Wild Things 2025

I'm the Executive Director & Founder of Refugee Education and Adventure Challenge (REACH), a Chicago-based nonprofit that introduces refugee youth and their families to experiential learning opportunities focused on STEAM education and adventure sports. I'm also an independent consultant for local and global grassroots refugee-led organizations, and a part-time faculty member at DePaul University, teaching undergrad and graduate courses on globalization, forced migration, experiential learning, and social justice. I'm a big fan of Paulo Freire's popular education and eco-pedagogy models.

I have more than 30 years’ experience researching and addressing systemic policies that impact displacement across the globe. I first started putting experiential learning theory into practice while implementing projects for displaced children in war-torn Africa. In my former roles as director of a large resettlement agency and a public-school based international newcomer center, I recognized a missing web of support for refugee adolescents. As an avid hiker, cyclist, paddler, and lifelong learner, I aspire to share my love for the human and non-human elements of the lifeworld with refugee youth and their families.