential education organizations since 2011.
He has a risk management master’s degree from Norwich University, has spent the past 27 years in domestic and international travel operations, and has advised over 60 organizations in risk management practices and training. Dave is also the Secretary of the Gap Year Association’s Standards and Accreditation Committee and has spent time as an ambassador with the Responder Alliance focusing on emotional well-being and the stress continuum.
Before starting Cornerstone, Dave was the Vice President of Health, Safety and Risk Management at some of the largest organizations in the travel and experiential education industries.
Josh Dubansky, MD
Medical Director
Dr. Dubansky is the co-founder and Medical Director of Cornerstone Safety Group. He is a Board Certified Emergency Medicine Physician with special expertise in Wilderness Medicine. Dr. Dubansky is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Nevada School of Medicine and serves as Medical Director for the Northstar California ski clinic, three national forests and several outdoor adventure companies.
Dr. Dubansky received his medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 2010, then trained in Emergency Medicine at UCSF-Fresno where he created and completed an area of concentration in Wilderness Medicine Education in 2014. Dr. Dubansky’s experience includes designing and implementing EMS field scenarios and mass casualty drills, lecturing extensively to medical students, EMTs, nurses, physicians, and National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service Rangers. He has also developed National Park Service EMS protocols as part of UCSF-Fresno’s ParkMedic and Wilderness Medicine Programs.
Dr. Dubansky is also a co-founder of Tahoe Wilderness Medicine, where he still leads outdoor adventure trips. He has taught for or helped run numerous outdoor programs, including NOLS, Cal Adventures at U.C. Berkeley, Cornell University Outdoor Education, California Canoe and Kayak, ARTA River Trips and Healing Waters San Francisco. Dr. Dubansky volunteers as a National Ski Patrol physician and is a diplomate of the Wilderness Medical Society’s Diploma in Mountain Medicine program.
Michael Habicht
Medical Advisor
Michael Habicht, MD, DiMM, FAWM is an emergency physician in South Lake Tahoe, California. He began his outdoor and travel career as a backpacking and rock climbing guide before going to medical school and emergency residency at the University of California, Irvine. Today, he serves as the Medical Director for Heavenly and Kirkwood Professional Ski Patrol, an instructor for the Diploma in Mountain Medicine course for the Wilderness Medical Society and served in El Dorado County Search and Rescue for 10 years. He continues to travel and climb around the world with ascents including Alaska’s Denali, Ama Dablam in the Himalaya, Kilimanjaro, and countless climbs and backpacking trips all across California with his family. He has trained extensively in travel medicine, high altitude medicine, and has a special affinity for traveling with children and teens as a father of two adventurous boys who have hike and climbed across the world with him.
Maureen MacConnell
Mental Health Advisor
Maureen MacConnell, PMHNP-BC, PSY-M, is a board-certified Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner providing mental health consultation and training in over 60 countries globally. She has advanced degrees in Clinical Psychology and Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing, and is pursuing a Doctorate in Education in Human and Organizational Learning. Maureen joins Cornerstone with fifteen years experience as a mental health clinician both domestically and internationally. She believes in providing continuous, adaptive support for travelers and is passionate about navigating the complexities of international healthcare.
