Abby Taylor (She/They)

Associate Program Director - Logistics

Abby left her home state of Georgia in 2013 to join the Northwest Outward Bound School as an intern. During the season, she fell in love with the central Oregon sunshine and sagebrush, and most of all, with Outward Bound. That fall, she participated in the last new staff training out of Outward Bound Alabama and worked courses for struggling adolescents out of the Scotsmoor and Key Largo bases. Throughout this time, Abby showed a knack for expedition logistics and honed those skills at different locations. She even worked as Logistics Manager and instructed courses for a stint at the Voyaguer Outward Bound Twin Cities center in Saint Paul, MN.

Aside from Outward Bound, Abby has worked in the world of outdoor recreation in a variety of ways and locations: Four years at her college outdoor program based in Southern Georgia. A variety of therapeutic recreation settings from a New York summer camp to a South Carolina boarding school. Three winters working and skiing in Alta, Utah. Two years managing a large climbing gym in Minnesota. Coordinating climbing competitions in between, and even spending one summer as a "sponsored athlete" on a cross-country bicycle tour. One thing has always drawn her back, and that is the Northwest Outward Bound School. After filling the roles of Intern, Logistics Coordinator, Assistant Instructor, Head Logistics Coordinator and Lead River Instructor, Abby is excited to return as Oregon Logistics Manager for the school.

When not ordering mass amounts of food or wandering around the Odin Falls warehouse, Abby likes to climb Oregon choss, row a boat down most any river, and ski on storm days.

Alex Sugahara (she/her)

Safety Director

A native of New Jersey, Alex made her home west of the Continental Divide as soon as she
could, after discovering the joys of a “dry heat,” when a student on an 81-day Outward Bound
course. Alex comes to her current role with NWOBS after starting her Outward Bound career in
2005 as an instructor in Utah’s Southwest Program. Since then, she has worked as a Course
Director, Trainer, and Program Manager, spanning Utah, Colorado, California, Arizona, and
Oregon. Her strong belief in the value of time spent in nature, experiential education, and
personal growth through challenge inspire her to help provide access to Outward Bound
experiences for all people.

Alex’s enduring love of time spent outdoors and working within a team have influenced her
passions, education, and career throughout her life. As a child, she could be found in the
earnest attempt to grow gills and fins, as her love of the water kept her immersed as often as
possible. When not in the water, Alex could generally be found playing sports or reading books.
Her dedication to athletics and a dream of veterinary school initially brought Alex to Boston’s
Tufts University, but her love of the outdoors and the pull of the desert settled her out West,
where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Education from Prescott College.

Alex now celebrates her love of animals with her budding adventure cat, Stevie, and her dog
Atlas, who is a constant companion, whether running on trails, fly fishing the rivers of the
Pacific Northwest, riding navigator in a sidecar, or curled up with a book. When not working for
NWOBS or adventuring with her partner Kelly, Alex volunteers her time as a Certified Rolfer,
helping frontline workers and emergency personnel in need of physical adjustments. Alex also
serves on the Board of Directors for the Colorado Outward Bound School. Her love of learning
and personal challenge has her practicing her Norwegian and learning to fix old motorcycles.

Ami Violanda Adams (She/Her)

Oregon Program Director

Ami spent much of her formative years exploring the woods, tidal creeks, and marshes of the East Coast before travelling to Arizona to attend Prescott College. While studying environmental science, marine biology, and adventure education, she fell in love with the mountains, deserts, rivers, and vastness of the West. Not a hard thing to do when you’re canoeing in the Arctic or the Southwest, backpacking in the Grand Canyon, or traversing the intertidal zones of the Gulf of California. She has also had the privilege of learning from incredible and inspiring mentors who helped to provide direction.

Ami first worked with Outward Bound as a research advisor and assistant watch officer for semester and high school courses onboard HIOBS’ Sharpie Schooners. She later served as the director of a HIOBS partnership program in the Bahamas. 

Ami has been lucky to spend much of her career interacting with the natural world. Aside from work in the outdoor industry, her professional background includes: field biology, intersectional curriculum development, risk management, and many years spent teaching high school and college science. Additionally she has worked as a high school learning specialist and the director of both gap year and expeditionary programs.

Ami deeply values experiential education, and has always admired Outward Bound’s commitment to teaching students and staff to lead with compassion. She is thrilled to be stepping into the Oregon Program Director role at NWOBS, and is excited to begin a new adventure in the Pacific Northwest with her partner Alec and dogs Seb and Ruth. 

Anna Guenther (She/Her)

Development Officer

Anna was a life-long Oregonian until relocating to Seattle in 2019. She enjoys spending much of her time exploring all of Washington’s natural beauty through skiing, hiking, backpacking, and climbing. While she does love to adventure outside, she almost never passes up a cozy day inside reading a book and spending time with her cat, loved ones, and cooking up a warm meal. 

She holds a master’s degree in education policy from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Oregon. She is passionate about the power of education, lifelong learning, and experiential education. Anna also understands the importance of addressing the immense inequities and issues within educational systems. Previously, she’s worked for organizations dedicated to increasing access and equity in education, from high school to post-secondary options. She loves being a part of the NWOBS mission because it is a meeting of the two aspects of life she holds dear: education and the outdoors.

Emily Katz (she/her)

Oregon Program Manager

Emily, known as ‘Katz’ to her friends, wholeheartedly believes that each of us has the extraordinary within them. Her passion is human growth. Her mediums are education, community, and environment. She finds immense joy in cultivating vibrant and equitable communities – the kind where no one is expected to be anyone but themselves. Her role as an educator has taken many shapes, each one found far outside the walls of a classroom. 

Although born and raised in a land of sunflowers and barbeque of Kansas City, Emily spent her formative years in the Rocky Mountains. She earned a degree in Geography, fascinated by human geography, ecology, and water rights. Since then, she has continued west, following the path of the Colorado River. Her career with Outward Bound started in Moab, UT, at the Southwest Program of the Colorado Outward Bound School in 2016. Since then she has fulfilled the roles of Lead Instructor, Course Director and Trainer there and here at NWOBS

In 2018, Emily moved to the old growth forests of the PNW to complete her M.A.Ed of Urban Environmental Education at Antioch University in Seattle, ever in pursuit of her goal of becoming a more just and equity-driven educator. Here, she focused on the dynamic intersection of social justice and environmental education, actively engaging in community, advancing race and culture through equity and leadership. While in Seattle, Emily worked with City Fruit, where she helped the non-profit incorporate multicultural ways of knowing and promote community food security in educational and volunteer programming.

Whether it’s the mountains, rivers or deserts, Emily loves to explore new lands through movement, people and, of course, food. In her free time, she is probably on a river, making dad-jokes with friends, and eating mangos. Ideally, wearing a banana costume.

Jenny Huq (she/her)

Director of Business Operations

Jenny joins Northwest Outward Bound School after working extensively with international education and experiential learning programs. She has been fortunate throughout her career to work with values-driven organizations that promote transformational learning and social impact. She is honored to join this incredible Outward Bound community.

As former Executive Director of Carpe Diem Education in Portland, OR, Jenny managed gap year programming on 5 continents and in 18 countries. Her work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Singapore Management University created opportunities to deepen student engagement through service-learning and cultural immersion experiences. In 2010, Jenny was awarded Civic Engagement Professional of the Year from North Carolina Campus Compact. She holds a B.A. in Global History and a M.A. in International Studies.

Jenny learned to explore different parts of the U.S. at a young age as her family relocated. She attended college in the northeast and took her first professional position as a paralegal in Boston. Feeling unfulfilled on the corporate path, Jenny traded in her suit for hiking boots and headed to the Dakotas. There she found her passion for purposeful, community-based initiatives as a full-time volunteer on the Pine Ridge, Cheyenne River, and Standing Rock Reservations. While exploring other countries and cultures will always be on her list, Jenny and her family are becoming rooted with the natural beauty and grandeur of the Pacific Northwest. She is proud that both her sons have served as AmeriCorps members working on conservation, disaster management, and wildland firefighting.

Jenny enjoys photography, hiking, biking, and hosting people from all over the world in her Airbnb. A fun fact about Jenny is that one of her first homes was a converted cable car along the Great Highway in San Francisco and she and her husband currently live in a 200 sqft tiny home on wheels.

Joel Reid

Washington Program Director

Josh Adrian (he/him)

Course Advisor

Kristin Kanan (She/Her)

Business Operations Coordinator

Kristin grew up Los Angeles. She discovered her passion for photography at an early age and spent her days exploring every corner of her world, seeking to capture images of the beautiful and interesting things around her. That has never changed. Kristin has held marketing and project management jobs in industries including film, video games and social media. In 2015, it was time for a new adventure. Her love of nature and community drew her to Portland. Her wish was to find job working for a non-profit, one that helped people and had something to do with nature. That dream came true for her in June 2018.  Kristin enjoys exploring and capturing the world around her, from the forests to the quirky neighborhoods. She also loves cooking plant based meals and learning new crafts. And you may even see her in the Timbers Army supporting her beloved Portland Timbers. 

Marc Heisterkamp (he/him)

Executive Director

A Washington native and now Oregon resident, Marc’s life and career has a foundation in outdoor and experiential leadership education. A strategist and growth leader at heart, Marc is always mission driven, choosing to focus his attention on creating positive impact in people, communities and our environment. He is honored to be able to do this in his home communities in the Pacific Northwest. Marc believes strongly that future success of individuals and communities is based on emotional intelligence, people-centric leadership and other skills best developed and honed through experiential education. A lifelong learner, Marc works every day on these same skills, knowing that the best teachers are always learners first.

Marc holds a bachelor’s degree in biology & Natural Resources and a master’s in business administration. In addition to a stint in the financial sector, he spent many years building the U.S. Green Building Council and the LEED program, one of the world’s most successful and impactful industry-led environmental movements.

While not working to make amazing Outward Bound experiences available to people of all backgrounds, Marc spends his time with his family, making sure his young son grows through outdoor experiences, whether in the backyard sandbox or splashing in an alpine lake. In his house “a dirty day is a good day”. For more, please visit Marc's Linkedin account.

Mariah Chapman (she/her)

Development Manager

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, lands of Cowlitz, Mariah has been surrounded by the beauty of the Cascade mountain range and is thankful for the opportunity to explore its dense forests and vast landscapes. The outdoors is Mariah’s outlet to get more connected to herself and learn valuable life skills from nature. Mariah is passionate about creating inclusive outdoor spaces and increasing access for all individuals to get outside and enjoy the benefits of nature. 

After graduating Washington State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology, Mariah felt called to work for a non-profit organization. She worked in communications at a local food bank, but soon realized she wanted to make an impact in the outdoor community. Mariah was happy to join NWOBS and combine her interests in non-profit work and the outdoors. 

Outside of the office, Mariah enjoys adventuring with her partner Josh and dog Ruca. Never leaving her dog behind, Mariah loves being outside rock climbing, camping, hiking, mountain biking, trail running, and sleeping in hammocks. Mariah is grateful to have the privilege to recreate in the outdoors and she is excited to continue exploring the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. 

Max Kelemen (He/Him)

Student Services Manager

Max is a non-profit professional/advocate with a background in outdoor education, mentorship, education policy, and hunger relief. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Pepperdine University and a Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) from the University of Colorado - emphasizing in non-profit development and social enterprise. His values center around building a more inclusive and peaceful world by addressing issues such as: equitable access to outdoor recreation, environmental conservation, mental health, education reform, economic inequality, health care and food for all. 

With a curious mind and adventurous soul, Max, along with his wife and dog, find fun ways to play and explore the Pacific NW. Favorite activities include hiking, snowboarding, whitewater rafting/SUP, rock climbing, slacklining, and yoga/acroyoga. Max also enjoys cooking, learning new instruments, woodworking, and fireside chats with good friends!

Morgan Oyster-Sands (She/Her)

Student Services Director, Equity, Inclusion & Diversity Specialist

Throughout high school and college, Morgan, had many opportunities to experience the outdoors combined with service in the states and abroad. After completing her degree in Intercultural Studies and Urban Studies she worked in both education and the Outdoor Industry. Wanting to combine her passions, she moved to the Pacific Northwest and began working for NWOBS first as a Logistical Coordinator, then as a Portland Programs Instructor and now Student Services Director. New to the Pacific Northwest, you can find Morgan and her family discovering the rich landscapes by foot, bike and kayak any chance they get!

Rob Healy (he/him)

Portland Program Director

Rob is a lifelong Northwesterner originally hailing from the greater Seattle area. His background in outdoor education has spanned collegiate recreation and athletics, classroom and field based environmental education and mountain guiding as well as over a decade of volunteer work in Search and Rescue. Crediting the lessons he learned in the high country as some of the most profound in his life, Rob now directs the Portland Programs seeking ways to provide greater access to these experiences and opportunities in the Portland Metro area. When he is not working, Rob can be found exploring the outdoors, working on his expansive tabletop miniature collection and spending time with his wife, cat and chickens.

Valerie Plummer, CFRE (she/her)

Development Director

Valerie is a passionate advocate of inclusion, and the power of bringing people and resources together to change the world. She served as the executive director of the Oregon Microenterprise Network for eight years, building Oregon’s statewide financing and service infrastructure for underserved entrepreneurs. Most recently, Valerie served in a development role at Harper’s Playground, and prior to that, completed a $9M capital campaign at Community Vision, building a collaborative one-stop location in Portland that serves families and individuals experiencing disabilities. Valerie believes that the outdoors should belong to everyone, and is excited to work alongside the Northwest Outward Bound School team to ensure equitable access to life-changing Outward Bound experiences for all.

Valerie holds a bachelor’s degree from Macalester College, and a CFRE (Certified Fundraising Executive) certification from the Association of Fundraising Professionals.  In her free time, she enjoys skiing, hiking and spending time with her two children, Sophie and Zach. Valerie currently chairs and has served on the Board of Livelihood Northwest since 2010, helping entrepreneurs of color access financing and successfully start and grow their businesses.